Harvick, with free agency looming, could become first target for Toyota

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Unless car owner Richard Childress can sign him to a long-term extension, Kevin Harvick will be one of the top free agents for the 2007 season -- just in time for Toyota to make its NASCAR debut.

"They are going to make a run at a lot of drivers, and everyone is aware that Kevin's contract is up," Childress said Thursday. "I am sure they are going to make a run at him."

Harvick has been reluctant to negotiate with Childress, unsure of where the program is headed.

Once considered one of the elite teams in NASCAR, RCR has struggled of late and Harvick has failed to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship the past two seasons. He's coming off a one-win season in which his crew chief was suspended twice for allegedly cheating on car setups.

Since his breakout season in 2001, when he won in just his third career Cup start, Harvick has never fully taken off. He's got just four career wins -- although one is the prestigious Brickyard 400 -- and has never finished higher than fifth in the final season standings.

Until he's sure that Childress can give him a team capable of winning a championship, Harvick doesn't want to commit to anything.

"We've kind of agreed to sit down in April and just kind of evaluate where things are," Harvick said. "I'm not going to rush into things and do things I don't want to do. I think right now we are in the same frame of mind about our goals, and our goals are to go out and get the season going out good and make the Chase.

"All the rest of it, the paper stuff, is something that's not high on the list right now."

But contracts are high on the list to Toyota, which announced Monday it will field Nextel Cup teams in 2007. The Japanese automaker will have at least three teams and anywhere from four to seven drivers, depending on sponsorship.

Bill Davis Racing is expected to field two drivers, and Michael Waltrip, who will drive for his own team, wants to field two cars.

Team Red Bull, a startup, was Toyota's announced third team and has revealed very few details about its operation. That has led to speculation that Toyota will recruit top drivers and hand-deliver them to Red Bull.

Harvick should be on the top of Toyota's list, and he apparently knows it.

"Our position right now is favorable," he smiled.

Someone is going to pay a lot of money to employ Harvick in 2007, whether it's Childress or another team owner. If Harvick stays at RCR, he'll likely receive incentives from General Motors, which gives Childress factory support and will probably fight to prevent becoming the first manufacturer to lose top talent to Toyota.

"I think Toyota definitely is going to change the support of the manufacturer market," Harvick said. "I think it's going to make it a lot more competitive and force manufacturers to do a lot more to keep its teams intact."

But Childress knows it will take more than a blank check to lure Harvick away.

"I don't know that it's all about money with Kevin Harvick -- if we can get our teams back to where he's competitive that's going to mean a lot to him," Childress said.