Kevin Harvick's racing career began in his toddler years when his parents gave him a go-kart to race around the local tracks in sunny Bakersfield, Calif., immediately following his graduation from kindergarten. In the 10 years that Kevin raced go-karts, he won seven national championships and two grand national go-kart titles. Kevin then moved onto the Featherlite Southwest Series in 1992, where he raced part-time while completing high school.

After finishing high school, Kevin decided to pursue a full-time effort in the Featherlite Series taking the rookie of the year honors in 1995. “Racing is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life," said Harvick. “In 1997, when I was attending Bakersfield Junior College, the time came for me to make a choice about my future: I either had to focus on racing full-time, or decide on a new profession and begin training for it. I chose racing, and I’ve never looked back.” Kevin won the 1998 Winston West Series Championship after a five-win season.

A brief run in the Craftsman Truck Series led to a meeting with Richard Childress. Impressed with Kevin's hard-charging style, Childress offered Kevin a ride in the Busch Series. Kevin made good on Childress’s decision, winning the Busch Series rookie of the year honors in 2000 after grabbing three wins and finishing third in the series standings.

Following Dale Earnhardt's untimely death in the 2001 Daytona 500, Childress looked to Kevin to take over the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, leading to what Kevin called the most incredible year of his life.

Running full-time in both the Busch and Cup Series – Kevin started an amazing total of 69 races. He out-dueled Jeff Gordon to get his first Cup win at Atlanta in just his third start, and became the first driver to win both the Busch Series championship and Cup rookie of the year honors in the same season.