Harvick picks up $1M in Charlotte

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 All-Star 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 AllStar race with five points race victories, including the last two.

It’s technically three in a row now, although the AllStar 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.

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 for the last 10 years. No amount of tinkering with the format or the rules could enliven the event, so NASCAR made a radical change this year.

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.

NASCAR was cautiously optimistic after the race and hesitant to make too quick of a judgment.

“From an eye-test, we were certainly pleased with what we saw,” said NASCAR head of competition Steve O’Donnell.