Kevin Harvick reminisces the ‘confusing emotions’ of his career's first Cup win after Dale Sr.’s tragic passing

2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick recently opened up about his confusing emotions following his first Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, only a few weeks after NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr passed away. The conversation took place on FOX's Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour show following the Daytona 500 when he was talking about next week's Ambetter Health 400 event at Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick took the first of his 60 Cup Series victories at Atlanta in what was only his third career start for Richard Childress Racing on March 11, 2001, while driving the No. 29 Chevrolet. On the podcast, he was discussing the kind of hard racing the Atlanta Motor Speedway produces and how he felt conflicting emotions after his win as the world of NASCAR was still in shock following the passing of Dale Earnhardt Sr.

"With Dale's passing and being able to win my first race and win for the team in our third start together, it was pretty emotional and you can see the emotion with the team. But the crazy part was how loud the fans were. I mean it was just, nobody knew what to do, you didn't know whether to be happy, you didn't know whether to cry, you didn't know if you should be excited, talk about Dale, not talk about Dale, there were so many confusing things that were happening during that time period," he shared.

Kevin Harvick also spoke about how much Atlanta Motor Speedway has changed since he first raced there. According to him, It now races like a superspeedway, similar to Daytona or Talladega. He admitted he never expected to enjoy the new racing style at Atlanta, but he does because it leads to exciting and unpredictable finishes.

Harvick also pointed out some of the challenges Atlanta presents. He warned that Turn 1 requires full focus, as Kyle Larson learned the hard way last year when he crashed into the fence. While Turns 1 and 2 still feel somewhat normal, Turn 3, according to Harvick is much trickier. It has bumps in tough spots, and as drivers enter, the banking increases like a skateboard ramp, which can push cars up the track sharply. Harvick called it "sketchy" because drivers need both speed and precise handling to stay in control.

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Kevin Harvick picks his favorite team for the win at Atlanta

As the Ambetter Health 400 approaches, Harvick also shared his thoughts on who he believes will win at Atlanta this year. He predicted that Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang, would take the victory. Harvick based his pick on Ford’s strength at superspeedways and Cindric’s ability to run up front in pack-style races.

"We’ve talked about Ford’s we talked about the advantages, not advantages just things that they do better than the other makes right now, and I'm going with Austin Cindric. I'm going to pick the #2 this weekend. He’s been upfront at all the superspeedway races. I think this is a good week for them to have a chance to win," Kevin Harvick remarked (1:06:23 onwards).

Harvick’s co-hosts on the Happy Hour show, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith, also shared their predictions. Vincie went with Joey Logano, another Team Penske driver with a strong superspeedway record, while Smith picked 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, who has also had some success in pack-style racing.