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Harvick ready to get back to racing
| Saturday, Feb 24 2007 9:25 PM
Last Updated: Saturday, Feb 24 2007 9:31 PM
Special to the Californian
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FONTANA, Calif. Being a Nextel Cup driver, it's difficult to get away from racing. Being a Daytona 500 champion, it's almost impossible.
But that has been the life of Kevin Harvick since he won NASCAR's biggest race seven days ago some 2,500 miles away at Daytona International Speedway.
He hardly had any time to enjoy the greatest day of his career, except for a quick champagne shower in victory lane to go along with a kiss from wife DeLana.
A mere 12 hours after the checkered flag fell, it was rise and shine for the beginning of a long week of obligations outside the race car.
"They used me up pretty good this week," said Harvick, a 31-year-old native of Bakersfield. "But like I said, it was all for a good cause and we were very fortunate to win the Daytona 500, so we'll suck it up for a week.
"I think I actually under estimated the whole factor of winning the Daytona 500 and everything that it was all about. It's a big deal to me and a big deal to the team, but I underestimated the media end of it and the fan side of it and the magnitude of it just a little bit until actually going through it."
Jimmie Johnson, a fellow Californian and 2006 Daytona 500 champion, knows all too well what Harvick is going through.
"I'm sure Kevin will show up low on sleep and ready for things to slow down and get back in the car," Johnson said. "He'll have a good excuse to get back in the car and focus on the right things. But I'm sure he's enjoying every minute of it. It's just a very special race to win, and NASCAR does a great job of taking you all around and giving you a lot of great opportunities."
Monday morning and still in Daytona, Harvick met live via satellite with ABC's "Good Morning America" to describe how his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, which will remain in Daytona USA for a full year, rocketed to the front on the final lap to overtake Mark Martin in the final few hundred yards. As cars spun, flipped and tumbled behind, Harvick's No. 29 ended up beating Martin to the finish line by a hood .02 seconds to be exact. He told "Live with Regis and Kelly" the same thing a day later.
But Harvick was happy to grant the coolest of requests "The Late Show with David Letterman." It was a comfortable chat with Letterman, one of the wittiest voices in late-night television who also co-owns an Indy Racing League open-wheel team.
"My own segment on Letterman," Harvick said, "that was pretty cool."
Interview after interview and appearance after appearance followed before Harvick finally arrived in his home state for you guessed it more interviews and more appearances. It wasn?226-130?t until Thursday that Harvick arrived at California Speedway for a busy weekend. He finished eighth in Friday's Craftsman Truck race, XX in Saturday's Busch Series event and he'll start fourth in today's Auto Club 500.
Even though the NASCAR industry spent more than a month in north Florida for Speedweeks, there are still 35 points-paying races remaining and only three of them resemble anything close to the action that went on at Daytona.
Today's race on the two-mile, sweeping surface in Fontana will be a true barometer as to who the early season favorites are to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Beginning with the Auto Club 500, the Nextel Cup Series visits four intermediate, two short and one flat track before it sees its next restrictor-plate race in April at Talladega.
"We approach Daytona as it's almost a separate season. We go down there knowing there's going to be a couple long weeks," Harvick said. "Daytona is kind of its own beast, and California is really where the week-to-week grind starts."
But California hardly has shown any love to Harvick. He has posted only two top-10 finishes in nine starts here, with a best effort of sixth in the spring of 2005.
"It is nice to come home," Harvick said. "This is not the Daytona 500 by any means, but you come here and want to have a good weekend and race well. We have been up and down here. We have run really well here, and we have run really bad here. It's nice to come home and see all of your family and friends and be able to celebrate our fantastic win."
Harvick deserves some time off, and he?226-130?ll soon get it. Nextel Cup has the upcoming week off as the Busch Series takes center stage in Mexico City. And no, Harvick isn?226-130?t going racing south of the border.
"I am doing nothing next weekend," Harvick said.
BUSY BODY
Here?226-130?s what on during Kevin Harvick?226-130?s week since he won the Feb. 18 Daytona
500.
Monday
7:50 a.m.: ABC?226-130?s ?227-132?Good Morning America?228-137?
8 a.m.: Daytona 500 car induction ceremony at Daytona USA
9 a.m.: Daytona 500 media breakfast
9:45 a.m.: One-on-one interviews followed by appearances on ESPN?226-130?s ?227-132?Cold
Pizza,?228-137? Speed?226-130?s ?227-132?Inside Nextel Cup?228-137? and Sirius Satellite Radio?226-130?s ?227-132?The
Morning Drive?228-137?
10:30 a.m.: Fox Sports Radio?226-130?s ?227-132?Out of Bounds?228-137?
4 p.m.: CBS?226-130? ?227-132?The Late Show with David Letterman?228-137?
Tuesday
9 a.m.: ?227-132?Live with Regis and Kelly?228-137?
11 a.m.: Luncheon with New York media
1 p.m.: Nextel Cup teleconference
3 p.m.: Various interviews at ESPN headquarters
Note ?247-152? All times Eastern
Wednesday
1 p.m.: California Speedway Day in Los Angeles
4 p.m.: ?227-132?Mason and Ireland?228-137? radio show
7 p.m.: ABC?226-130?s ?227-132?Jimmy Kimmel LIVE?228-137?
Thursday
7:20 a.m.: Rick Dees radio show, followed by various TV and radio morning
shows
Note ?247-152? All times Pacific