Kevin Harvick: "We aren't satisfied with winning a race. We want to win five or six." Credit: Autostock

Harvick shooting for multiple wins in 2005

No. 29 team assessing, regrouping after off year

Kevin Harvick seems to have made an effort to fly under the radar during the 2005 off-season.

He skipped NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway and hasn't been all that visible in the two months that followed the end of the 2004 season.

	Credit: Autostock
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That season was a disappointment to Harvick and Richard Childress Racing; for after spending most of the first 26 races in the top 10 in points, Harvick fell to 14th after Richmond in September -- and out of the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

The final 10 races weren't much better, and Harvick slipped quietly into the offseason.

But missing the Chase didn't wear on Harvick as much as one might think.

"I don't know. I don't think it bothered me that much because I knew I did everything I could and so did the 29 guys," Harvick said. "We performed so poorly there for a while that I knew we really didn't belong in that group anyway."

He's right. In the four races before the Chase, Harvick couldn't finish any better than 12th. In October, Harvick pinned the blame on the team's poor performance on engines, and then he overheated an engine at Kansas and blew one up at Charlotte.

That's one area Harvick said RCR has focused on for 2005.

"We addressed several issues late in last season," Harvick said. "Most importantly was, were we getting the power out of our motors that the other Chevy teams were? I think Danny Lawrence and all the guys in the engine room have burned the midnight oil in an attempt to find us horsepower, and in doing so have worked on fuel mileage and reliability.

"It is not as easy to go fast and have the other factors come with it. I was very vocal about the engines last year and believe RCR is doing what it takes to address those concerns."

He'll need some more power to step up the performance of the No. 29. Of the drivers in the top 15 in points at season's end, no one had fewer top-five finishes than Harvick.

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And he didn't visit Victory Lane, either.

Harvick said RCR also took steps to improve its chassis.

"We also took another look at our chassis, and I think we have made good progress in getting our cars where they need to be," Harvick said. "Because of this, we have focused our testing on some of the 2-mile and 1.5-mile tracks.

"We are very confident that our restrictor-plate program is one of the best in the sport, and I know our short track stuff is good. Hopefully, we have made gains all across the board."

Harvick was so confident in the plate program that he didn't test in Daytona. Instead, Kerry Earnhardt drove the No. 29.

"We had three other cars going to Daytona, so we felt our time was better served looking at improving at the mid-size tracks," Harvick said. "We sent the No. 29 to Daytona just to shake it down and look at the data.

"But (crew chief) Todd Berrier and I feel like we have a great program for plate tracks, and we have shared that with the other three cars. If they find something else, we will look at using it on our car as well."

Harvick's team stayed virtually intact from 2004, an indication RCR believes the No. 29 bunch isn't that far off.

"We really didn't feel like we needed to make a lot of changes from a personnel basis," Harvick said. "Everybody was on the same page last year, and while we all made mistakes, they weren't because of a lack of commitment to the team or from not having talent.

Credit: Autostock

"We just made mistakes that happen to every team in NASCAR. We just made them at the wrong times. There have been some small changes, but that was more an attempt to improve all the teams and give some guys new responsibilities. But our team is pretty much what it was last year."

Harvick's confidence level, though, remains high. He has guarded optimism as the season approaches.

"Obviously we want to win the championship," Harvick said. "We feel like we have the caliber of team to do that. But you take things in steps."

The first goal is to win the Daytona 500, with the second winning "multiple races," Harvick said.

"We aren't satisfied with winning a race," Harvick said. "We want to win five or six. We want to make the Chase and from there you want to be crowned champion.

"That is how it looks on paper. To do this we need to run up front week in and week out and limit our mistakes. All you can ask is to have a chance at the win. If we have a chance every week, we will cash in and reach our goals."

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