Despite his popularity, NASCAR legend and Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick faced uncertainty during GM's bankruptcy. The Californian racer spoke about the same during a podcast episode with Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael.
With a career spanning over 30 years, Harvick is among the top 10 NASCAR drivers with most wins. The 49-year-old is one of the few racers who have won both the Cup (2014) and Xfinity Series (2001 and 2006). Following his debut in the top three national racing series in 1995, Harvick won 121 races and finished 767 times in the top 10. After winning three drivers' titles and starting in around 1,300 races, Harvick stepped down as a full-time racer in 2023.
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Despite such strong credentials, Harvick faced uncertainty once during the 2009 season when General Motors faced bankruptcy. The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver spoke about the same with the former NASCAR racer and Motocross/Supercross champion Carmichael on the recent Title 24 podcast.
"We’ve lived through the General Motors bankruptcy. I’ll never forget that phone call. They basically called and said, 'Hey, you got a contract but we don’t have any money.' So we had to go through the 2009 season. That would have been about this time. We were getting ready to start the season, and General Motors files bankruptcy," Kevin Harvick explained.
"So the people that are going to be in the worst spot are the race teams, they're not going to get the support from the manufacturer that they're used to getting from a financial standpoint, from technology standpoint, because if it's cuttable, they're going to cut it. The race teams are going to rebuild and going to have to find a new manufacturer," he added.
The interaction mentioned above was shared on Instagram by Carmichael, with Harvick and two others as collaborators. Here's a look at the post:
"There’s nothing better than taking the headset off after the race" - Kevin Harvick on spending a year as a broadcaster after a long racing career
After spending over three decades battling on the racetrack, Kevin Harvick donned the outfit of a broadcaster. After spending a year in his new role, the Californian expressed his feelings during the Title 24 podcast.
"I have enjoyed the move. There’s nothing better than taking the headset off after the race and not having to worry about how fast my car went who’s mad at me, and all the pressure that comes with the car. I think that the paycheck is obviously not as good as it was driving the car but that’s okay!" Kevin Harvick said (1:00:13 onward).
Here's a look at the entire podcast episode, available on YouTube:
Although he is retired as a full-time racer, Harvick continues to compete in multiple stock car series as a part-time driver.
