Kevin Harvick’s partnership with The Hershey Company delivered a bevy of colorful candy cars and diecasts. Harvick’s Cup and Busch Series rides were adorned with Reese’s, Twizzlers, Take5, IceBreakers, PayDay and other Hershey Company products throughout much of the 2000s. The partnership also led to a grail of diecast collecting, Harvick’s 2007 Peanut Butter Banana Reese’s Cups No. 29. However, just once did Hershey’s Milk Chocolate serve as the primary sponsor for Harvick, the 2006 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. This memorable ride had an extensive production run — it was 2006 after all — but good luck finding one around the same price you’d pay for one of Harvick’s other Hershey-branded diecasts.

The Hershey’s brown and silver ride was a part of a multi-race primary sponsorship deal for the No. 29 RCR team and The Hershey Company. Harvick ran 12 races that season with the No. 29 emblazoned with Hershey’s, Icebreakers Ice Cubes, Reese’s, Reese’s Cookies or Reese’s Caramel Cups sponsorship. Only the Reese’s Cookies ride, in which Harvick won at Phoenix in the penultimate race of the season, wasn’t produced as a diecast.

By the time Harvick was strapping into his Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chevy at the Pepsi 400, he had compiled five top-fives, including a win at the spring Phoenix race. As such, Harvick had already equaled bested his number of top-five finishes and tied his number of wins from 2005 at the halfway point of the 2006 season.

Harvick started 32^nd but was inside the top 10 within the first 15 laps. Harvick’s positioning was a pendulum throughout the race. As Fox analyst Larry McReynolds said during the broadcast, “It’s went from the rear to the front to the rear to back to the front for Kevin Harvick.”

Following a caution, Harvick started 15^th with nine laps to go with perennial underdog Boris Said leading the field. Shuffling and three-wide racing allowed Harvick to claim the inside lane and move into the top 10. It was auspicious timing for Harvick to find the low lane as Greg Biffle and JJ Yeley, in the middle and high lanes next to Harvick, made contact. Harvick had just cleared the two drivers as Biffle spun across the track with several other cars caught up the incident. After likely breathing a sigh of relief, Harvick started eighth when racing resumed with three laps to go. He quickly worked his way up to sixth but was passed on the outside to remain just inside the top 10. Tony Stewart led the field onto the backstretch on the final lap when a caution for debris ended the race and kept Harvick from advancing. He finished ninth.

Harvick’s Hershey ride was commemorated in various forms of diecasts from Action/Lionel. ARC, Mac Tools and QVC production of the standard 1/24 version totaled 2,940. Clear-window bank, White Gold and Elite versions were also offered in 1/24, along with Elite and Motorsports Authentics 1/64 models. No matter the production, all of the produced diecasts have an inaccuracy from the version Harvick raced. The diecasts have all been produced with white roof numbers, while Harvick raced with neon yellow roof numbers and strip along the lower front fascia.

Diecasts recently sold show there is still a strong demand for the Hershey’s scheme despite its high production numbers and inaccuracy.

Several 1/24 and 1/64 scale versions sold on eBay from March through June. The 1/24s sold for $30 to $250, the latter a rarer Color Chrome version. Most standard versions commanded around $50 to $70 while two Elite versions both sold for just under $100. Fewer 1/64 scales were sold, and three of the four sold were purchased for around $50.

Harvick’s Pepsi 400 result moved him up a position to ninth in the points standings. The Pepsi 400 result kicked off a six-race top 10 streak for Harvick, which included four top-five finishes and a win at Watkins Glen. Harvick would win three more races that season, doubling his career total of wins in a single season. Harvick earned his first Chase for the Championship berth that season, but a DNF at Dover and 31^st place finish at Atlanta kept him out of the running for the title.

Harvick did earn a championship that year, though. He captured the Busch Series title by a record 824 points. In 35 Busch races, Harvick racked up nine wins, 23 top-fives and an incredible 32 top-10s, earning him a season average finish of seventh.