Kevin Harvick compares Kyle Busch’s death to the loss of Dale Earnhardt

NASCAR paid tribute to the late Kyle Busch throughout the weekend, and Kevin Harvick has been through this before with the loss of Dale Earnhardt. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick compared the reaction to Busch’s death to what happened to Earnhardt over 20 years ago.

“I’ve unfortunately been through this a couple times now,” Kevin Harvick said. “You look back at everything that happened with Dale and everything that RCR (Richard Childress Racing) had to deal with, and their family, just eerily different but similar in the way we have to deal with it.”

Shortly after Kyle Busch’s death, NASCAR announced that the Coca-Cola 600 would go on as scheduled. Harvick said that is something that Busch and Earnhardt would have wanted.

“If you look at Kyle and what he would want is probably very similar to what Dale would have wanted,” Harvick said. “He would have wanted those cars on the racetrack, and the healing to come from the race cars on the track, and the fans and the families and people and teams being able to work their way back to normal. But it’s going to take a while.”

More on Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt died while competing in the 2001 Daytona 500. He was competing for RCR, and Harvick was on the team, but the plan was for Harvick to compete in the Busch Series (now O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) for the 2001 season. When Earnhardt died, Harvick took over and began his legendary NASCAR career.

The loss of Earnhardt rocked the NASCAR world because of the impact he made on the sport. The same can be said for Kyle Busch, who also had a legendary career. Earnhardt and Busch are ranked in the top 10 in NASCAR all-time wins, and both won multiple Cup Series championships.

Shortly after Busch’s death, Harvick reflected on their relationship. “Kyle Busch and I spent years pushing each other to the limit,” Harvick wrote. “We raced hard, traded paint, and fought for every inch because all either of us wanted to do was beat the other.

“What people may not realize is how much that rivalry drove us both. Kyle made me better because you had to be at your absolute best to beat him. Over time, that fierce competition turned into a mutual respect.”