Five to Watch: What we learned from 2015’s edition of NASCAR Goes West

By: RJ Kraft

1. Harvick at home

Kevin Harvick was right at home -- literally, as he grew up in Bakersfield, California -- during the three-race NASCAR Goes West swing in 2015. And his performance had a familiar feel to it as he notched two wins (Las Vegas and Phoenix) and a runner-up finish (Auto Club) for an astounding 1.33 average finish.

2. Triple top 10s

Kevin Harvick being dominant was the big headline, but four other drivers registered top 10s in all three races of the NASCAR Goes West swing: Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Besides Harvick, Newman was the only driver to record top fives in all three races but was later assessed a P5, 50-point penalty from a tire audit conducted after the race at Auto Club for illegally 'bleeding' air pressure from tires.

3. Teams travel differently

Teams handled the three-race swing differently with some going back and forth from the shops in North Carolina, while others like the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team stayed out West. One team that has a nice advantage during this stretch is Denver, Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing. As driver Martin Truex Jr. said in a team release this week, 'It's about the only time of the year our guys are on the plus side for sleep. They really enjoy racing somewhat close to home.'

4. Tires are king at Fontana

Brad Keselowski was a thief at Auto Club Speedway last year. Pitting before the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe took four tires and restarted 18th on Lap 203. In the second attempt at a G-W-C finish on Lap 208, Keselowski restarted in seventh and used fresher rubber to pass Kurt Busch for the win, leading just one lap in the race. The moral of the story from this race: Tires are king at the 2-mile track.

5. Shifting at Phoenix

Denny Hamlin was vocal last season about the amount of shifting that occurs at Phoenix International Raceway. 'There is no reason why we should be shifting on a 1-mile race track,' Hamlin said during the spring race weekend. 'This is a short track, not a road course.” It will be interesting to see if shifting use increases or decreases with the low downforce package.