“Tastes like dirt”: Kevin Harvick talks about sharing the kissing tradition at Brickyard 400 with his family

Kevin Harvick recently talked about the unique tradition of kissing the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the time he missed out on the ritual. While Jimmie Johnson won the race four times over his career, both Kevin Harvick and Dale Jarrett each celebrated victory there three times. Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch have each taken the checkered flag twice at the famed track.

The practice of kissing the bricks was actually born at the Brickyard 400—Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Cup Series race, not the Indy 500 as some might think. Dale Jarrett and his crew chief, Todd Parrott, were the pioneers, marking their 1996 Brickyard 400 victory with a kiss on the historic "Yard of Bricks." Since then, every time Kevin Harvick won, he joined in this tradition with his family by his side.

However, in 2020, the pandemic threw a wrench in the works, and Kevin Harvick skipped the tradition. He later shared how much the Brickyard 400 means to him, revealing that it was his childhood dream to race at the historic 2.5-mile oval.

"It’s the closest that I have ever been able to actually explain to people living out your childhood dream. I grew up being a huge Rick Mears fan. I wanted to race Indy cars, I wanted to win the Indy 500, and to go and win the first time in 2003 was the coolest thing ever."

"It’s not that I don’t think that the Brickyard 400 is not bigger than the Daytona 500 but it meant as much to me to win Brickyard 400 as it did at Daytona because of the fact that I grew up, that’s where I wanted to race."

Moreover, Kevin Harvick shared an amusing anecdote about how his daughter was puzzled by the tradition of kissing the bricks. She couldn't grasp why her father would plant a kiss on such a gritty surface. During his latest episode of Harvick Happy Hour when his co-host asked him what it tasted like, his straightforward reply was:

"Tastes like dirt."

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Richard Childress gifted Kevin Harvick the car he rode in 2003 to win the Brickyard 400

Back when Kevin Harvick won his first Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he recalled the atmosphere being as electric as the Indy 500, with around 300,000 fans lining the track. After the race, Harvick, along with his wife, crew chief, and owner Richard Childress, took a victory lap in the back of the pace car, waving to the crowd. Reminiscing about that day, Kevin Harvick said:

"They hadn't left and it was one of the coolest things that we were able to do because of all the people that were still there. That ride around after the race was pretty neat."

"And another cool thing is Richard actually kept the car like it was- kept the tire that I did the burnout with going to victory lane which was still probably one of the best burnouts ever. So, Richard kept the car and actually gave it to me as a retirement gift."

With the Cup Series making its return to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for this Sunday's Brickyard 400, it'll be interesting to see who gets to kiss the bricks this time.