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Kevin Harvick remembers a time in the 2010s when young NASCAR drivers aspiring to the Truck Series and beyond had to make a decision. Compete for Chevrolet and Kevin Harvick Incorporated, or drive with Toyota and Kyle Busch Motorsports.
It was not possible to play on both sides. Drivers had to choose a direction. The supporters in the stands chose their side and were clearly divided.
“You had to choose a path,” Harvick said on the latest episode of “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.” “Either you went KBM and Toyota, or you went KHI and Chevrolet…That’s just not how it worked.”
Harvick enjoyed this competition. In fact, he helped Busch form his team and lay the foundation for a rivalry that would last a decade. This fight brought out the best in both riders and ultimately brought them closer together. After Busch, 41, died suddenly last Thursday, Harvick remembered him and their relationship fondly, recalling stories on “Happy Hour.”
On the circuit, Harvick and Busch have always been enemies. Disgust levels fluctuated, however. They were involved in what Harvick called “heavy warfare,” following an accident during a 2005 race in Dover, Delaware.
But when Busch wanted to take the route of starting his own racing team, Harvick put his differences aside. Busch called Harvick and asked, “Can you tell me how you run your team?” Harvick “bridged the gap,” welcoming Busch into his racing store, sharing his budgets, giving him “everything he had.” In a truly antagonistic fashion, Harvick said, Busch “stole” some of his employees, hiring them into his new team.
This is how Kyle Busch Motorsports was born and a new rivalry sparked.
Busch and Harvick pushed each other, making the other a better “driver, owner and teammate,” Harvick said.
“Probably the best thing that happened to me in my career,” Harvick said, “was that I had a competitor who didn’t back down like Kyle did.”
Ultimately, they faced each other 933 times in NASCAR’s top series. They learned to respect each other and even let their guard down off the slopes.
“We sat on both sides and competed, but you know, off the track we had fun,” Harvick said. “We had a good time and good conversations. It took a long time to get to being cordial, but we definitely got there in the end.”
