Harvick, Busch out front at NASCAR’s halfway point

— At NASCAR’s halfway point, it sure looks like a two-man race to the title between past champions Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

They have combined to win nine of 13 races — 10 of 14 counting this month’s All-Star race — and neither expects to slow down during the second half of NASCAR’s 26-race regular season.

Busch and Harvick were the headliners again Sunday night. Busch led 377 of 400 laps to win the CocaCola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Harvick, who had won the past two points races and the AllStar race, was not around at the end. But he did make a charge from 39th to fourth over the first 70 laps before an accident took him to the garage.

While the rest of NASCAR is scrambling to make a summer playoff run, Harvick and Busch are preparing for bigger things.

“Our goal is to playoff race every week,” said Harvick, the 2014 series champion. “I think as we’re doing that right now as an organization that’s still the goal going forward.”

Busch, like Harvick in March, won three straight races earlier this year and both teams look capable of running off several more victories before the playoffs begin in Las Vegas in September.

After 13 races last season, there were 10 drivers with a victory, securing them a spot in the 16-man playoffs. The dominance of Harvick and Busch this year means only six drivers have won races, perhaps making points racing to qualify more a focus in the second half.

Denny Hamlin, who has missed the playoffs just once from 2006 through 2017, stands seventh in the points and is one of those winless drivers who could be shuffled to the outside without that victory. Hamlin, Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, said the difference this year has been finding that little bit of speed that’s the difference between ending up out front or further down standings.