On this day six years ago, Kevin Harvick won the hearts of NASCAR fans as he held three fingers out his window on his way to victory lane after clinching the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Atlanta had always been a special track for Harvick as it was where he earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2001. It was a win that came shortly after Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s tragic death, with the same owner Harvick raced for — Richard Childress Racing.
Kevin Harvick Honors Dale Earnhardt’s Legacy
The 2018 tribute was a replica of Harvick’s tribute for “The Intimidator” after his 2001 win at Atlanta.
After Harvick won the race in 2001, he held three fingers out his car window in honor of the late NASCAR legend who made the No. 3 car famous. Then, years later in 2018, when Harvick once again took the checkered flag at Atlanta, he did the exact same emotional tribute.
On this day in 2018, Kevin Harvick won at Atlanta! pic.twitter.com/l3KV5MdEvc
— Nascarpixtures (@Nascarpixtures) February 25, 2025
In a post-race article by Atlanta Motor Speedway, Harvick said, “That was the first win of my career and to be able to do that, to pay tribute to Dale was pretty cool. I’ve been waiting a long time to do it. We’ve had so many days where we could do that here. For five years, it’s been so fast at this particular race track — and a lot of other ones — but I love racing here and it’s good to be back in Victory Lane. Finally.”
According to NASCAR, in 2018, Harvick had led a total of 1,152 laps at Atlanta, the most of any active driver. What earned him the win was the lead he maintained for 181 of 325 laps in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.
Harvick said, “It was great getting into this race car and knowing everybody knew they had to beat our car.”
Harvick, who had also won the Xfinity Series a few days earlier, added, “We overcame a lot of things today and got a late-race restart that we drove off and won the race with. There were so many demons that seemed to haunt us here for a long time, but the
coolest part was being able to replicate that first win celebration.”
