NASCAR: Kevin Harvick clinched a title and no one noticed
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick has secured the unofficial title for scoring the most actual points throughout the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fourth time he has done so.
Since taking the lead in the championship standings with his second place finish in the fourth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season at Phoenix Raceway back in early March, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick has not relinquished the lead in terms of actual points.
While there have been points at which he has not led the standings, that is only because of the resets that occur throughout the playoffs.
With two races to go in the 36-race season, Harvick has officially clinched the title for scoring the most points.
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Entering the 34th race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick led the point standings by 140 points (1,329 to 1,189) over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.
With a maximum of 60 points on the table in each race (10 for stage one win, 10 for stage two win and 40 for race win), there were a maximum of 180 points remaining on the table throughout the rest of the season.
Hamlin was the only driver within that 180-point threshold. Now with two races to go, that is just a 120-point threshold, and despite outscoring Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway, Hamlin sits 134 points behind him (1,351 to 1,217) and cannot pass him in actual points.
Even excluding stage points, Harvick has clinched this unofficial title. With a maximum of 40 regular points on the table in both of the remaining two races, nobody is within that 80-point threshold. Hamlin sits in second place, 105 points back (1,061 to 956).
This marks the fourth time the 2014 champion has secured a points “championship”. He also did so in 2010, when Jimmie Johnson won his fifth championship, in 2015, when Kyle Busch won his first, and in 2016, when Johnson won his sixth.
Only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, two actual seven-time champions from the pre-playoffs era, and Jeff Gordon have secured more points “championships” than Harvick has. Four-time champion Gordon would also be a seven-time champion on points alone.
Of course, this isn’t the title that Harvick is focused on; he is focused on winning the championship trophy that is to be awarded after the season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 8 and becoming the sport’s 17th ever multi-time champion.
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Harvick sits 42 points above the Championship 4 cut line heading into the round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, November 1, but should an upset winner emerge, he sits just 15 points ahead of where that cut line would be.