The New Intimidator?

Has Kevin Harvick become superior to Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

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Has Junior been trailing Harvick all along and we just failed to notice?

In the days after Dale Earnhardt's death eight years ago this week, race fans and motorsports analysts around the world were obsessed with one question: who could replace The Intimidator?

Fans speculated—then all-out begged—for his son Dale Junior to slide into the famous No. 3 Chevy. Those demands continued for the next couple of seasons, especially when Junior became a free agent and Richard Childress Racing had a ride to fill.

But here's the thing. All that pleading from Earnhardt Nation has overshadowed a stark truth that only became all the more clearer as the checkered flag fell on the Budweiser Shootout Saturday night. The man that did indeed replace Dale Senior in 2001 is, so far anyway, a more consistent and thus better Cup Series driver than his predecessor's own flesh and blood.

Yes, you read that right. Kevin Harvick is a better driver than Dale Earnhardt Junior. At the very least, Happy is Little E's equal when it comes to accomplishments behind the wheel.

Don't believe me? Let's send their résumé's down the drag strip and see what happens.

Career Cup Wins — Harvick 11, Earnhardt Jr. 18

At first, this looks like a no-brainer victory for Little E. But there are two factors to consider here. First, Earnhardt had a 40-race head start, during which he picked up his first two Cup victories and first two Cup poles. Second, it's not a long walk to argue that Harvick's win total represents a more diverse group of tracks and races.

Earnhardt's 18 wins have been spread out over 10 tracks, but a dozen of them have come at only four—Talladega (5), Richmond (3), Daytona (2), and Phoenix (2).

Harvick's 11 victories have come at nine different racetracks, including a road course win at Watkins Glen (he'd also have one at Sonoma if not for a bizarre '03 run-in with then-teammate Robby Gordon).

"Big Ticket" Wins — Harvick 4, Earnhardt Jr. 4

Dale Junior gets a lot of attention for his win in the '04 Daytona 500 and in the '00 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte. But Harvick also owns a first place trophy from each, winning the Great American Race and the All-Star Challenge in '07. Junebug owns two Budweiser Shootout wins to Happy's one, but Harvick's 2003 Brickyard 400 more than offsets that difference.

(Those who want to argue that Junior's emotional 2001 Firecracker 400 victory at Daytona after his father's death should be included as a Big Ticket win. We'll be happy to include it … but only if you let us toss in Harvick's win at Atlanta in Dale Senior's car a mere three weeks after that darkest of days.)

Head-to-Head — Harvick 143, Earnhardt Jr. 143

It's true, amazingly enough.

Harvick and Earnhardt have raced each other in 286 points-paying Cup Series races. Kevin has beaten Dale 143 times and Dale has beaten Harvick 143 times. Over that span, Earnhardt owns the advantage in race wins (16 to 11) and top tens (129 to 120), but Harvick has posted a better average finish (15.3 to 15.6) and far fewer DNF's (13 to 35).

Top-10 Points Finishes — Harvick 5, Earnhardt Jr. 4

After taking over the No. 3 car in 2001, Harvick did what many considered to be impossible, finishing ninth in points despite missing one race. Not bad for a rookie, huh? The following year, he struggled to a 21st place finish, but has racked up four top-10 efforts over the last six years, including three finishes in the top five and a current streak of three consecutive top-ten seasons.

Earnhardt tops Harvick in highest points finish (he came in third in '03, Harvick has finished fourth twice) and also owns three top-five seasons. But over the last four years, he has finished inside the top ten only once. Both drivers have appeared in the Chase three times, with Harvick gaining the edge in performance with a sixth place average points finish vs. 7.3 for Junior.

Harvick's best season came in 2006 with five wins, 15 top fives, 20 top 10s, one pole, an average finish of 12.2 and a fourth-place finish in points.

Earnhardt's top year was 2004 with six wins, 16 top fives, 21 top tens and an average finish of 12.1, though his fifth-place points finish trailed his '03 effort.

Major Awards and Championships — Harvick 5, Earnhardt 2

First things first, we're not including Earnhardt's six Most Popular Driver awards here. Winning that has more do to with a fan club's ability to stuff a ballot box than a driver's ability to win races, just ask Bill Elliott.

Harvick won the 1998 Camping World Series West (the artist formerly known as Winston West) championship, Nationwide (Busch) Series titles in 2001 and '06 (both while also racing full-time in Cup) and earned Rookie of the Year honors in both Nationwide (2000) and Cup (2001).

Earnhardt earned back-to-back Nationwide championships in 1998-99 but lost Cup Rookie of the Year to Matt Kenseth in 2000. Past that, nothing.

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Many forget that Harvick stepped into the #3 car after Dale Sr. passed.

Other Stuff

The deeper you dig, the more the teeter-totter sways back and forth.

Harvick owns the edge in career average Cup Series race finish (15.3 to 16.1), Nationwide Series wins (32 to 22, though he has started almost exactly twice as many races). He also owns three Truck Series wins (Earnhardt's never started a Truck race), one IROC win (Earnhardt has none) and the 2002 IROC championship (Earnhardt's best effort was ninth out of 14 guys in '99).

Earnhardt owns the advantage in Cup poles (eight to five), top-five finishes (86 to 56), laps led, money won and all of the other stats that point to a career more than a full year longer than the competition. As we prepare for Thursday's Dual 150's, it must be mentioned that Earnhardt owns two wins in the Daytona 500 qualifiers to Harvick's zero.

And spare me the "Yeah, but DEI sucked during Junior's last couple of seasons and he still ran well" argument. There was no Cup team more lost in the woods than RCR during the post-Senior years (see, " 14 different drivers in four years") and during that time Harvick was the only factor keeping the team relevant.

Final Verdict — Kevin "The Intimidator" Harvick?

So, who's the winner? If you like big numbers—from laps led to t-shirt sales to TV commercials shot—then Dale Earnhardt Junior is your guy. And judging by the roar during pre-race driver intros, he is.

But if you like solid, consistent points finishes, mixed with a surprising number of big race victories across multiple concurrent disciplines of stock car racing, not to mention at least one good old fashioned in-season feud (I'm looking at you Carl Edwards, Juan Montoya, Bobby Hamilton, Greg Biffle and Robby Gordon) … then Kevin Harvick is your guy.

Who is the better driver? That likely won't be officially answered until one of these two beats the other to the one big prize that has so far avoided them both—a Cup Series title. But as hard it might be for JR Nation to admit in the meantime, Happy is every bit Dale Junior's equal so far in this race.

Open your eyes, Dale Senior fans. While you've been waiting on the right guy to finally replace your hero, he's been sitting behind the wheel all along.

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