Harvick OnLine: Harvick Happy To Be Part Of Elite Winners' Club

Harvick happy to be part of elite winners' club

Kevin Harvick has plenty to reflect on as he gets set to return to Daytona International Speedway, site of this weekend's Pepsi 400.

Daytona, of course, is also where Harvick won the Daytona 500 earlier this year in a thrilling battle with Mark Martin that's still being talked about by fans.

"It's going to be busy, I know that," Harvick said. "There are a lot of things going on. But it was such a big deal for us to win the Daytona 500 and knowing everything that goes along with that now means so much. People ask what it means, and really, you can't explain it until you've been through it.

"It's been a neat experience for us, and to win the biggest race of the year is something we're all pretty excited about. So to go back, we're all pretty pumped up to roll in there and see how it feels."

Harvick joined an elite group of drivers who won the Daytona 500, but he's already among the few who have won at Daytona and Indianapolis.

"It's an elite group of drivers and the who's who of our sport," Harvick said of Daytona 500 winners. "We've been fortunate to win a lot of the big races like the Brickyard and the Daytona 500 and the all-star race, and that's pretty neat to be a part of that club."

The Pepsi 400 will be the final restrictor-plate race with the current car model, as NASCAR will use the car of tomorrow at Talladega Superspeedway later this year and at all tracks starting in 2008.

But don't expect Harvick to try any harder to win the Pepsi 400 just because of the model car.

"We'll race it again after that," Harvick said. "I know it'll be the last race for it at Daytona, but it doesn't really matter to me. I don't have any sentimental feelings toward it."

The Daytona 500 is Harvick's lone victory thus far this season, but after finishing out of the top 10 in five of the next six races, the Richard Childress Racing driver has rallied to stand eighth in Nextel Cup points.

Harvick realizes this is a crucial part of the season as every team tries to make its driver one of the 12 who will compete in this year's Chase For The Nextel Cup, which kicks off with the Sept. 16 return to New Hampshire International Speedway.

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