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What an exciting night we had here at Kevin Harvick Inc.
as Operation Wax Smoke finally happened after nearly a year. If you are not
familiar with the event I will give you a little background… Tony Stewart
announced on his Sirius radio show last year that if anyone donated $100,000
to the Victory Junction Gang Camp he would wax his back. I thought it was a
hilarious way for not only my fans, but Tony’s as well, to raise the money
for a great cause.
Once the $100,000 was raised, Sirius offered to have me
fill in for Tony as a special co-host with Matt Yocum. We started the show
off recapping the Bristol race. It was the first time that Tony and I had
spoken since the mishap on the track. We played phone tag most of the day on
Sunday and Monday afternoon, but had a chance to talk about it live on the
show last night.
The evening was highlighted with many special guests
calling in such as Joe Gibbs Racing Owner Joe Gibbs and President JD Gibbs.
JD was kind enough to make a donation over the phone of $15,000 for an upper
area of Tony’s back. Jimmie Johnson also pledged $10,000 if Ford pulled of a
strip of wax.
After a few second thoughts Tony finally jumped onto the
table. You could tell in his eyes that he had no clue what was about to
happen. After the ladies began to place hot wax on his back, Tony began to
tense up, anticipating the first yank. “Ouuuuchhhh that hurt,” yelled
Stewart, as the first of many pulls began. The only thing I really remember
about that moment was everyone in the room erupting with laughter.
As the waxing continued, Sirius’ National Motorsports
Correspondent Ford Martin was right by Tony’s side. “Hey Tony your back
hasn’t seen daylight since 1978,” said Martin. The more the waxing went on,
people like myself, DeLana, Ford, Matt Yocum and Gil Martin, father of Ford
and crew chief for the No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, all took turns at
pulling the strips of wax off Tony’s back.
To be honest with you, Tony was a lot stronger than I
thought he would be. As the waxing began to wind down Matt and I presented
Austin Petty, who was there representing the Victory Junction gang camp a
check for $100,000 to the Victory Junction Gang Camp on behalf of KHI and all
the fans.
All in all this was a great night and I want to take the
time to personally thank each and every fan who donated money to make this
event a success not only for Tony and I, but all the kids at the Victory
Junction Gang Camp.
Thanks again,
Kevin Harvick
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Link to photos and audio from last night.
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Kevin's Diaries