The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Harvick stays alive in Chase with win at Dover
Defending champion wins at Dover to avoid elimination
Kevin Harvick earned a victory in a must-win race at Dover to avoid elimination in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“Thatwas a guy that we wanted to knock out. That’s a guy that can win all these races and you don’t want to have to compete against a guy like that.”
- Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick stood by his confetti-coated car and used it as a resting spot for a couple of crushed beer cans, when his crew belted out a catchy rallying cry.
“I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!” Believe it. Harvick has mastered his Game 7 races, nerves steeled and never rattled from any pressure that should come in a must-win spot.
He delivered one more time and dominated a race he had to win to advance to the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Mired in 15th in the standings, Harvick went out and led 355 laps Sunday at Dover International Speedway and earned the third automatic berth in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.
“Never quit. That’s why right here, guys,” Harvick said over the radio as he took the checkered flag. Harvick’s title defense lives on. Jimmie Johnson’s bid for a recordtying seventh championship came to a shocking end when a busted part
sent the No. 48 Chevrolet to the garage and sent him plummeting in the standings.
NASCAR had the drama it craved Sunday when it revamped its playoff format last season. Dale Earnhardt. Jr. earned the final transfer spot over Jamie McMurray on a tiebreaker. Earnhardt finished third and McMurray was fourth on Sunday.
Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer also were eliminated as the Chase field was sliced from 16 to 12. Four more drivers will be eliminated in the next threerace segment that starts next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin andMatt Kenseth had already earned berths in the next round with wins in the first two Chase races. Carl Edwards also advanced along with Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.
They all had a shot at knocking out Harvick.
Now, they all have to deal down the stretch with a driver who has led 571 of 700 laps run the last two weeks. That’s bad news for the field.
“Hell, yeah,” race runnerup Kyle Busch said. “That was a guy that we wanted to knock out. That’s a guy that can win all these races and you don’t want to have to compete against a guy like that.”
Harvick brushed some stout circumstances against him to reach victory lane: He hadn’t won since going back-to-back in the third and fourth races of the season and had been 0 for 29 at Dover. An easy title favorite, he finished 42nd in the Chase opener at Chicagoland and 21st at New Hampshire.
But for a driver who faced the colossal responsibility in his first Cup start of re- placing Dale Earnhardt Sr., winning races isn’t much of a concern.
It was only three weeks ago when a confident Harvick said about the JGRdrivers, “We’re going to pound them into the ground.”
He never wavered in his approach even as his title chances were bruised.
“If you’re not ready for it, it’ll eat you up,” Harvick said.