Was Kevin Harvick Truly The Driver Of The Year?

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Harvick had himself a truly memorable year in 2014, a year that was capped off by him winning his first Sprint Cup Series championship. Harvick after making the move to Stewart-Haas Racing following the 2013 season shocked many by finding so much success as quickly as he did with a new team. Not only did the move to SHR equal speed, wins and a championship; the move also resulted in Harvick being named the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Driver of the Year.

Now don’t get me wrong, Harvick had himself a great year and without question earned the right the be crowned champion. That being said, he may not have been the driver of the year. In years past the NASCAR champion was usually always the best driver because the championship used to be decided on points earned from all of the races and there wasn’t a chase. In those seasons the most dominant driver always won the championship and it was easy to also say that said driver was also the driver of the year. With the addition of the chase and now the new chase format, that thought process is no longer as simple.

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To draw a comparison, think about the NFL. It was not too long ago that the New England Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season and lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. The Giants were crowned champions that night and on that night they were the better team. However, if you were to play that game out 100 times the Patriots would have won the majority of those games. Also, if you were to ask the majority of fans who the better team was that year they would say it was the Patriots. When it comes to sports though the better team doesn’t always win the championship.

When it comes to NASCAR the driver who had the best season isn’t always going to win the Sprint Cup or the Driver of the Year Award. Below are a look at the 2014 stats of Kevin Harvick as compared to some of the other top drivers in the series.

• Kevin Harvick – 5 wins, 14 top-five’s and 20 top-10’s. Average finish was 12.9
• Jeff Gordon – 4 wins, 14 top-five’s and 23 top-10’s. Average finish was 10.3
• Brad Keselowski – 6 wins, 17 top-five’s and 20 top-10’s. Average finish was 12.6.
• Joey Logano – 5 wins, 16 top-five’s and 22 top-10’s. Average finish was 11.3.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 4 wins, 12 top-five’s and 20 top-10’s. Average finish was 12.1.

If you compare Harvick to the four other drivers listed above you could make arguments for each that they should have been the driver of the year instead. Gordon had the best average finish in the series at 10.3 as compared to Harvick’s 12.9, he also had the same number of top-five’s and three more top-10’s while having only one less win. Keselowski led the series in wins with six, he has three more top-five’s than Harvick while having the same number of top-10’s Keselowski also has a better average finish than Harvick did. Logano matches Harvick in wins, has more top-five’s and top-10’s and has a better average finish than Harvick did. Of the four drivers Earnhardt Jr. is the weakest comparison but he still matches Harvick in top-10’s and has a better average finish while only having one less win.

The arguments for Gordon, Keselwoski and Logano are more than legitimate and in my opinion they all deserved the nod over Harvick. Those who support Harvick winning the award will of course point to the fact that he won the title this season. As far as that goes I would simply ask you if that logic still holds merit if Ryan Newman had won that race and as a result the championship. Should Newman have been named Driver of the Year if he won the 2014 title having finished the season with only five top-five’s and 16 top-10’s? If Newman were to have won the title he also most likely would have won that last race so you can add one win to his stats as well. Regardless, nobody in their right mind could argue that Newman would have been the driver of the year had he won the title and as a result winning the title should not impact who wins driver of the year.

Now in fairness to Harvick, he did lead a lot of laps this season; 2,148 to be exact. That number of laps led is far greater than Keselowski who was in second place with 1,582. Then again, Keselowski won more races.

Once again I will be the first to tell you that Harvick had a great season and he deserved to win the 2014 championship. I am not taking anything away from the driver of the No. 4 machine nor am I trying to lessen anything that he accomplished this past season. However, I do believe that the numbers show that Harvick was not the best driver this past season and as a result should not have been named the 2014 Driver of the Year.

Do you agree or disagree? Who do you think should have been the driver of the year? Be sure to comment below and let us know what you think.

Christopher Olmstead is the Editor of BeyondTheFlag.com on the FanSided Network. Follow us on Twitter @Beyond_The_Flag and “Like” us on Facebook.