A NASCAR todavía le falta una gran pieza sin Dale Earnhardt, dice Kevin Harvick

The most pressure Kevin Harvick said he ever felt as a NASCAR driver was at Rockingham Speedway in February 2001, the week after Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed in a wreck on the last lap of the Daytona 500. 

It was ‘the most people, the most pressure, the most everything that I ever had to experience,» Harvick said Thursday during the live edition of «Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour» at Daytona International Speedway.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Earnhardt’s tragic death, after which Harvick replaced the NASCAR legend behind the wheel of the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and made his Cup Series debut. Honoring the anniversary, FOX Sports and NASCAR Studios will air the documentary «We’ve Lost Dale Earnhardt: 25 Years Later» on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on FS1, following the 2026 Daytona 500 qualifying duels. 

«It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years, and, obviously, I lived that situation pretty closely, getting in the car the next week,» Harvick continued, speaking on stage with FOX Sports’ Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith.

«They called and said, ‘Hey, you need to come over.’ And that’s when I knew that something was not right,» Harvick continued. «So you’re sitting there waiting, trying to understand what’s going on. And then it’s all the questions, right? What’s going to happen with RCR? Who’s going to drive the car? How’s the sport going to go on? 

«And 25 years later, the sport is still going on, but it’s just missing a big piece of what was so important to NASCAR racing with Dale. And he had such a massive influence on everything that happened: The image of who we were and such a strong leader of the sport. So it was a pretty crazy time to be able to adapt to what was going on, getting the car to drive.»

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Los impactos del accidente de Earnhardt incluyen una mayor seguridad para los conductores y equipos. NASCAR sigue siendo un deporte peligroso, pero Harvick elogió que, como resultado, el organismo rector esté buscando constantemente mejores medidas de seguridad.

«Nuestro deporte ha evolucionado debido a ese accidente. Desde el punto de vista de la seguridad, NASCAR inmediatamente comenzó el aspecto de seguridad de tratar de adelantarse a las cosas y mantenerse al día y hacer las cosas de una mejor manera. Y lo hacemos hasta el día de hoy.

«Están constantemente observando cada accidente, cada pieza del equipo que lleva el piloto, las pistas de carreras, las paredes blandas. Si piensas en el impacto que ese accidente tuvo en la seguridad de este deporte, nunca será igualado. Y NASCAR ha hecho un gran trabajo para continuar con eso hasta este momento».

«Hemos perdido a Dale Earnhardt: 25 años después» saldrá al aire el jueves 12 de febrero a las 10 p. m., hora del Este, en FS1. Las 500 Millas de Daytona de 2026 están programadas para el domingo a las 2:30 pm ET por FOX.