Harvick seizes momentum before NASCAR playoffs

Kevin Harvick went from not winning in almost two years to claiming back-to-back victories, putting him as one of the sudden challengers for the NASCAR championship playoffs.

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August 16, 2022 - 2:37 PM

Kevin Harvick celebrates atop his car after winning the NASCAR Firekeepers Casino 400 at the Michigan International Speedway on August 7, 2022. Photo by Ryan Sun / TNS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Well hello, Happy. Welcome to NASCAR’s championship race.

Just when it seemed time to write off Kevin Harvick, at least for this season, the 46-year-old has figured out how to win again. He has two victories in eight days — after snapping a 65-race losing streak dating to 2020 — and all the momentum headed into the playoffs.

If you counted Harvick out, he’s now demanding a correction.

“It’s kind of like when they put those small boxes in the newspaper where they have to correct their story and you can’t hardly read them. I feel like a lot of you should put those at the bottom of your story. I get great gratification out of that,” Harvick said after winning Sunday at Richmond Raceway.

His resurgence has saved his season.

After winning a career-high nine races in 2020, Harvick disappeared. He went winless last season for the first time since 2009 and only the fourth time in 22 Cup seasons.

This year, he seemed slow to grasp NASCAR’s new Next Gen car as a slew of new faces raced their way to victory lane. The Cup Series so far has five first-time winners this season, the playoff grid filling fast with fresh new names, and Harvick found himself in a vulnerable spot headed into the final month to qualify for one of the 16 playoff berths.

His much-needed first win came Aug. 7 at Michigan, followed by Sunday’s win at Richmond, making Harvick the only back-to-back race winner this season.

“At this point, a win’s a win, right? I think we were 0-for-65 and we’ve done nothing different and here we are two weeks in a row. That’s racin’, right?” Harvick grinned.

The 60th Cup victory of his career tied Harvick with Kyle Busch for ninth all-time in NASCAR. Next up on the list? The late Dale Earnhardt in eighth at 76 career victories.

To have Earnhardt in reach brings Harvick full circle: He replaced Earnhardt following Earnhardt’s fatal 2001 crash in the Daytona 500.

“As you start your career, it’s easy to say, ‘I want to win 70-some races’ and then you start doing this on a week-to-week basis,” Harvick said. “It’s just a lot harder because everyone in this garage is just a killer, from the crew chief to the drivers to the guys changing the tires. It’s the best of the best, and it’s not easy to keep your team and everybody within your organization competitive, keep yourself competitive.”

Now that he’s proven to still be competitive, Harvick is a serious threat for a second Cup championship.

And that’s very good for NASCAR.

Harvick is one of the few throwbacks remaining in the Cup garage. A former West Coast racer nicknamed “Happy” when he got to NASCAR, the stress of replacing Earnhardt turned Harvick’s nickname into unintentional satire.

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