Harvick’s Best Paint Schemes (Part 2)

Approximately a month ago, I wrote an article that looked at some of Harvick’s best paint schemes. Due to the fact that Harvick has had so many great paint schemes, I planned to come back around to this topic in the off-season. Given that the #29 All-Star Race throwback paint scheme won the 2023 NASCAR Fan Choice Award for best paint scheme recently, I figured now would be an opportune time for this article.

A legendary tribute for a legendary racer. @KevinHarvick’s No. 29 throwback won Best Paint Scheme in the 2023 NASCAR Fan Choice Awards! #4EVER pic.twitter.com/MLh3fdvwO7

— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) November 21, 2023

This is purely an opinion piece, of course. There is no objective way to measure the quality of paint schemes. Regardless, Harvick’s final season is over, and that fact is still sinking in for many Harvick fans. It is time to let the nostalgia begin.

#29 SHR Throwback/RCR First Win

On this day in 2001, Kevin Harvick edged out Jeff Gordon at Atlanta to score his first career cup series win! pic.twitter.com/yCU95FyiL9

— NASCAR PICTURES (@Nascarpixtures) March 11, 2021

It would be hard not to include this paint scheme. In just his third cup race after replacing the late Dale Earnhardt, Harvick pulled off this victory at Atlanta by inches. While the sponsors were different on the 2023 All-Star throwback, I combine these two into one paint scheme. Honestly, I did this because Harvick had so many great paint schemes during his career.

This is one of Harvick’s best paint schemes, in my opinion. It was raced for most of his rookie season. He not only won his first race with this paint scheme, but he also won the Rookie of the Year Award with this paint scheme. Kevin Harvick probably had one of the toughest jobs during his rookie year. Given that he managed to finish 9th in points, even without any points for the Daytona 500, this paint scheme has to be included.

Finally, how cool was it as a throwback? It was great that Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing were able to put this together for the all-star race. Seeing Harvick driving the 29 car on North Wilkesboro Speedway in his final season was one of the top moments of the #4EVER retirement campaign. I am not surprised that it won the Fan Choice Award for best paint scheme.

#4 Grave Digger (2021)

Harvick's Best Paint Schemes — Image Credit: NASCAR.com

Harvick would race this paint scheme at the cup series debut race at Nashville Speedway in 2021. There isn’t a whole lot to say about this paint scheme, other than it is just awesome. I’m not even a fan of monster trucks, and to me, this is just one of the coolest paint schemes ever, for anybody.

In the cup series debut at Nashville, Harvick would take this paint scheme to a fifth place finish. While 2021 was a season in which Harvick went winless, he did achieve 10 top 5s and 24 top 10s. Despite the very consistent performance, Harvick’s top 5 at Nashville stands out in many people’s minds as one of his better races in 2021. Certainly, this paint scheme has something to do with that perception.

The Best Mobil-1 Paint Schemes

Harvick had multiple different Mobil-1 paint schemes. I have picked three of them to cover for this article, as it was very difficult to pick just one Mobil-1 paint scheme.

2019 #4 Mobil-1 Black Paint Scheme

First of all, I chose this as one of Harvick’s best paint schemes because it reminded me so much of my favorite Harvick GM Goodwrench paint scheme (from 2003). I just like the black with the silver secondary color. This is just a killer paint scheme when it comes to aesthetics. I am not sure if the silver is supposed to be flames or smoke, but either way, it is one cool looking paint scheme.

Still, I did not solely pick this paint scheme based on aesthetics. Harvick returned to victory lane at Indianapolis in the 2019 Brickyard 400 for the first time since 2003. Since I am a big fan of stock car racing at the Indianapolis oval course, I had to include this as one of Harvick’s best paint schemes. The other two Brickyard winning paint schemes were already included in my previous article on Harvick’s best paint schemes. Might as well make it three out of three.

2021 #4 Fan Vote Roval Scheme

This is another really cool paint scheme. Obviously, it won a fan vote and was utilized during the playoff race at the Charlotte Roval. The race didn’t end well for Harvick, but fans managed to get some therapeutic vicarious revenge on Chase Elliott with this paint scheme. The younger, angrier Harvick showed back up in this paint scheme, after Elliott’s shenanigans kept Harvick from winning the playoff race at Bristol.

Given that 2021 ended up being a winless season for Harvick and Elliott was a big part of stealing a win from Harvick at Bristol, I had to include this paint scheme. It had been a while since fans had seen Harvick teaching other drivers lessons on track in this fashion. Yeah it didn’t work out, as Harvick ended up eliminated and Elliott got to wish Harvick a “Merry Off-season” by managing to still advance. Still, it was good to see the #9 car spin due to the #4 car.

Last Career Cup Win in Second Richmond Race 2022

Harvick got his 60th and final win with this Mobil-1 paint scheme. The primary color is white. The secondary color is black. It is reminiscent of some of the Penske #12 car’s Mobil-1 paint schemes driven by Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman. The Pegasus is there on the side, and the paint pattern is similar, though the secondary color is black instead of blue. Harvick has always kind of been perceived as somewhat of a “black hat” driver throughout his career. Ergo, the choice of black for the secondary color (as opposed to blue) is fitting.

The next gen car wasn’t really kind to Kevin Harvick. Still when he became the first driver to win back to back races in the next gen with this paint scheme, he proved a point. That point was that he could win, even in a car made of “crappy a** parts” that his top tier crew chief, Rodney Childers and team were not allowed to work on without getting insane penalties. Of course, I included this as one of Harvick’s best paint schemes.

2014 Championship/2023 4EVER 400 Budweiser Throwback

While this is not my favorite of Harvick’s Budweiser paint schemes (that honor goes to the black #29 RCR Budweiser paint scheme), it definitely belongs on the list of his best paint schemes. It is a cool looking paint scheme, but that isn’t the main reason I include it. The main reason it is included is that Harvick won his only cup series championship with this paint scheme.

The throwback to this paint scheme for the 2023 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil-1 at Homestead was a really cool deal, as well. While Harvick failed to win a race in his final season, Stewart-Haas Racing put on one hell of a retirement tour for him. The fact that Anheuser-Busch switched from the Busch Light brand to the Budweiser brand for this throwback was special. The fact that Mobil-1 honored him in the same race by naming the race at Homestead the 4EVER 400 made it even more special. This was great for Harvick fans, such as myself.

The Best of the Rest

As I’ve stated previously, Harvick has had many great paint schemes. It would be impossible to come up with a succinct and final list that would include every Harvick fan’s favorites. So to close out this article, I am just going to include a few more of my favorite schemes. If I missed any of your favorite Harvick paint schemes, let me know in the comments below.