BAKERSFIELD, CA - It's what every athlete dreams of. Returning home to the place it all started, walking into the gym at their high school to the roar of the crowd, celebrating a championship.
On Monday, Kevin Harvick lived the dream.
Kevin Harvick returned home to his alma mater Monday morning with a shiny new piece of hardware, after winning NASCAR's Sprint Cup two weeks ago. "They asked me what I wanted to do and I said we're gonna take the trophy back to the high school. They all kinda looked at me funny and I said 'yeah, we're gonna take it back to the high school and show it to the kids,'" says Harvick.
Harvick was received with a hero's welcome at the school he graduated from in 1994. He offered up words of encouragement at a surprise pep rally Monday morning. "To live out your childhood dream just goes to show you that if you work hard, and you do the things that you're supposed to do and you want to do, no matter your upbringing, if you're rich, poor, everything in between, you can achieve anything you want."
It's a message that resonated with the faculty of north high. "I really appreciate the message that Kevin had for our students, talking about determination and hard work, and that you can accomplish your dreams, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. That's a real positive message for our students," says Principal Alan Paradise.
Harvick grew up in Bakersfield and still supports North High Athletics, where he once wrestled, through his foundation.
It's his way of staying connected to home. "I think as you come back, it's important to remember where you came from, and it's fun all in the same sense, to be able to come back and do things that are kind of out of the box."
Monday's visit was the first stop in a whirlwind media week for Harvick, who will officially be crowned the 2014 Sprint Cup series champion at NASCAR's awards banquet in Las Vegas Friday night.
On Monday, Kevin Harvick lived the dream.
Kevin Harvick returned home to his alma mater Monday morning with a shiny new piece of hardware, after winning NASCAR's Sprint Cup two weeks ago. "They asked me what I wanted to do and I said we're gonna take the trophy back to the high school. They all kinda looked at me funny and I said 'yeah, we're gonna take it back to the high school and show it to the kids,'" says Harvick.
Harvick was received with a hero's welcome at the school he graduated from in 1994. He offered up words of encouragement at a surprise pep rally Monday morning. "To live out your childhood dream just goes to show you that if you work hard, and you do the things that you're supposed to do and you want to do, no matter your upbringing, if you're rich, poor, everything in between, you can achieve anything you want."
It's a message that resonated with the faculty of north high. "I really appreciate the message that Kevin had for our students, talking about determination and hard work, and that you can accomplish your dreams, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. That's a real positive message for our students," says Principal Alan Paradise.
Harvick grew up in Bakersfield and still supports North High Athletics, where he once wrestled, through his foundation.
It's his way of staying connected to home. "I think as you come back, it's important to remember where you came from, and it's fun all in the same sense, to be able to come back and do things that are kind of out of the box."
Monday's visit was the first stop in a whirlwind media week for Harvick, who will officially be crowned the 2014 Sprint Cup series champion at NASCAR's awards banquet in Las Vegas Friday night.