$110M-worth Kevin Harvick contrasts Kyle Busch's 'social' bond with Tony Stewart's deep friendship amid rivalry reflection

Former NASCAR champion turned commentator Kevin Harvick opened up about the unique relationships he had with two former NASCAR Cup Series champions: Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch. In his own Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, Harvick drew a clear contrast between his deep-rooted friendship with former team owner Stewart and his intense, no-holds-barred rivalry with Busch.

Harvick's relationship with Tony Stewart is like a brother with whom he initially raced against and then shared a connection through his team, Stewart-Haas Racing, where Harvick drove for many years. Whereas, Harvick shares a rivalry with Busch, which was intense during his career, marked by on-track incidents and heated exchanges.

Reflecting back on his rivalry with Busch on the podcast, the 2014 NASCAR Cup champion Kevin Harvick also shed light on how he and Busch were driven by a relentless desire that the competitive fire pushed them to become better NASCAR drivers.

Here's what Harvick, who has a net worth of $110 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth) said [24:00]:

“One of my favorite times I mean, I love Tony Stewart like a brother. We became great friends through the years and competed hard against each other. Kyle and I are social friends here and there, not quite like Tony, but I appreciated the competition that was always presented with Kyle Busch because it was in Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup, and it didn't matter what you were racing.”

“He wanted to rip my head off, and I wanted to rip his head off. And I wanted to beat him bad, and he wanted to beat me bad, and it went through those years of just that head-to-head competition that just made us better racers,” Harvick continued.

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Kevin Harvick asks JGR's owner who was harder to deal between Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart

On a recent episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Harvick sat down with NASCAR legend Joe Gibbs, where they recounted memorable stories about Stewart and Busch. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner asked Gibbs a question about who was harder to deal with between Stewart and Busch.

Responding to it, the Hall of Fame Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team owner said [22:23 onwards]:

“Kyle Busch and Tony, they were both very super talented, and both of them a little bit alike. But really, both of them, I really appreciated their talent and the way they went after it for us. Obviously that was great for us, and you know, every now and then there were some challenges. But really they helped build our race team; they really did, and I appreciated both of them so much because, you know, they won a ton.”

In Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch, JGR had the two greatest forces of NASCAR during the 2000s. Both clinched two Cup championships, including numerous wins for Coach Joe Gibbs during their time with the organization.