Keselowski: 'You're thinking too hard'
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LOUDON, N.H. -- After withstanding the frantic environment of multiple late-race restarts, Kevin Harvick lived up to his "Happy" nickname with plenty of smiles after a Sunday afternoon of survival at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, even if he wasn't completely ecstatic about how those restarts panned out.
After opening the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs with two straight top-five finishes, Harvick has some much-needed breathing room for next week's Challenger Round finale at Dover, but he's certainly not ready to exhale.
"Never," Harvick said. "It's 10 weeks of hell."
Pressure aside, Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 crew managed to avoid the fire and brimstone that befell several of his Chase rivals, leading the most laps (104) before settling for a third-place finish in Sunday's Sylvania 300.
The result, combined with a postseason-opening fifth-place effort last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, moved Harvick to third place in the standings behind Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, who automatically advance after dividing victories in the first two Chase battles.
While Harvick isn't ready to use the word "relieved," he does savor having a more comfortable perch heading into next weekend's race at the Monster Mile.
"This is just important to knock off top-fives in the first two races, have a huge cushion going into Dover and to be able to race like we need to race next week," Harvick said. "There's so much that can happen at Dover -- you can be pitting under green and get two laps down with a caution and your day will be over with. I think all in all, it was good to get this run in and looking forward to Dover."
The heavy concentration of 15 yellow flags -- second-most in track history -- produced a heaping helping of restarts at the end, most of which were to the benefit of his Penske rivals. The penultimate one, in which race winner Logano got a significant advantage, prompted a lively rant from Harvick over the team radio.
Crew chief Rodney Childers was the first to lend a sympathetic ear.
"The 22 (Logano) played games with restarts all day, and the 2 (Keselowski) does it every week, too," Childers said. "I don't know why those two can get by with it and everybody else can't, but I guess the biggest thing is we did a good job all day, we had a fast car, we came home third, didn't have any mistakes on pit road and everybody did a really good job."
Keselowski was less sympathetic, though he was among those congratulating Harvick on pit road afterward. Harvick, however, was quick to point out Keselowski's contact with his car's quarter panel late in the race, potentially costing him a chance to contend for the victory.
"Just remember that in the next round, bud," Harvick said, poking Keselowski in the chest in a gesture that was equal parts playful nudge and stern warning.
"You're thinking too hard," Keselowski replied.
Though Harvick said he welcomed the hard racing at the finish, the team's ability to minimize the perils of an attrition-filled event was perhaps the bigger windfall. Harvick ranks just seven points behind standings leader Keselowski, and carries a 35-point cushion over Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman, tied for 11th place and just inside the bubble before the Chase field is whittled from 16 to 12 after Dover.
While there's temptation to alter strategy while seemingly far removed from any elimination danger, Childers says the plan is to stay the course.
"That's two solid weeks the first two weeks of the Chase, and we feel good about the next few weeks," Childers said. "... We've had almost the fastest car every week, so these guys are doing an awesome job and the guys at the shop at Stewart-Haas are doing awesome. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing, get through this first round and then we'll go race."
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