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Moving on Childress names Harvick to drive in Earnhardt's spot
Updated: Friday February 23, 2001 7:01 PM
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- It's a sad requirement of their business that both Richard Childress and Dale Earnhardt had discussed the scenario before -- what Richard Childress Racing would do in the event that one of them died. "Back at the loss of Neil Bonnett," Childress said Friday, "we talked about what we'd do. If I was in Africa and was run over by an elephant or something else, or if something happened to him, we both made a pledge that we'd go on. "We renewed that pledge after New Hampshire last year." It's a measure of the sanctity of that pledge and RCR's willingness to fulfill it that the team was able to replace Earnhardt with 25-year-old Kevin Harvick for Sunday's Dura Lube 400. Harvick, who won three races while driving in the Busch series in 2000, will drive a white, Goodwrench-sponsored car emblazoned with the #29 on Sunday. Harvick, who had tested in Earnhardt's car "four or five times" in 2000, had been scheduled to run Busch for RCR in 2001 as well as seven Winston Cup races before assuming a full-time ride in 2002. "It happened a lot sooner than we'd expected," Childress said, "and it wasn't how Kevin wanted it to happen, but Dale had a lot of confidence in Kevin's racing ability."
New colors and the new number notwithstanding -- despite calls to retire the #3, RCR and NASCAR have thus far only agreed to a one-year moratorium on the use of the number -- Harvick is in the unenviable position of effectively replacing a legend, something he knows to be impossible. "I hope people don't expect me to replace him," Harvick said, "because obviously I can't. No one can and no one ever will. "This is undoubtedly the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," Harvick continued. "But when I was asked to do it, I realized that there were 190 people at RCR behind me, a lot of support. Hopefully, there will be that time when I can climb out of the car and say 'that's for Dale,' after our first win." Interestingly, Harvick's white #29 will be similar to Earnhardt's black #3 in one somewhat ironic respect -- like Earnhardt, Harvick will not use the HANS device, which he too says he couldn't get comfortable with. Instead, he will use another device that he says serves the same purpose but doesn't push him down in his seat, as the HANS device does. Childress and Earnhardt had always known that one day they would have to find someone else to drive the #3. "We knew we were going to have to replace him someday and Dale was going to be a part of the process [to decide on a replacement]," Childress said -- but they had sincerely honestly hoped it wouldn't be under these circumstances. And while the moment has arrived, it's clear that Childress still isn't sure what to make of it. "That's a tough one -- where does Richard Childress Racing go without him," Childress said with obviously heavy heart. He struggled to find words, but found none. "I don't know."
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