The enthusiasm and folly of youth - Uncovering the Past - Kevin Harvick

IT SHOULD COME AS LITTLE surprise that Kevin Harvick is so often compared to the late Dale Earnhardt--after all, Harvick was forced to step directly into Earnhardt's ride after the legend's untimely death. In the short time since, the youngster's talent, confidence, and immediate success also reminded Winston Cup watchers of the great Earnhardt.

This year Harvick's success has been undermined, however, by a lack of anger management and frustration. That take-no-prisoners approach and potentially off-putting personality may sound like the "Intimidator" as well, but was it?

A look at our September 1980 cover story on Earnhardt ["Dale Earnhardt: Stock Car Racing's Emerging Superstar," September 1980]--then a sophomore sensation--reveals a different tale. "He's humorous and witty, and can handle the quips as easy as a steering wheel," we said of Earnhardt in that feature. "Tomfoolery could have been his middle name." Words such as "quips" and "tomfoolery" aren't often used to describe Harvick.

Yet we maintained that Earnhardt's gusto was not entirely welcome. "It's really his style of friendliness which is new and refreshing, but not totally accepted by some staid members of the establishment," we said.

Earnhardt's aggressive qualities and confident nature were also considered to be more the enthusiasm rather than the folly of youth. "Some have referred to Earnhardt as being brash," we said. "It's really confidence."

But why shouldn't he have been confident? After all he was winning races. Veterans aren't always pleased when they are shown up by young drivers. In Earnhardt's case, his success helped endear him to veteran drivers. Spotting his obvious talent, some vets spoke up and discouraged the less savory sides of the youngster's driving personality. "During midseason in his rookie campaign, Earnhardt had been taken aside by such drivers as Richard Petty and Bobby Allison," we said. "His style was more of reckless abandon than scientific, and it bothered some of the superstars, mainly because they saw Dale had talent."

"Every lap was a controlled wreck," added Darrell Waltrip of Dale's rookie season in Winston Cup.

In that second season, Earnhardt displayed more control--and had more success. Unlike Harvick, who struggled through much of the first portion of 2002, Earnhardt succeeded in his second season, winning the Winston Cup title.

Through the early part of Harvick's second Winston Cup season, he has tailed off dramatically, finishing outside of the top 20 in six of his first nine starts. (In 2001, Harvick failed to finish in the top 20 in only nine of 35 starts.) Harvick still has much of 2002 in order to make this season a successful one, but despite finishing third in points in 2001, matching Earnhardt's sophomore accomplishments seems virtually impossible.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group