Kevin Harvick once opened up on his first ‘face-to-face’ interaction with legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Kevin Harvick began his NASCAR Cup Series career through an unexpected tragedy when he was tabbed to replace the late Dale Earnhardt after he lost his life in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Prior to that, the eventual 2014 Cup Series champion raced for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series.

The year prior to the tragedy, Harvick got a chance to meet Earnhardt, who drove for RCR in the Cup Series. When the California native was a guest on "The Dale Jr. Download," he got a chance to recount the story. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the late Earnhardt's son, asked Harvick about the events that unfolded which led to him meeting the seven-time Cup Series champion.

The 60-time Cup Series winner recalled being with four-time CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. when they both walked straight into Earnhardt's office back in 1998. Harvick said:

"Hornaday and I had given the world at golf and sucked at golf. He's like, 'You know what we should do? We should go shoot skeet.' I'm like, 'OK, that's a great idea, I don't have a gun.' Never had a gun in my life. [Hornaday said], 'Well, we're gonna go see Dale, he's got a whole room full of guns.' I said, 'OK.'" (4:33 onwards)

Harvick said he and Hornaday proceeded to hop into a truck and drive over to Earnhardt's office in hopes of getting guns. The two walked straight into the office as Earnhardt sat behind a desk, to which he gave a humorous response, as Harvick recalls, to them wanting to shoot guns.

"He looks up, 'What do you two idiots want?'" Harvick said. "We sit down and Hornaday is like, 'Well, we want to go shoot skeet.' He's like, 'Why would you want to do that? Shouldn't you be working on your race cars?' He says, 'Well if you two are going to go shoot skeet, I don't want you two idiots shooting your feet off.' He called Danny who used to shoot for Remington. He said, 'Hey, can you come get these two idiots and teach them how to shoot these guns?'" (5:02 onwards)

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Kevin Harvick drove for Richard Childress Racing for 13 seasons

Kevin Harvick filled the seat at Richard Childress Racing left behind by the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001. The number of the car was changed from Earnhardt's #3 to the #29 for Harvick.

In 13 seasons, Harvick registered 23 victories, including a win in the 2007 Daytona 500. He finished a best of third in the points standings three times in 2010, 2011, and 2013.

Harvick moved to Stewart-Haas Racing ahead of the 2014 season, a team he'd spend the remainder of his full-time Cup Series career with. He won his first and only championship in 2014 and tallied 37 wins across 10 seasons with SHR.