As always, Harvick favored at Phoenix
Approaching the fourth race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, it’s about time for 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick to qualify for the 10-race playoff that caps the season.
His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch won the Daytona 500, and Harvick was in position to follow with a victory the next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, only to ruin his run — which included leading 292 of 325 laps — because of a late pit road speeding penalty. Phoenix Raceway should fix everything, if Harvick’s recent and long-term results continue at the 1-mile oval.
A Southern Californian, Harvick developed an affinity for Phoenix when he raced in the Copper World Classic on the Southwest Tour there before becoming a breakout NASCAR performer with Richard Childress Racing. Good memories and crew chiefs — currently Rodney Childers — who are able to give Harvick what he wants in a car have made him the benchmark for the series at the track.
Harvick has won six of the last nine races at Phoenix and has finished second twice and led 38% of the laps in the last 10 events there.
The winner at Phoenix last spring, Harvick was fourth in the fall, failing to use the penultimate race of the season to leap into the final at Homestead-Miami Speedway as he had done in 2014. That seems like a long dry spell in the desert by his standards.
Childers sounded encouraged by late developments from an organizational test at Phoenix, as SHR continues its transition from Chevrolet to Ford.
“Going into it, I thought we’d be competitive from his standpoint,” he said. “We’ve had a good setup there that last three years, but the test didn’t start out the way we wanted it to. We struggled the first day and really about half the second day, and then we got going really good at the end of the second day. We learned a lot out there and look forward to going back and hopefully have another shot at the victory.”
Here are two other drivers who should be factors in Sunday’s Camping World 500:
Kyle Busch: The Joe Gibbs Racing driver hasn’t won at Phoenix since his first full Cup season when he took Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet to victory lane in 2005. But Busch has been second only to Harvick in gathering points at Phoenix in the last two races.
He finished second last fall to Joey Logano and fourth in the previous two races, so he figures to come out swinging Sunday.
Joey Logano: Speaking of Busch and Logano, the would-be Las Vegas brawlers figure to be vying for the same slice of desert again.
At Vegas, they were battling for third place on the final lap when they got into each other and Busch spun out down pit road while Logano sailed toward the finish line. A fight on pit road ensued, with Busch swinging at Logano and crewmembers wrestling Busch to the ground.
At Phoenix, a playoff spot and bonus points could be at stake. Discounting an 18th-place finish at Phoenix last spring — when a failure to fully fill the No. 22 Ford led to an unscheduled stop — Logano has been a top-10 performer there since the fall of 2013, with one win and a thirdplace finish in November 2015.