Harvick takes aim on Busch title
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
October 23, 2001
6:09 PM EDT (2209 GMT)
PHOENIX -- Kevin Harvick isn’t the type of driver who needs the proverbial raw meat dangling in front of him to bare his claws. But with the relatively simple task of finishing at least 15th over the next three races in order to claim the NASCAR Busch Series crown, he’s in a position to go wide open.
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Kevin Harvick
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Harvick, 25, is on the verge of accomplishing an unprecedented NASCAR double: The Busch Series championship and the Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.
Coming into Saturday’s Outback Steakhouse 300 at Phoenix International Raceway, Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing squad have a 203-point lead over defending champion Jeff Green’s ppc Racing team. If Green wins each of the last three races and leads the most laps, Harvick needs only finish 15th or better in each race to beat him by a single point for the Busch Series title.
However, the last three race tracks have each done enough in the past to get Harvick’s attention -- so it’s safe to assume he won’t be risking a letdown.
"It's close to home for me so I look forward to going to Phoenix,” Harvick said of the one-mile oval he’s raced on in a variety of NASCAR divisions. “I've raced quite a bit there and ran really well there in the truck.”
Despite his experience at Phoenix, the track has caused problems for Harvick. Last year’s Outback 200 was one of his low points after he qualified 25th and finished 27th.
“We ran really well there in the Busch car,” Harvick said, “But we got caught up in something and I think I hit the fence. We're looking forward to going out there, having a lot of friends and family that will be there and a race track that I'm really accustomed to -- when you go somewhere that you have a lot of experience you look forward to going back."
Harvick has led the Busch Series points since he grabbed the lead after the MBNA Platinum 200 at Dover, Del., on June 2. His highest lead was 345 points over Green’s teammate Jason Keller after Bristol in August. That was where Harvick scored his fifth win of the season.
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Harvick suffered a setback at Kansas.
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Harvick’s consistency suffered after the Bristol win. A string of sub-par runs hit rock bottom at Kansas Speedway, where he was involved in a crash with a lapped car that cut his lead to 187 points. Since then, Harvick has put the wheels back on the cart with top-five finishes at LMS and Memphis.
While Harvick's mid-summer success may have won him the title, what is more amazing is that his best stretch of the season occurred while doing double-duty on both circuits. In the month of July, he had to make three dual-event weekends work, followed one week later by a cross-town jaunt in Indianapolis.
In all, in the seven weekends in which he had to do double-duty, Harvick won three times, was second once and third three times.
"We accomplished what we set out to do," Harvick said. "We were just trying to qualify for every race and start every race. We had so many things going against us; weather problems could have kept us from running all of those races. But we got lucky.
"We got through the tough stretch in July where we ran nine races in eight states. We even built our lead in Busch and made a move in the points in Cup."
Harvick’s march in the senior series leaves him in eighth-place -- and he's the only driver in the top-20 with one less start than the others, who have made all 31 races.
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Harvick leads the Busch Series by 203 points over Jeff Green.
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"It was a real success in my mind because we started every race that we set out to,” he said. “And we even had some good finishes to show for it. I can't say enough about how RCR made this happen. They handled all the logistics like travel, and the teams took care of giving us competitive cars even though we didn't get to practice much."
It’s even more amazing that Harvick's success has come in he has said are the most difficult cars he’s had to wheel in a career that, despite his young age, includes NASCAR Late Models, Craftsman Trucks, Winston West and Winston Cup cars and his Busch Series ride.
"Since I started driving them, I've said that the Busch cars are the hardest things that I've had to drive,” he said. “I think there are a lot of other people that will back me up on that fact. I think a lot of that has to do with the wheelbase and the bodies don't have quite as much downforce on the Busch cars as the Winston Cup cars do. They're not near as forgiving as the Winston Cup cars are."
Coming into the weekend, Harivick hopes the friendly confines of Phoenix will help his title hopes.
"I think the biggest thing is that we've got to keep doing what we're doing and running consistently up at the front of the pack,” he said. “If we have a problem try and get it fixed and get the best finish that we can.
“If we keep doing the things that we've been doing and running in the front of the pack and putting ourselves in position to win, maybe we can win another one before the year is over.”
With his frequent flyer schedule over, he also sees that as a benefit.
“Hopping back and forth didn't seem to hurt us, but I don't think it helped us to say the least,” he said. “Obviously, not being able to practice at race tracks or not being able to qualify at race tracks doesn't help you do anything.”
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