.JPG)
In 2000, when Mark Martin drove in what many thought would be his last races in what was then the NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series, his 45 wins, including five that year, were thought to be unbeatable. He started racing in the series again in 2004 and has racked up three more wins in the past five years, putting the number of victories in the NNS to 48.
On Saturday, Kevin Harvick won the Nationwide race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 35th in 239 starts, putting his win percentage at 14.6. That number is well behind Martin's percentage of 20.7 percent (48 wins in 231 starts), but as far as wins and impact on the series, Harvick has to be looked at as the driver who will finish his career as the best Nationwide driver ever.
The 2000 series' rookie of the year followed that campaign with a 2001 that may never be repeated. Tabbed to fill the seat of the late Dale Earnhardt, Harvick not only finished the Cup Series season with a top ten in that series' points and two wins while missing the season-opening Daytona 500, but won his first of two NNS titles. In 2006, he became the first driver to win the Nationwide title while also driving fulltime in the Cup Series. Since then, every Nationwide Series title has gone to a Cup Series regular (2007-Carl Edwards, 2008-Clint Bowyer, 2009-Kyle Busch).
He won both titles driving for his Cup team owner, Richard Childress, but went on to form his own team, Kevin Harvick Inc., with his wife DeLana. The team fields entries in both the Nationwide Series as well as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he was won two title as an owner with Ron Hornaday behind the wheel.
The Bakersfield, Calif., native has not only dominated the series with wins, top-fives (120), top-tens (168), and average finish (8.9). While he has had an impressive career in the Cup Series with 11 wins, including a victory at the Brickyard and the 2007 Daytona 500 in addition to two Budweiser Shootout wins and a win in the Sprint All-Star Race, and is currently leading the Cup Series points standings, it is the Nationwide Series that could potentially launch "Happy" Harvick into the rarified air of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
