Harvick was mad, gets even with victory
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Harvick is at his best when’s he mad, so much so that former crew chief Gil Martin used to try to rile him up during races.
Harvick was running extra hot when he got to ISM Raceway after penalties for technical violations marred his victory a week ago at Las Vegas. When he finally cooled off Sunday afternoon, he celebrated his third consecutive NASCAR Cup victory and record-extending ninth at the 1-mile oval southwest of Phoenix.
“Everybody just came here shoulder, mad, wanting chip on to do their exactly what we did [Sunday],” Harvick said. “That’s the type of determination and grit that you want in a
race team. There’s nothing better to be a part of than something like that. “Actions speak a whole lot louder than all the words I can say this week, tweets that you can send out. Parking that thing in Victory Lane is the most powerful thing, most powerful message you can send, and says the most about our organization and our team.” After saying Friday that he would jump up and down on the back of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford if he won, Harvick simply patted the back window in a nod to social media rear window photos of in Las his Vegas. buckled “I made it very clear to pat my window and thank it for doing its job,” he said. Harvick got in front of Busch on the final series of pit stops. Busch’s team dropped the jack and had trouble with the right-rear tire on the stop with 53 laps left, allowing Harvick — who pitted three laps earlier — to slip ahead.
“We lost the race on pit road today,” Busch said. “But we’ve won races on pit road, too.”
Harvick took the lead with 22 laps left when Ryan Newman finally made his final stop on the sunny day after morning rain. Busch never challenged Harvick after that and finished 0.774 seconds back.
“Man, it was a heck of a battle today,” Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers said. “To sit down there in the corner and watch these guys race like that was like my short-track days.”