Starting as a dream and an opportunity, Kevin and DeLana Harvick began Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) in 2001 as an outlet for Kevin to win his first Truck Series race. What they built not only provided Kevin the win he needed to join an elite group of drivers who have won in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, but turned into a premier team in NASCAR competition.
Since its humble beginnings as an after-hours project, Kevin and DeLana have built KHI into a two-time championship organization housed in an 80,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility operating two full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams and a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series team.
“We ran the first KHI entry back in 2001, a truck we built in Ed Berrier’s garage,” said team co-owner, Kevin Harvick. “To see our company grow from that one truck to what it is today has been very rewarding for DeLana and I. To win races and now two championships with Ron (Hornaday) has made KHI what it is today. To watch not only the on-track success over the years, but to watch the guys as a team and Ron as a person, as a friend, as an employee, there’s a lot of things that come into the equation. It’s just a lot of fun to see it evolve and come together the way it has over the years.”
Kevin Harvick competed in his first Truck Series event for KHI in 2001 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. In his first run, Harvick lost a close battle to series veteran Jack Sprague. After battling the entire race race, Harvick trailed Sprague by only .062 seconds when the checkered flag waved. With his second-place finish in his first attempt for KHI, Harvick decided to continue competing for KHI in the Truck Series on a limited basis the following season.
In 2002 KHI competed in five Truck Series events, scoring its first victory at Phoenix International Raceway with team co-owner Harvick behind the wheel. By winning this event, Harvick became only the fifth driver in history to win a race in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions.
KHI fielded an entry in six Truck Series events in 2003 with drivers Harvick, Ed Berrier, Brandon Miller and Randy LaJoie.
The following year KHI found funding to compete full time in the Truck Series with driver Matt Crafton behind the wheel. The team had a successful year, finishing sixth in points, earning six top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.
In May 2004, Tony Stewart drove the first KHI Nationwide Series entry at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. He started sixth and finished fifth, sending a message to the competition that KHI was ready to compete in the Nationwide Series.
The 2005 season was a pivotal point in the history of KHI as they fielded full-time efforts in both the Nationwide and Truck Series. Stewart returned to the driver’s seat and scored KHI’s first Nationwide Series win in the season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, setting the standard for a great season. The No. 33 Nationwide Series entry competed in all 35 events, recording one win, five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. The team finished the season 10th in the Owner’s Point standings.
Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday joined KHI’s Truck Series program in 2005. Wasting no time, he finished fifth in the year-end point standings by recording one victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, one pole, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.
In 2006, KHI expanded to two full-time Nationwide Series and one full-time Truck Series effort. Rookie Burney Lamar joined KHI to drive for the newly formed No. 77 Chevrolet team in the Nationwide Series, while Tony Stewart returned to KHI and successfully defended his season-opening Nationwide Series victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in the No. 33 Chevrolet. Following that race, with a variety of driver’s taking turns behind the wheel, the No. 33 team accumulated five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes placing them 10th overall in the final point standings.
The No. 77 team raced with rookie driver Burney Lamar for 29 events, Jeff Burton for one event and Bobby Labonte for five events in 2006. The team finished 24th in the Nationwide Series Owner’s Point standings, earning one top-five and five top-10 finishes.
During the 2006 season, Hornaday wheeled KHI’s No. 33 Truck Series entry to a seventh-place finish in the year-end point standings by earning two victories, five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.
With two seasons at KHI under his belt, Hornaday and the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado team set their sights on the 2007 Truck Series title. In an epic battle with Mike Skinner, the title chase came down to the last race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway with Skinner 29 points ahead of Hornaday at the start of the race. On lap 25, Skinner began to have tire trouble and ultimately went 11 laps down to the field. Hornaday was able to capitalize and wheel the No. 33 Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish to capture his third title and first championship for KHI.
The 2007 season was also a year of success in the Nationwide Series. Sharing driving duties in the No. 33 Chevrolet were KHI co-owner and two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick, Sprint Cup drivers Stewart and Tony Raines, road-course specialist Ron Fellows and newcomer Cale Gale. Among the five drivers, the team compiled a record of four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, landing the team sixth in the Owner’s Point standings at season’s end.
The No. 77 team also had success with drivers Harvick, Labonte, Hornaday, Scott Wimmer, Brandon Miller and Kertus Davis. The team completed the season 15th in the Owner’s Point standings recording one win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, three top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
The 2008 season marked KHI’s fifth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. With an established championship caliber team in the Truck Series, KHI expanded their truck program by fielding two full-time efforts. The No. 33 and No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado teams earned eight wins, 22 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes. Hornaday and the No. 33 team once again found themselves in the thick of a championship battle going into the final race at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, three points out of the lead. A late-race pit stop mired Hornaday back in the field as he finished a mere seven points shy of a record-setting fourth championship title.
For KHI’s Nationwide Series program, 2008 was also an instrumental year as the team scaled back to only one full-time Nationwide Series entry driven by KHI Harvick, rookie of the year contender Gale, Hornaday and Ryan Newman. The team recorded 10 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes to finish the season seventh in the Owner’s Point standings.
Following one of the most successful seasons for KHI, the organization returned to the track in 2009 with fierce determination to rebound in the Truck Series and looking to put team co-owner in victory lane for the first time in a KHI-owned Nationwide Series car. Both goals were achieved in standout fashion that lifted KHI in to a category of its own.
With such a dramatic ending to the 2008 season, Hornaday and the No. 33 Truck Series team started the 2009 with motivation like no other that fueled them into the history books with some of NASCAR’s greatest. The team recorded six victories, including a historical five in a row, 15 top-five and 20 top-20 finishes on the way to securing the 2009 Camping World Truck Series title. The series title marked the second for KHI and the fourth for Hornaday, the first for a Truck Series driver.
In addition to the No. 33 truck team, KHI continued to run a second full-time truck, this time changing the number to “4” to accompany the addition of the most successful motorcross racer in America history, Ricky Carmichael. Running for rookie of the year, Carmichael ran a limited schedule sharing seat time with Harvick and Newman. The team finished the season with two wins, both with Harvick, and 15th in the Owner’s Point standings.
As KHI’s Truck Series program made their mark on NASCAR, KHI’s Nationwide Series program was also having their best season to date. In just the fourth race of the season, Harvick accomplished the one win that eluded him in his Nationwide Series success, winning in a KHI-owned car. In an emotional win, Harvick visited victory lane for the first time in KHI’s No. 33 car at one of his most successful tracks, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Continuing to make their presence known in the series, the No. 33 became top-five contenders every week. With a car that dominated the field, the team visited victory lane again in September at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The win was also Harvick’s first Nationwide Series win at the 1.5-mile Georgia track. With two wins in the books, the team finished the season a career best fourth in the Owner’s Point standings with two wins, three poles, 17 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes.
As KHI enters their seventh year of full-time NASCAR competition, the same tenacity and drive remains as the 2010 season begins with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. With sights set on wins and championships, KHI continues to race with integrity and heart, making a place for themselves in the NASCAR history books.