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Harvick will sub for Earnhardt

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 22, 2001

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kevin Harvick's foray into the Winston Cup Series will begin sooner than expected.

The 2000 Busch Grand National Rookie of the Year will replace Dale Earnhardt in a car owned by Richard Childress Racing starting with Sunday's race at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

The car will not bear the No. 3 that Earnhardt used.

Harvick, who won three races and set a rookie points record last season, was scheduled to run seven Winston Cup races this year for RCR before moving to the series full-time next year in the No. 30 Chevrolet.

MORE HANS: Adding to a growing list, five Dodge and three Pontiac drivers have ordered the HANS or a similar head and neck safety device.

"Earnhardt was the highest-profile driver in the sport, but we should look at his death no differently just because he was so well-known," said Bill Elliott, who had the device in time for the Daytona 500 but didn't wear it. "I don't know how we can look at this and not make some changes."

Dave Blaney, who drives the No. 93 Pontiac, is using a different system for taller drivers that is made by Autolive.

SERVICES ON TV: Due to an overwhelming number of requests, Fox has given its affiliates the option to air Earnhardt's funeral today in Charlotte, N.C., in addition to showing it live on Fox Sports Net. WTVT-Ch. 13 will pre-empt Judge Hatchett, Power of Attorney and Fox 13 News at Noon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to air the services.

TBS and MSNBC also plan coverage.

Fox spokesman Lou D'Ermilio also said the Earnhardt family has stipulated that no footage be made available once the service is over. "They don't want to see clips on the 6 o'clock news," he said.

LAST PRAYER: The minister who prayed with Earnhardt right before the Daytona 500 spoke about the driver's last words to him.

The Rev. Max Helton said he stood at the side of Earnhardt's car with Earnhardt's wife, Teresa, and car owner Richard Childress and led a prayer, as he had done on most race day Sundays for the past 13 years.

"We held hands through his window," said Helton, a Presbyterian minister and founder of Motor Racing Outreach. "He says, "Just pray that I'll be wise in putting the car at the right place at the right time ... and be able to drive with wisdom.' And we did pray about that. And we did pray for safety."

-- Times writers Kevin Kelly and Sharon Ginn, NASCAR.com and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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