Drivers in search of win
Harvick, Hamlin look for first of the season in first of Pocono pair
Denny Hamlin swept Pocono as a rookie in 2006 and won again last season, his track record-tying sixth victory. Kevin Harvick joined Hamlin in the win column on the same weekend at Pocono in 2020, his first victory at the tri-oval track, and they both left the June twinbill weekend seemingly positioned as the drivers to beat in the championship race.
Chase Elliott spoiled their chances when he won the 2020 title.
This season, NASCAR wonders, can anyone catch Kyle Larson, who goes to Pocono Raceway for a weekend doubleheader on a four-race winning streak that includes the nonpoints $1 million All-star Race?
Hamlin and Harvick suddenly have a more pressing question to answer than whether they can win the championship.
Can either star driver win a race?
Both are winless — a year after Harvick won a series-best nine races and Hamlin counted the Daytona 500 among his seven victories — and hope to reverse the trend at Pocono. They did, in fact, flip results last year when Harvick and Hamlin went 1-2 in Saturday’s race and Hamlin and Harvick went 1-2 in Sunday’s race. Pocono Raceway is the site of the only NASCAR doubleheader this season (325 miles Saturday; 350 Sunday).
“There is a panic button. I’m not really there yet,” Hamlin said. “Frustrated, yeah, because you want to go to the racetrack and know that you’ve got a car capable of being the fastest, but again, we’ve got a few weeks to really start looking at that and say, ‘OK, we really have to catch up here.’ ”
Harvick finished fifth last week at Nashville and Hamlin was 13th — he has one top 10 over his past four starts.
Harvick won the 2014 NASCAR championship in his first season driving for Stewarthaas Racing. He hasn’t finished worse than eighth — with a championship, a runner-up, three third-place finishes and a fifth — over his time at SHR. But the team has struggled all season and none of its four Cup drivers have a win through 17 races. Harvick had four wins at this point last season but he’s led only 39 laps this year.
Obituary: Jack Ingram, a hard-nosed, hot-tempered racer who won five NASCAR championships and more than 300 races, has died, the NASCAR Hall of Fame said Friday. He was 84. No details were released by the Hall of Fame.