Driver of No. 4 is right back in the mix
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Harvick‘s 500th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start didn’t result in a win, but a second place finish in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway was enough to get him right back in it — in more ways than one.
On a night when there were a record 13 cautions and a post-race melee between Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski, Harvick stayed out of trouble, and that included any bad blood that might have been leftover between him and Matt Kenseth after Martinsville. But he did insert himself in the middle of the post-race controversy.
Harvick told Keselowski he needed to get in there and fight his own fight and then had strong words about the incident afterward.
“Yeah, the 2 just bulldozed the 24,” Harvick said. “The 24 wrecked. The 48 and the 2 were racing hard. At that point there was just no rules, so you just stood on the gas and hoped for the best. After the race it all broke loose.”
When asked whether he felt sorry for Gordon, Harvick said, “Yeah, we kind of had the same thing happen last week. Everything is just so intense right now. Everybody is just kind of throwing caution into the wind to do all they can for their team.”
Does Harvick think the No. 2 is out of control?
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I think he’s just racing as hard as he can for this team. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it as long as you’re ready to roll.”
Harvick came into Texas with his own baggage from the spin with Kenseth at Martinsville that led to a 33rd-place finish. Afterward, Harvick said that if he didn’t win this championship, neither would Kenseth.
Kenseth later apologized for the incident and said he hoped Harvick would win his way into the Championship Round. Coincidentally, they spent a decent amount of time on Sunday racing each other. At one point Harvick came up close behind Kenseth to clean debris off his grille. Before doing so, however, the No. 20 team was informed of the No. 4’s plans.
“I thought my car was fast enough to win the race and be in contention,” Harvick said. “Doing something crazy at that point in the race, then I never saw him towards the end of the race, it wasn’t really our game plan to get into that situation any further than we need to.”
Harvick used a fast car and precise restarts to run in the top five for the majority of the race. From Lap 253 to the end of the race (Lap 336), there were eight cautions and plenty of opportunities for a slip-up. But Harvick kept showing up right on Jimmie Johnson‘s tail, and that was the case until the finish line.
“You just hoped you were good on restarts and you could hold your own,” Harvick said. “At this point of the year, everybody’s just going for broke trying to win a race, get the best finish they can to end the season on a good note. It’s hard racing. It’s fun.”
That fun led to Harvick shaving a whopping 22 points off his deficit for the final spot in the Championship Round. Harvick is six points behind Gordon for that fourth and final spot. And since at least three drivers will transfer on points next week, another trouble-free race could do the trick.
It helps that Harvick has a strong history at Phoenix International Raceway, where he leads all active drivers with five wins. So he goes from driving around Martinsville with no hood on his car to being perhaps one incident-free race away from advancing closer to a championship.
And that is a good example of the kind of turn-on-a-dime drama that this Chase has produced.
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