NASCAR: Kevin Harvick’s historic streak nears a record
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick hasn’t won any of the last six races at Phoenix Raceway, but he kept a historic streak alive in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event there.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, a nine-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at Phoenix Raceway, hasn’t won at the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona since March 2018.
His six-race win drought at the track is tied for the second longest of his career, and it is his longest since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and since his four-race winning streak at the track from November 2013 to March 2015.
He finished in sixth place in Sunday afternoon’s Instacart 500 at the track without leading any laps, something he has failed to do in the last two, four of the last five and seven of the last 10 races there after leading a total of 994 laps in five races and at least 139 in each race from March 2014 to March 2016.
However, his sixth place finish kept a historic streak alive and moved him one step closer to NASCAR history.
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Harvick hasn’t finished outside of the top nine at Phoenix Raceway since he finished in 13th place back in March 2013 when he was still driving for Richard Childress Racing. His 16-race streak includes six victories, including the aforementioned four in a row, and an average finish of 3.56.
Only three times in Cup Series history had drivers recorded more than 15 consecutive top 10 finishes at any track, and the three who did so are the sport’s only seven-time champions.
Richard Petty recorded nine wins and an average finish of 1.89 during an 18-race streak of top 10 finishes at North Wilkesboro Speedway from September 1968 to March 1977. He finished no lower than seventh place during that span, and he finished outside of the top three just once.
Dale Earnhardt recorded four wins and an average finish of 4.22 during an 18-race streak of top 10 finishes at the same venue from October 1983 to April 1992.
And most recently, Jimmie Johnson recorded six wins and an average finish of 3.59 during a 17-race streak of top 10 finishes at Martinsville Speedway from October 2002 to October 2010. He finished no lower than ninth place during that span.
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The next race scheduled to take place at Phoenix Raceway is the 2021 season finale, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 7. Will Kevin Harvick be one of the four Championship 4 drivers battling for the title when this event rolls around?