"He was sitting in my bus with my wife planning" - When Kevin Harvick reflected on Tony Stewart's reaction after a pivotal win for SHR

Kevin Harvick joined forces with Tony Stewart in 2014, securing a championship victory in his first season with the #4 Stewart Haas Racing team. The path to the season finale wasn’t easy, but Harvick once acknowledged how Stewart helped him handle the pressure.

In the inaugural season of the elimination-style playoffs, Harvick needed to win the penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway to secure his spot in the season finale. He secured a dominant victory at Phoenix, setting the stage for his championship battle at Homestead.

In a past interview with Graham Bensinger, Harvick discussed the supportive role his friend, teammate, and SHR co-owner Stewart played during the final stretch of the season. Reflecting on his championship-winning campaign in 2014, he said:

"Tony had been pretty supportive, to get this whole thing going when I decided to come to Stewart Haas Racing. But as we got towards the end of the year, and the pressure started to pick up, Tony was always there to be the one to say, just keep grinding." [from 0:23]

Harvick stated that Stewart didn't come to victory lane after the Phoenix victory; instead, he was in his motorhome with his wife, DeLana, strategizing on how to keep him relaxed for the championship-deciding season finale.

"So we won the next last race at Phoenix, and we spent two or three hours with all the media and photoshoots and victory lane. And I don't know that Tony actually came to victory lane that day. He was actually sitting in my bus with my wife, planning out the next week and what I was going to do and how I was going to do things, and to get my mind off of everything that was going to happen at Homestead and how the press event was going to go."

Harvick ultimately won the season finale, securing the championship in his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing.

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Kevin Harvick on pranking Tony Stewart

Kevin Harvick shared a close relationship with Tony Stewart before joining Stewart Haas Racing, having once played a prank on him a year prior to joining the team. Although Harvick insists he wasn't involved, it is widely believed that he set Stewart's clock two hours ahead, causing Stewart to rush to prepare for practice at New Hampshire.

When 'Smoke' realized he had been pranked, he stormed into Harvick's motorhome and confronted him while he was in the shower. The former #4 Ford driver joked that it was the only time the SHR co-owner was early for anything.

"I have been blamed for this for several years, but I actually didn't even set the clocks forward," he told Graham Bensinger. [from 1:42]

"But I'm telling you this right now that it's the only time I've ever seen Tony Stewart an hour early to anything. He made me very aware of that situation by walking into my bus and, you know, just walking straight into the bathroom, I look out of the shower, and here's Tony Stewart standing in his driver's uniform because he's mad that he's up an hour early," he added.

Kevin Harvick's decade-long tenure with Stewart Haas Racing concluded with his retirement in 2023. The team, led by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, is set to shut down after the 2024 season.