Kevin Harvick was selected for the NASCAR Hall of Fame alongside Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips. The induction ceremony is set for Jan. 22, 2027, after Harvick won 46 of 50 votes and earned major praise for a career that was reshaped by Dale Earnhardt’s 2001 D
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kevin Harvick’s name was the one that kept landing on scorecards Tuesday, and this time it wasn’t about checkered flags.
Harvick, who captured the 2014 Cup Series championship and won 60 races at NASCAR’s top level, was selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He will be inducted on Jan. 22, 2027, along with former teammate Jeff Burton and pioneer Larry Phillips, bringing the total number of Hall of Fame inductees to 73.
The vote numbers made the call feel immediate. Harvick received 46 of the 50 votes cast by a panel that included representatives from NASCAR. the Hall of Fame. track owners from major facilities and historic short tracks. media members. manufacturer representatives. competitors (drivers. owners. crew chiefs). recognized industry leaders. reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson. and a nationwide fan vote.
Harvick’s share was 92 per cent. Burton landed the second-most on the modern ballot with 32 per cent, edging out Neil Bonnett, Randy Dorton and the late Greg Biffle for the second and final spot. Phillips received 38 per cent of the pioneer ballot votes.
Harvick framed it in terms of reputation and the respect that comes from the hard years in the garage and on the track. “When you talk about your reputation and the respect factor I think that speaks volumes about the things you were able to accomplish. ” he said of receiving 92 per cent of the votes. “I can say it now, I’m proud of that.”.
For Harvick, the path to this honor includes a moment that didn’t leave room for gradual growth. His career took an unexpected turn when team owner Richard Childress selected him to replace Dale Earnhardt after the seven-time champion was killed in a wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500.
Childress had planned to bring Harvick along slowly, having him gain experience at the sport’s lower level—then known as the Busch Series—but Earnhardt’s death accelerated his rise.
Driving the renumbered No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet, Harvick found victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway in only three races in 2001, delivering an emotional win for RCR. He then won NASCAR Rookie of the Year, establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
In later remarks, Harvick described the way survival sometimes looks like keeping your head down. Replacing Earnhardt, he said, was difficult, and he and others within RCR “hid” from harsh reality of the star’s death.
“I think the racer’s excuse is, ‘I have to go to a race,’” Harvick said. “Whether it’s a terrible moment like we had with Dale or what. it was like. ‘Well. we gotta go race.’ We just booked like 70 or 80 races that year and we just kind of hid from everything. … (The racetrack) was really where everyone wanted to be so we didn’t want to address the other situation.”.
That emotional cadence—racing forward while the loss stays behind—ran through the defining moments that followed. Known as “The Closer,” Harvick went on to win the 2007 Daytona 500 and earned his only championship seven years after NASCAR turned to an elimination-style playoff format.
His 60 Cup wins over 826 starts rank 11th all-time.
Burton, 58, will join Harvick as the second modern-era pick. He was a teammate of Harvick’s at RCR for years. Burton won 21 Cup races over his 20-year NASCAR career in 695 starts and was the 1994 Rookie of the Year. Among the highlights Burton cited in Tuesday’s announcement were winning the Coca-Cola 600 twice and the Southern 500. along with six Cup wins in 1999.
Burton said he was “playing a crappy round of golf” when he received a phone call letting him know he had gotten in. “The generations before us, they made it all possible,” Burton said. “So to be enshrined in something that my heroes are in, that just means a lot.”
Phillips, meanwhile, will be honored as part of the pioneer class. He died in 2004 at 62. Nobody can say for sure how many races he won. because Phillips raced everywhere from dirt to asphalt and in places where record keeping wasn’t always a priority. His crew chief, James Ince, estimated Phillips won 1,000 times; maybe 2,000, according to NASCAR.
The Hall of Fame announcement also included a separate recognition for Lesa France Kennedy. The executive vice chair of NASCAR was selected as the Landmark Award winner for her contributions to the sport. including spearheading the revitalization of Phoenix Raceway and the Daytona Rising project at Daytona International Speedway.
Harvick’s selection, with 46 of 50 votes and a career story shaped by the abrupt change after the 2001 Daytona 500, makes the 2027 induction look less like a distant ceremony and more like a long-delayed acknowledgment of how NASCAR’s toughest moments can still push someone into lasting legend.
NASCAR Hall of Fame Kevin Harvick Jeff Burton Larry Phillips Jan. 22 2027 Kyle Larson Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Phoenix Raceway Daytona Rising Lesa France Kennedy Landmark Award