Kevin Harvick brings Sprint Cup crown home in first season with Stewart-Haas Racing

Going to work every day had become tiresome. What Kevin Harvick wanted was a change. If he was going to achieve his goals Harvick needed to leave his longtime team and seek opportunity elsewhere.

Which is why in late 2012, Harvick announced at the end of the following season he would depart Richard Childress Racing after 13 years and join Stewart-Haas Racing. The decision to sign with the team co-owned by Tony Stewart, one of his close friends, was exactly the fresh start Harvick craved.

Though life at RCR wasn’t miserable, it was obvious that the relationship had run its course.

The fulfillment he desired came to fruition Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway when Harvick did what he could never do at RCR. Not only did the 38-year-old win the Ford Ecoboost 400, more importantly the victory secured Harvick the 2014 Sprint Cup championship.

“Tony was pretty adamant that we could race for wins and championships,” Harvick said in the euphoria of his first Cup title. “I think for me, that was really what it was all about.

“I needed to be excited about going to work, and this just gave me an opportunity to race with one of my good friends. It really changed my life in a new direction. In evaluation (my wife) and I were looking at things saying, ‘What’s going to make us happy?’ Because in the end, if you’re not happy, nothing is going to work like it should.”

Enter Stewart, who promised Harvick he would build a team centered on him. The first thing Harvick did was handpick Rodney Childers to serve as crew chief.

One catch: Childers, at first, wasn’t sure he wanted to work with the mercurial driver who once demanded the firing of his crew chief despite seven wins in two years and consecutive third-place points finishes. It took Stewart flying from his Indiana residence to North Carolina to convince Childers to come aboard.

“On my drive home, I said, ‘If anybody is willing to, number one, do that for me and spend that kind of money for me, they’re going to look after me,‘” Childers said. “He looked me in the eyes that night and said, ‘We’re going to do this.’”

Any misgivings Harvick may have had about leaving RCR quickly vanished the first time he sat in a Childers prepared SHR car. That moment occurred during a test last December at Charlotte Motor Speedway when Harvick was the fastest on the track, instantly causing the garage to take note.

In retrospect, that was a sign of things to come. Their second race together Harvick and Childers went to Victory Lane. A second win would soon follow. Although the new team was plagued by a rash of part failures, mistakes and just rotten luck through the summer months, it was obvious Harvick was a strong championship contender.

Also obvious was how happy Harvick was in his new surroundings. Even as wins continued to slip away, Harvick never erupted as he so often did during his tenure at RCR.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in my whole life than I have been this year just for the fact -- from a personal standpoint, from a professional standpoint, and you see all the things that you have around you, and you’re lucky,” Harvick said. “I love showing up to work. I love coming to the racetrack and love what I do. And it’s been a long, long time since I can sit up here and honestly tell you that I love the experience of everything that’s been around me and it just makes it fun.”

That faith in Childers and what he was building was rewarded in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Harvick won three of the final six races, including Sunday’s thrilling finale outdueling Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano for the title.

Afterward Harvick credited Stewart not just for giving him a new beginning and providing a badly needed rejuvenation, but for being a friend during a week when he needed one the most.

When Harvick clinched a spot in the championship finale a week ago, Stewart was waiting in Harvick’s hauler postrace with some sage advice on what was ahead. And Stewart continued to be a sounding board throughout the weekend.

“These seven days are the longest seven days of your life when you’re in this position,” said Stewart, a three-time Cup champion. “It’s knowing that we’re going to have to come down early and start the week early and that it’s going to be a long weekend. I was just trying to keep him having fun, do something to get his mind off of it.

“I’m proud of these guys. I didn’t tell them anything they haven’t been doing all year, but sometimes going into that last deal, it’s nice to just remind them why they’re here and why they do what they do.”

But just as Stewart was to give something to Harvick, the newly crowned champ was able to provide solace to his boss and friend, in what has been a trying year professionally and personally.

The on track struggles saw Stewart struggling to compete for top finishes for much of the season with his 15-year streak of winning at least once race ending.

Off the track life wasn’t just worse, it was a nightmare.

Fifteen months ago a sprint car crash left Stewart with a devastating compound fracture in his right leg, which still hasn’t fully healed. His limp is such that when at the track he must be accompanied by a security guard otherwise fans will overwhelm the slowly moving Stewart.

Another sprint car crash one year later would affect him not physically, but emotionally. During an August race in upstate New York, Stewart accidentally struck and killed another driver who was on-foot.

Although a grand jury later cleared him of any wrongdoing, Stewart was a psychological mess becoming a recluse, refusing to go out in public and sitting out three consecutive weeks.

But throughout the investigation and as Stewart’s reputation continued to be sullied, one person continued to vehemently defend him: Harvick. And as the Chase played out and he eventually qualified for the final round, Harvick made clear his intentions.

“There’s nothing better than to see your friends smile and that’s really what it’s all about,” Harvick said. “I know he’s been through a lot this year, but very rarely have we talked about those situations. It’s just, he’s my friend and I want to see him happy and work through the situations that he has.

“In the end, I just want to see him happy.”

Mission accomplished. Twice in four years Stewart is a championship-winning car owner. This time, however, he wasn’t driving. And though it may be for just a fleeting moment he has reason to smile thanks to Harvick, a friend who’s always had his back.

“There’s a lot of things I would love to change about the last 18 months of my life, but tonight is not one of them,” Stewart said. “I’m going to enjoy this moment and I’m going to enjoy it with this group and this young man. We’re going to go celebrate and enjoy this because this group of people here have deserved it.

“This is a great family and this is a great group of people to lean on.”