Kevin Harvick, Josh Berry recall hilarious role Dale Earnhardt Jr. played during No. 4 transition at SHR

When Kevin Harvick announced his retirement last season, his replacement wasn’t exactly lined up, and Stewart-Haas Racing was left to wonder who could follow the former NASCAR Cup Series champion in the No. 4 Ford.

Enter Josh Berry. During the latest episode of Harvick’s Happy Hour, Berry — who we now know was called upon to follow in Harvick’s footsteps — recalled how he found out he was getting the ride, and Harvick explained how it came to fruition.

“I don’t know if you know this story, but the management at Stewart-Haas Racing actually came to Rodney [Childers] and I and said, ‘Hey, we need to find,’ after I told them, I told them in July, a year and a half before, that I was going to going to retire, and so, at the beginning of the next year, they came to us and said, ‘Hey, we need to find — you guys need to decide who you want to drive this car.’ So Rodney and I talked about it, talked about it, talked about it, and he, you know, he was adamant, from the very beginning that he wanted, he thought it should be you to drive the car,” Harvick told Berry. “I had actually never really followed the CARS Tour stuff, or the late-model stuff, so I started going back and looking at those races, and watching the Xfinity races, and we finally both agreed that it needed to be you.

“So I called, the first person I called was Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] I said, ‘Hey, here’s what I’m thinking. What do you think?’ And he was just like, ‘Absolutely. Let me know what I have to do to make it happen. We will figure it out, if that’s what we need to do.’ And, that’s how that conversation started. I don’t know, you know, how it would have all progressed, if it wasn’t Dale owning the car, and Kelly, to be able to work through those scenarios, to actually have you come come drive the No. 4 car.”

That’s an amazing look behind the curtain, courtesy of Harvick, adding some color to Berry’s recollection of the story, as Earnhardt Jr. wanted to make sure he didn’t prematurely spill the beans to his driver when it came time to make the decision.

“The first thing I remember is we’re at the FOX media day, and you came up to me and you were like, ‘Hey, did anybody call you?’ and I’m like, I’m like looking at you like ‘What?’ You know, I’m thinking like, you’re gonna say something about the CARS Tour or something like that,” Berry added. “You’re like, I’m like, ‘What?’ And you’re like, ‘The No. 4 car,’ and I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I think you told me to ask Dale about it or something like that. So then I get in the car after that, I’m sitting there thinking about it the whole time.

“So then I get in the car and I’m driving home and I called Dale and I’m like, ‘Hey, did you forget to tell me something?’ He’s like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘Well, Kevin,’ you know, I said story. He’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, he did. I meant to tell you that.’ He must’ve forgot, I guess.”

Evidently, Harvick believes Earnhardt Jr. was simply playing the fool when it came to his phone call with Berry, but when it was all made official, plenty of celebrating was done.

“Well, I think he was playing dumb, because he called me, he’s like, ‘Hey, you know, Josh asked me about this No. 4 car. Is it okay, can I talk about it? What do I need to do here?’ And so, you know, you know Dale better than than I know Dale, and I think it’s just funny, because he gets so excited about things and wants to tell everybody, and in that particular moment, he wasn’t telling a soul, because he didn’t want to mess it up for you,” Harvick responded.

“So, he was actually calling to you know, to make sure it was okay. But he’s been — it’s pretty cool, to have somebody like Dale Jr. on your side like that, and obviously you guys have a have a great relationship, with the things that you guys have been through in life, racing.”

Alas, it all worked out for Kevin Harvick, Josh Berry and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the respect between the three drivers is obvious. He may not be driving the No. 4 for much longer, but perhaps Josh Berry will give the number the sendoff it deserves, with a trip to Victory Lane in 2024.