NASCAR: Kevin Harvick panicking after slow start?

Kevin Harvick discussed Stewart-Haas Racing’s slow start to the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and what that means moving forward.

In the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick secured a series-high nine victories, the most at the sport’s top level since Carl Edwards won nine races in 2008, but he and the #4 team faded down the stretch.

Harvick ended the season on a seven-race win drought, and despite his dominance earlier in the year, he failed to qualify for the Championship 4. Prior to that drought, he had not gone more than four races in a row without winning all year long.

Must Read. Dale Earnhardt Jr. still annoys Martin Truex Jr.. light

That lack of speed has carried over into the 2021 season, as Stewart-Haas Racing and Harvick now find themselves on a 20-race win drought dating back to last September.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

But 13 races into the season, Harvick has done a nice job of capitalizing on what the team have given him, and he has managed to record 10 top 10 finishes, including a season-best second place effort at Kansas Speedway. His 9.0 average finish ranks second behind that of Denny Hamlin, who comfortably leads the point standings.

Only Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron has recorded more top 10 finishes than Harvick has, and Harvick sits in eighth place in the point standings, third highest among the drivers who are not among the 10 winners so far this year.

But Harvick isn’t really concerned at this point, as he knows that what matters is how the #4 team performs down the stretch and into the postseason, something they failed to do late last year after doing so throughout the entire regular season.

“It is what it is, right?” Harvick told Beyond the Flag after discussing the new Mobil 1 Thousand sweepstakes. “You don’t really know where you’re going to be when the playoffs start. We’ve seen it so many times, and obviously for us, we have to find a little bit of speed in our car. But our team’s doing a great job of capitalizing week in and week out on the finishes.

“Not a situation that we haven’t been in before throughout the years, so you just have to go race each week and see where it all falls and try to make as few mistakes as possible to keep ourselves in the game right now when we have to race a little bit defensively just because of the lack of speed in the cars.”

Harvick was in a similar situation in 2019. It took him until the season’s 19th race to record a top three finish. But he still ended up in the Championship 4 with four victories and finished in third in the championship standings.

He credits the team for putting him in the situations that he has been in this year as far as being able to capitalize on the opportunities that have presented themselves, despite the overall struggle that the season has presented at most tracks the series has visited.

“Our guys are doing a good job and sometimes you just have to survive and try to keep yourself around so that when we get the cars going like we need them to go, you’re still in the game,” he explained.

But Harvick’s struggles have really been nothing compared to those of the rest of the team. Of the team’s other three drivers, Cole Custer sits highest in the point standings — 17 spots below Harvick in 25th place.

Harvick isn’t putting any additional pressure on himself, despite the fact that, barring an upset victory, he is positioned to be the only Stewart-Haas Racing driver in the 16-driver playoff field.

“Not really,” he admitted. “We go about our business whether we win or lose, pretty much exactly the same. We try to prepare at a high level and communicate and do the things that it takes to be a leader. Whether they’re winning or losing, we’re still going to communicate and do the things that it takes to try to progress forward. Nothing has changed from that side of things and we’ll continue to do that as we move forward.”

Next. Top 25 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

Harvick is slated to make another attempt to find victory lane in 2021 this afternoon at Circuit of the Americas in the inaugural EchoPark Texas Grand Prix, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series