Team Penske driver confident he can stop champ’s desert dominance
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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Much has been made of Kevin Harvick‘s dominance at Phoenix International Raceway heading into Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
But Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano is not intimated, nor does he subscribe to the belief that the winner of three straight at Phoenix and four of the past five races at the one-mile track can’t be stopped. In fact, he believes the exact opposite.
"He’s human like everyone else so, I mean he’s beatable, believe me," Logano said after qualifying second for Sunday’s race, while Harvick scored the Coors Light Pole Award for the race.
That said, the 24-year-old Team Penske driver didn’t deny that Harvick knows something everyone else doesn’t. "He knows something running here," Logano said.
"He just knows what he needs in his race car. Whether he’s figuring that out in practice and making his car good for the race that way or if its a setup thing. I doubt it’s a setup thing because he’s been fast in both cars he has driven here. … I think it’s something that he looks for and a feel that he’s able to maintain his tires for that long run."
And while he offered up his own thoughts, he was willing to get it from the source himself.
During Harvick’s post-qualifying press conference, he was asked how he could be stopped at Phoenix. As Harvick responded, Logano, who was sitting in the back row of the media center, added "tell us the secret."
Harvick, the driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet SS, sees plenty that could stop his desert dominance on Sunday. Hard to believe that a driver that led 488 of a possible 624 laps at Phoenix last year would think that, but there’s a lot at work during a race.
"There’s just so many circumstances you can’t control," Harvick said. "There’s so many things that can go wrong. There’s so many mistakes you can make. Make some bad decisions as we go through practice and miss the balance to start the race. There’s just a lot of things that can go wrong."
Logano found that answer interesting to say the least.
"I don’t know if you noticed his answer," Logano said. "The only way he can get beat was him screwing up. I don’t know if you heard that in his answer. It was a mistake or a crash or a strategy call."
In his third season with the Penske operation, Logano has been making strides at Phoenix with three straight top-10 finishes while also leading 120 laps in the past three races. His No. 22 Team Penske Ford Fusion also was the fastest Friday in practice on Friday at the track where he holds the record for the fastest lap.
"We’ve been getting closer," Logano said. "I feel like the last three times we’ve been here, we’ve been a second-place car. That next step is a pretty big step to try and find a little bit more speed in our stuff. We’re directionally getting better. It seems like the longer run is where he beats us all the time. Once he gets to the long run, his car starts to take off when other cars start to fall off a little bit. We usually can hang on the short run."
Logano seems to have qualifying figured out here as Sunday’s front row starting spot makes it four straight top-four starting spots at Phoenix. For the 2015 season, Logano will have started inside the top-five in all four races and on the front row for the past three races.
Harvick and Logano have been two of the strongest drivers dating back to last season. Both made the Championship 4 in 2014 with Harvick taking the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And at Phoenix, Logano knows who has to get past him to win.
"We’re making strides, and I feel like we’re getting closer," Logano said. "It’s just weird. Sometimes you go to those race tracks and its the same guy every time, you know. And certain tracks are like that and this is one for him (Harvick). Doesn’t mean he’s not beatable. I feel like we can do it. … We’re not that far off."
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