Kevin Harvick 2018 season recap

After a run to the Championship 4 in 2017, Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick entered the 2018 season with momentum. But in the Daytona 500, Harvick crashed just past the midway point of the race and finished in 31st place.

Harvick rebounded the next week by winning at Atlanta for the first time since 2001 when he took over at Richard Childress Racing after Dale Earnhardt's death. Harvick held three fingers out the window as he drove by fans to show appreciation for "The Intimidator."

Harvick made it back-to-back wins as he dominated at Las Vegas by sweeping the stages and leading 214 of the 267 laps. Harvick joined Richard Petty, David Pearson and Kyle Busch as the only drivers with 100 or more total wins across all three of NASCAR's national series.

Harvick's hot streak continued the next week at ISM Raceway as he won for the ninth time at Phoenix and marked just the 22nd time in NASCAR's modern era (1972-present) to win three or more races in a row.

In April at Talladega, Harvick won the first of four Busch Pole Awards in 2018. He edged teammate Kurt Busch as SHR continued its early season dominance. For Harvick it was his first pole win at a restrictor-plate track since 2005, and he'd go on to finish fourth in the race.

Harvick broke back into the win column in May at Dover by passing teammate Clint Bowyer with 63 laps to go. Harvick led 201 of the 400 laps and swept the stages as the No. 4 Ford continued to perform head-and-shoulders above the competition.

Harvick made it two in a row with a win at Kansas after taking the lead from Martin Truex Jr. as they approached the white flag. Harvick started on the pole and led 79 of the 267 laps as he finished 1-2 with Truex for the sixth time in his career.

After seven straight races without a win, Harvick took the checkered flag at New Hampshire but only after using multiple bump-and-run moves to get past Kyle Busch with seven laps to go. In somewhat of a surprise reaction, Busch seemed to be OK with Harvick's hard racing.

Three races later, Harvick took the checkered flag again, this time at Michigan for his seventh victory of the 2018 season. Before this year, Harvick had never won more than five races in a season (in 2014 when he won the championship and in 2006 when he finished fourth).

As the No. 1 seed entering the playoffs, Harvick crashed in the postseason opener at Las Vegas and finished 39th. However, thanks to plenty of playoff points earned earlier in the season, Harvick left Las Vegas fourth in the standings and would eventually advance.

Harvick won at Texas in the third-to-last race of the season. He led 177 of 337 laps to pick up his eighth win of the season. However, NASCAR discovered in post-race teardowns that the No. 4 team violated rules regarding the spoiler. As a result, the No. 4 team was penalized 40 driver and 40 owner points and crew chief Rodney Childers and car chief Robert Smith were both suspended for the final two races. The Texas win no longer carried the benefit of advancing in the playoffs, and there was a fine handed out to Childers.

Despite the penalty setback, Harvick won the pole the next week at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, led the first 72 laps of the race and appeared set to cruise into the Championship 4. However, he experienced a flat tire that sent him to pit road and pushed him back in the field. Through a series of pit strategies, Harvick climbed his way back to a fifth-place finish that was good enough to advance to the Championship 4.

In the Championship 4, Harvick won the first stage despite starting 12th, and he finished second in Stage 2 before eventually falling to third at the race's finish. With champion Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. ahead of him, Harvick ended up third in the final standings. Harvick's eight wins tied Kyle Busch for the most in the series, and Harvick led a series-high 1,990 laps. His 23 top-five finishes and 29 top 10s also led the series.