Harvick keeps rolling, wins All-Star race
CONCORD, N.C. — Nothing can stop Kevin Harvick these days, not an experimental rules package or a field of racers with nothing but pride on the line, and the hottest driver in NASCAR scored a $1 million payday by winning the AllStar race.
Harvick’s win Saturday night came exactly 11 years to the day of his only other win in Charlotte Motor Speedway’s exhibition event. This time the victory is part of a raging hot streak that brought him into the All-Star race with five points race victories, including the last two.
It’s technically three in a row now, although the All-Star race is for cash only. But the stat sheet shows that Harvick has won six of the 13 races since the season-opening Daytona 500, and Ford drivers have eight of those wins.
“Everything is going our way,” Harvick said. “It’s kind of a game at this particular point.”
Because the All-Star race is a made-for-TV event, NASCAR could play with the rules and try to spice up a race that has been beyond boring the last 10 years. No amount of tinkering to the format or the rules could liven the event, so NASCAR made a radical change this time. The aerodynamic package included a controversial horsepower-sapping restrictor plate, and it slowed the cars into a tighter pack that allowed for increased passing.
The package Saturday night did make for better racing, but the same result: Harvick celebrating again. This time it was the 50th Cup victory for Stewart-Haas Racing.
“A lot of pushing and shoving. It reminded me a lot of IROC racing back in the day,” Harvick said, referring to the old all-star series that pitted champions from various series together in identically prepared cars. “We will see what everybody thinks and go from there.”
NASCAR was cautiously optimistic after the race and hesitant to make too quick of a judgment despite the positive feelings after the experiment.
“From an eye-test, we were certainly pleased with what we saw,” said NASCAR head of competition Steve O’Donnell, who felt the lead changes Saturday night topped the last four years. O’Donnell made no promises as to what might come of the rules package, but also didn’t rule out that it could be used again.
Drivers had mixed feelings on the package. “I don’t want to race it every week, but every now and then is OK,” said Kyle Larson.
Marcus Smith, president of Charlotte Motor Speedway and one of the main proponents for NASCAR trying something radical, loved the end result.
“I thought it was the best racing we’ve seen at a mile-and-a-half track in years,” said Smith.
INDY: IndyCar’s marquee names turned a day of qualifying for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” into a throwback, nail-biting, bumping affair.
Helio Castroneves, seeking a redemptive record-tying fourth victory, was fastest around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Danica Patrick was fast, too, and she averaged 227.610 mph to snag the ninth and final spot in the next round of qualifying, the Fast Nine. But this was a full field for the first time in years, and it meant two drivers weren’t making next Sunday’s show.
Never did the renewed bumping expect to be a threat to James Hinchcliffe, one of IndyCar’s top drivers. But Hinchcliffe and Pippa Mann were bumped from the field.