"He's got that dog in him"- NASCAR star Kevin Harvick outlines Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief's unwavering mettle on Austin Dillon's car at Phoenix

Aneesh
NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Harvick Ford, waits on the grid. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick has praised Joe Gibbs Racing's crew chief's ceaseless efforts to prevent a DNF finish for Austin Dillon.

Phoenix Raceway anchored the fourth race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series calendar. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell sealed his first win of the season at the Shriners Children's 500.

However, for Dillon, the day ended on a dismal note as debutant Derek Kraus brought up the first caution of the race. Dillon was trailing behind the Kaulig Racing driver when the latter spun out on lap six. The dense smoke produced from the screeching compounds acted as a blindfold for the Richard Childress Racing driver, and he wrecked into Kraus' #16 Chevrolet.

The crash shattered the bonnet of Dillon's ride. Nevertheless, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, was hell-bent on finishing the race with the #3 Camaro ZL1 driver. When the 33-year-old pitted his car, Gabehart hammered the bonnet to make the car feasible for racing again.

This caught Kevin Harvick's attention, and he was all praise for Chris' tireless effort toward his team. An excerpt from the HarvickHappyHour podcast, wherein the NASCAR Hall of Famer lauded the crew chief, was posted on X (formerly Twitter) account:

"Chris Gabehart, he's one of those crew chiefs that just, he's got that dog in him, he's just there diggin there all the time." (00:16)

Kevin Harvick unveils his wife's shocking reaction to his 'lit' conversation with Bubba Wallace

Shortly before the NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 race flagged off, a small banter between Kevin Harvick and 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace took place. The duo were witnessed taking friendly jibes at each other and quickly gained traction on X (formerly Twitter).

While concluding their pre-race chat, Harvick said:

"Alright, buddy. Well, that Columbia Camry looks pretty lit today, so floor that thing."

Hearing the 48-year-old's choice of words, Wallace cackled as he replied:

"Haha, you’re too old to be saying it like that!"

The hysterical exchange spread like wildfire in the community, following which Kevin Harvick's wife, DeLana Harvick, expressed her intrigue on the matter. The former NASCAR driver revealed about his wife's concern on his podcast, saying:

"So everybody knew it was coming, producers, everybody knew it was coming. I guess I was trending on Twitter. I got a text from my wife, and she says 'What in the world is happening? I just took my iPad on and pulled up Twitter and your name is trending. Did you fall down? What have you said, what is happening?'"

He added:

"So I had to explain to her what was going on that I had said 'lit' on television and everybody was a little bit caught off guard because it's obviously way out of character for me to say it."

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