Priorities differ between drivers in Texas Busch race

The numbers simply add up for Kevin Harvick.

He has three victories at Texas Motor Speedway. His victories have come every other start that he's made at the track. And the last time he was there -- in April this year -- he didn't win.

His worst finish at Texas was his 11th-place run in April, and couple that with the law of Harvick: He wins a Busch race ever six starts he makes, on average. Well, it's been six starts since his last victory. That came at Watkins Glen back in August, the last of a stretch that saw Harvick win three consecutive races and four of five.

By the Numbers

Can David Reutimann delay Carl Edwards' Busch title again? It'll be a Texas-sized task.

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"Texas is a track that I've just found success at from the get go," said Harvick, who has led a series-high 404 laps at the track in just seven starts. "My first start there in the Busch Series we had a top-10 finish and since then I have managed to pick up a couple of wins. I'm looking forward to returning to Texas and hopefully bring home another win."

Harvick won this race last year, his ninth and final victory of the season. And it was all for show -- he had his championship wrapped up two races prior to that.

And that's something that Carl Edwards hasn't been able to do -- yet.

Edwards is hoping his numbers finally add up, too. He had a chance to wrap up the championship as early as the Charlotte race in October -- the same race in which Harvick clinched his 2006 title. But Edwards crashed and finished 33rd. He could have sealed it last week at Memphis and appeared headed in that direction despite an early accident. But a second wreck and a victory by second-place David Reutimann pushed back the trophy lifting once again.

"We have run well the last few weeks, but our finishes have been disappointing," said Edwards, who leads Reutimann by 531 points.

This week may be a different story. All Edwards has to do is finish 36th or better in Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2) no matter what else happens and the championship is his. That means Reutimann has to outscore Edwards by 141 points -- a tall task at Texas.

"I've led some laps at Texas before so I have a good feel for the track," Reutimann said.

Of course, this isn't Memphis.

Texas' 1.5-mile layout can easily be confused with the fast speeds at Atlanta and the corners of Charlotte simply because all three tracks appear similar in layout. But not so.

"The transitions up off the corners at Texas are a lot different than Charlotte," Harvick said. "The banking comes out of the corners and it really flattens out as you exit the corners. It's a fine line to get your car to work around the entire track."

Said Matt Kenseth, who won the Texas spring race: "There are multiple grooves around the track, which make for interesting racing. Any time you can go somewhere and actually pass and run different grooves around the track you know you are in for a good race."

Easy for them to say. Harvick and Kenseth are the only drivers entered in Saturday's race who have won at Texas. And they've combined for five victories in the 13 races held there.

That's not intimidating to those who are chasing a bigger prize than race victories.

"We're after another solid finish and it's attainable as long as we stay out of trouble," Reutimann said. "The fact that we won and led the most laps last weekend is a real motivator for us."

It was for Edwards, too.

"It's time to lock this Busch championship down," he said. "Our goal is to go into Texas and win and everything else will come with it."