DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR fans Mike and Cheryl Mitchell awoke Thursday morning with no idea they'd be having beers with a star driver by the end of the day.
But that's exactly what happened after Kevin Harvick, Cheryl's favorite driver, tweeted an invitation Thursday night for any fan to join him for a Budweiser at a local restaurant – provided they find him first.
"Rain out so we are having a few @Budweiser's! If you can find us the beers on me!" the Budweiser-sponsored Harvick tweeted after the first day of NASCAR testing in Daytona Beach was postponed. Included in his tweet was a picture of a restaurant's interior, but it was unclear which one — at least to most people.
The Mitchells recognized it right away.
"we r in autograph line 4 u now. Will u sign wife's car if we show?" Mike Mitchell tweeted back from the Daytona International Speedway infield.
"Heck yeah it's dry here!" Harvick replied.
With that, the Mitchells decided to give up their place in line and try to find Harvick. Because they were from nearby Jacksonville, the Mitchells guessed correctly after identifying the items on the wall visible in the photo.
"We walked in and Kevin was sitting right by the door," a beaming Mike Mitchell said Friday. "I told him I was the guy who tweeted him, and he said, 'Have a seat!'"
"He was so shocked someone actually figured out where he was and showed up," Cheryl said.
The Mitchells hung out and drank beers with Harvick and his team for one hour and 15 minutes, talking about everything from racing to UFC to the Olympic hockey rosters.
Mike Mitchell, a 43-year-old retired Navy chief, told Harvick stories of life on a submarine. Harvick proudly showed Cheryl pictures of his young son, Keelan.
"He was fabulous," said Cheryl, who works for a medical insurance company. "I'm going to blow his reputation straight out of the water, but he was the exact opposite of how some people make him out to be. He couldn't have been nicer. He was cracking jokes and letting us help plan pranks he was going to pull at (Nationwide team) JR Motorsports."
Both Cheryl and Mike, a longtime Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, ranked it as their No. 1 experience as a NASCAR fan. Each separately marveled at the "totally normal conversation" they had with one of NASCAR's top stars. Previously, the Mitchells had only spoken to drivers briefly during autograph sessions.
"It was just like if me and you sat down and had a beer, except he happens to be one of the best drivers out there," Mike Mitchell said. "We just took a chance. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
As it turned out, Harvick was feeling generous to more than just the Mitchells. He paid for the beer of everyone who was drinking Budweisers in the restaurant, eventually racking up what Harvick spokeswoman Annette Randall said was a $1,200 tab.
It was the second random act of social media kindness Harvick has performed in as many months. In December, he decided to give away an all-expenses trip to the Daytona 500 to a Twitter follower just because she was polite.
Harvick took his first laps as a member of Stewart-Haas Racing on Friday at Daytona after moving from Richard Childress Racing in the offseason.
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