Joe Gibbs Racing driver hopes Kevin Harvick performs well Sunday
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Matt Kenseth said he hopes to see Kevin Harvick win one of the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, an unusual admission from a fellow competitor.
But Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, knows he is to blame for the position Harvick finds himself in today.
Contact from Kenseth sent the Stewart-Haas Racing driver into the wall last week at Martinsville Speedway, and the damage led to a 33rd-place finish, a drop from second to eighth in the points standings and the position of facing elimination from this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Only four of the top eight will advance to Homestead, and only Texas and Phoenix remain in between.
Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet has consistently been one of the fastest this season and the 38-year-old has three wins, including one in the Chase. Now, he has two races in which to regain what was lost in Turn 1 and keep his championship hopes alive.
The two drivers chatted briefly before the start of practice Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Kenseth, speaking to the media earlier in the day, said he “couldn’t feel any worse” about Harvick’s situation.
“I hope he has a really good week this week or next week and wins one of these races, and even if he doesn’t, I think he’ll run good enough, hopefully get in that last round,” Kenseth said. “Because I know he doesn’t want to get taken out of it for something he had nothing to do with, and I certainly don’t want to be the guy that takes him out of it, so hopefully it all works out in the end.”
Kenseth’s car sustained only minor damage in the Martinsville incident, and a sixth-place finish left him fourth in points heading into this week’s race.
Afterward, Harvick didn’t promise retaliation, but said that Kenseth wouldn’t “win this championship.”
“If we don’t, he won’t,” Harvick said.
Kenseth said Friday retaliation wasn’t a concern, adding that, “I can only control my own car and what I do, and obviously I did a poor job of that last weekend.”
“I can’t fix the situation,” he added. “It’s done. It’s kind of like the guy that causes the wreck at Talladega, he feels terrible about it and … ruined a lot of people’s day from the mistake he made.
“Last week (at Martinsville) it was the same way, it was just, unfortunately (I) wrecked Kevin who was probably the favorite going into the Chase. It was terrible timing, wrong place at the wrong time. I understand his frustration; I would be just as frustrated.”
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