Author: David Scott
Date: Nov. 13, 2015
Few drivers in NASCAR history dominate a track as thoroughly as Kevin Harvick does Phoenix International Raceway.
Harvick has become essentially unbeatable at the 1-mile oval in the Arizona desert, where he has won four consecutive races and five of the last six. Only Darrell Waltrip (seven in a row at Bristol and five at North Wilkesboro) and Richard Petty (seven straight at Richmond) have won at least five consecutive races at a single track.
That history should serve Harvick well for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 500, where another victory would clinch a spot for Harvick in next week’s four-driver championship round of the Chase at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick is one of seven drivers still with a chance at moving on. Only Jeff Gordon, who won the first race of the Chase’s third round, is ensured a spot in the final round.
“It’s just another weekend for us, is how I approach it,” Harvick said. “You want to go out and try to get off to a good start in practice and hope the car is close. It’s a constant evaluation of your race car and the conditions and the tire and everything to start practice and then adjust from there. Hopefully you have some good speed in the car by the time you roll around for qualifying. Really nothing different than any other week.”
Harvick’s circumstances aren’t as dire coming to Phoenix as they were in 2014, when the only way for him to qualify for the final round was by winning – something Harvick was able to do on his way to his first Cup championship.
This year, Harvick is in the relative safety of the No. 3 spot in the standings and can come in second Sunday to advance. He would also make it to the final round by finishing third with at least one lap led or fourth with the most laps led.
Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch, who is seventh in the Chase, has seen firsthand Harvick excel at Phoenix.
“He has a keen sense to find more speed (at Phoenix) than anybody else,” Busch said. “Whether it’s moving up the groove in (turns) 1 and 2 or if he’s able to carry more speed through (turns) 3 and 4, you’ve got to watch him though because it changes. He will find different speed on the track all throughout a tire run. It might be corner entry at the beginning of the run. It might be (a) corner exit at the later part of the run. He is able to find the last little bit out of this track that nobody else has been able to find over the years.”
It’s been an eventful Chase for Harvick so far. He was knocked out of the first race of the playoffs (at Chicagoland) when Jimmie Johnson bumped him into the wall. That angered Harvick to such a degree that he confronted Johnson after the race, pushing him in the chest.
Facing a win-or-go-home scenario two weeks later at Dover, Harvick won.
At Talladega, the third and final race of the second round, Harvick’s No. 4 Chevy was slowed by an engine problem. Harvick didn’t move the car out of the way during a restart on green-white-checkered finish, causing a wreck and bringing the ire of several other drivers. Harvick finished 15th and advanced to the third round.
He finished third at Texas last week, despite having to drive for much of the race with his right hand on a malfunctioning gear shifter.
But now he’s at Phoenix and its relatively flat surface, where success for Harvick is close to a sure thing.
Harvick has a long history at Phoenix. Growing up in Bakersfield, Calif., he visited the track as a young fan, watching races with his grandfather from a motor home in the hills above the backstretch. He won his first Truck race in 2002 at Phoenix. His final Cup victory with Richard Childress Racing came at Phoenix in 2013. His first triumph with Stewart-Haas Racing came at Phoenix the following year.
“We have had a lot of really cool moments here,” Harvick said. “It’s just a fun place and I feel like for me whatever reason throughout the years the flat-track stuff has always kind of fit my driving style. It’s just been good for us throughout the years.”
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