Kevin Harvick explained his mindset during the dramatic New Hampshire race finish on his “Happy Hours” show on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday.
Harvick put the bump-and-run on Kyle Busch for the victory Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“That’s a 10-point swing from a playoff standpoint,” Harvick said. “I just had it in my mind to be aggressive.”
RELATED: Harvick uses bump-and-run to beat Kyle Busch
After his New Hampshire win, Harvick took a two-point lead in playoff points over Busch. Martin Truex Jr., the last member of the group of drivers who have become known as the “Big 3,” is just six playoff points behind Harvick.
It was Harvick’s sixth win of the season; Busch has five and Truex Jr. has four. In the regular-season driver standings, Harvick trails Busch, the series leader, by 53. Truex is 104 points behind the leader.
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Harvick also said the threat of rain was important in the decision to move Busch. With seven laps to go, sprinkles started to fall on the 1.058-mile track, and Harvick believed he had to make his move for the win quickly. Rain had already played a role Sunday, delaying the start of the race by more than three hours.
“You sit on the other side of this fence and you’re the guy who get moved out of the way — you think about this differently,” Harvick said. “For me, I was thinking about winning the race. It’s one of those situations where you choose to make a decision. At Michigan I felt like I needed to be more aggressive quickly and didn’t do that and lost the race.
“Kyle Busch is good at making his car wide. As you look at the situation at Loudon and where the groove was and all the things going on, it was going to be a tough situation to pass. I got up underneath him in Turn 4 and didn’t complete the pass and felt like it was time to go.”
Harvick said he’s moving on from the incident but understands the perspective is different for the winning driver and the runner-up. He compared Sunday’s events to his battle with Busch in the 2017 Pocono July race, which Busch won by 6 seconds over Harvick.
“I enjoy racing Kyle and race him hard. And I expect him to race me hard,” Harvick said. “Last year we were in the same role and different position when we went to Pocono. … I didn’t complain about it then, and I’m not going to complain about it now. But I can tell you that it’s different when you’re sitting here and one the race than it is when you’re sitting on the other side of the fence.”