NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick simply can’t catch a break in 2019

With 17 races on the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series schedule in the books, Kevin Harvick is still searching for what would be his first victory of the year.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick sits in a third place tie in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings with one race remaining until the halfway point of the 36-race 2019 season and with just nine races remaining until the playoffs begin.

This is a position that many drivers would envy. Most importantly, he sits a whopping 194 points above the playoff cut line, and he sits 73 points ahead of the driver one position below him in the playoff picture.

But for the 43-year-old Bakersfield, California native, it’s hard to picture him caring any less given how he has landed in this position — specifically, how he hasn’t landed there.

Last season at this time, Harvick was the sport’s dominant driver. He had earned five victories and recorded nine top three finishes and 13 top five finishes, and he only finished outside of the top five once in a race that did not feature him involved in a crash. He still finished that race in seventh place. Additionally, he had also led 1,032 laps in 12 of the season’s first 17 races.

So far this season, Harvick’s top finishes are his five fourth place finishes. He has led 429 laps in eight of the season’s first 17 races.

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Harvick has gone on lengthy win droughts to start seasons before, and while this one is not his longest, the fact that he has not even managed to record a single top three finish during it makes it arguably his worst.

In his 18 previous seasons in the Cup Series, he had already recorded at least one top three finish by the ninth race. The 2019 season has been going on for nearly twice as long as nine races.

Stewart-Haas Racing have certainly struggled this season after a 2018 season during which they ended the season three victories clear of the next best team on the wins list with 12 victories, as they are still searching for their first victory of the year as a team.

However, it’s not like their pace has been terrible. As stated, Harvick is all the way up in a third place tie in the championship standings, and their three other drivers are all still above the playoff cut line. Harvick is tied for the series lead with three pole positions, and Stewart-Haas Racing sit in second place in the category among all teams with four.

Additionally, while 429 laps led doesn’t seem like much compared to 1,032, it still ranks fifth on the laps led list so far this season, fifth behind only the laps led totals of four drivers who have combined to win 13 of the first 17 races.

The new rules package may be contributing to the team’s relative lack of success compared to last season, as may the switch from the Fusion to the Mustang for the Ford teams, but fellow Ford team Team Penske seem to be doing just fine, as their win total of five through the season’s first 17 races ranks second on the wins list.

In short, Harvick has not lacked overall pace this season. His problem is the fact that he can’t catch a break.

He dominated the race at Kansas Speedway back in mid-May after starting from the pole position in his #4 Ford. But after winning stage one and leading 104 of the first 178 laps of this 271-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Kansas City, Kansas, he made an unexpected pit stop due to what he thought was a loose wheel. It wasn’t and he cost himself a ton of track position with this pit stop. He ended up having to settle for a 13th place finish.

Entering the race at Chicagoland Speedway this past Sunday, Harvick and his team had said that their issue had not been getting out front; it had been staying out front. They appeared to have both parts solved in this race, and it looked as though they would finally get back to victory lane for the first time since Harvick’s victory in the round of 8 playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway last November.

Harvick dominated this race after starting on the front row in second place, his fifth front row start of the season. In a race that featured a lot of passing, he still managed to lead 128 of the first 166 laps, and he won stage two. But in the third and final stage of this 267-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Joliet, Illinois, he hit the wall hard in turn two.

He tried to battle back by staying out four extra laps as the leader and banking on a caution flag period before making his final pit stop later in the race, but that strategy did not pay off, as that caution flag period never came and he only managed to finish in 14th place.

For a driver who earned eight victories and 14 top three finishes last season, his start to the 2019 season has been disastrous, but it has not at all been due to a lack of speed; he simply cannot catch a break.

When you think about it, the fact that his position in the championship standings and playoff picture are as good as they are might as well just be salt in the wound.

When will Kevin Harvick break through with his first top three finish of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, and most importantly, when will he make his way back to victory lane for the first time this year? He has the speed to do it, but he just needs to catch a break.