Kevin Harvick Doesn’t Miss Owning NASCAR Teams, Focused On Baby-Proofing Home

But Harvick’s days as owner came to an end last fall when Harvick and his wife DeLana – who ran the organization on a day-to-day basis – announced they were selling the Nationwide portion of KHI to Harvick’s Cup owner Richard Childress and the Truck Series teams to Eddie Sharp.

So does Harvick miss owning a team?

“It really hasn’t even been on my mind at all,” Harvick said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “...There are a lot of things going on and I really haven’t missed it at all and I really underestimated how big of a relief it would actually be. It’s been great.”

But don’t think for a second just because Harvick’s been divested of being a NASCAR owner he now has all this extra time on his hands.

The man who’s finished third in the Sprint Cup Series point standings for the past two years has been tasked with an even bigger responsibility: Baby-proofing his house for the forthcoming arrival of the Harvicks’ first child, which is due mid-summer.

“Right now, they’re working on nurseries and playrooms, and the backyard has been completely dismantled and it’s a pile of dirt now,” Harvick said. “We’ve taken out swimming pools and all kinds of stuff working in that direction. Everything from baby gates to dingers on elevators to you name it, a lot has been changed. It’s been fun.”

So far, the home improvement projects haven’t proven to be a distraction for Harvick. Through five races, he has posted two top-five and three top-10 finishes, and as a result finds himself second in points heading into Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 – which Harvick won a year ago after completing a pass of Dale Earnhardt Jr. with five laps to go.

Being just a driver and nothing else is a role Harvick seems to be relishing, and there are no regrets of giving up something he worked so hard to build.

“To be able to unwind and take your mind off of what’s going on at the race track is something you really couldn’t do outside of the race track, because there is always something happening on the team ownership side and it will swallow you up really fast if you let your guard down,” Harvick said.