Kevin Harvick Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – With rain threatening to fall at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers put extra effort into Friday morning’s opening practice. The effort paid off for 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick, who was fastest in practice at 129.089 mph and consequently will start on the pole in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile short track (1 p.m. ET on FOX). With the field ordered by practice speeds according to the Sprint Cup rule book, Joey Logano (128.694 mph) willRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – When Carl Edwards wins the pole at Bristol, good things happen – for Edwards. So forgive the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing if he feels optimistic about Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FOX), the eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. With the only sub-15-second lap in the money round of Friday’s knockout qualifying at the .533-mile short track, Edwards won his second Coors Light Pole Award of theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – With intense on-track battles taking place over the past few seasons, six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson admitted at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday that Kevin Harvick is on his radar. Johnson, 40, has finished ahead of Harvick eight times since the 2014 season, the year Harvick moved to Stewart-Haas Racing and teamed with crew chief Rodney Childers. Although Harvick has scored nine wins and 53 top 10’s in 78 appearances with SHR, the 2014 Sprint Cup champion has had aRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief It was a wild afternoon at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which saw Jimmie Johnson surge past Kevin Harvick on a late restart to win the Auto Club 400. Here are the five takeaways from Sunday’s race at the 2-mile oval. 1) Kevin continues Auto Club collapse Heading into Sunday’s Sprint Cup race the driver that led the most laps failed to win five of the last six races, Harvick made it six of seven after failing to find Victory Lane in Fontana. It isRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Jimmie Johnson won the battle between hometown heroes on Sunday, outdueling Kevin Harvick in overtime at Auto Club Speedway. “Awesome teamwork, boys!” Johnson shouted on his radio after taking the 77th checkered flag of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time victory list. “There’s nothing like winning at home.” The six-time series champion from El Cajon got the chance he needed when Kyle Busch blew a tire and hitRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Seconds after crossing the finish line .715 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon summed up Saturday’s TreatMyClot.com 300 by Janssen in one short sentence. “I’d rather be lucky than good,” Dillon chortled on his team radio after ending evading Busch’s last-ditch attempt to pinch the winning No. 2 Chevrolet into the outside wall at Auto Club Speedway. And that was just the final stanza of a crazy final lap that saw: 1) Busch slow to a crawl, short onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Austin Dillon delivered a parting shot that turned out to be a called shot. After taking questions from reporters after Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Auto Club Speedway, Dillon paused to watch the last minute of Middle Tennessee State’s upset victory over Michigan State in the NCAA basketball tournament. On his way out the door, Dillon was asked about his prospects for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX) at the two-mile track. “Ask me tomorrowRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Ariz. – The Good Sam 500 has been one for the ages and gave Phoenix International Raceway its closest finish ever in the track’s history and seventh closest all-time in the history of NASCAR. With that said, it is time to break down some of the biggest stories from Sunday’s race. 1) Harvick continues his reign in the desert There may not be anyone more automatic at a race track like Kevin Harvick is at Phoenix International Raceway. The NASCAR on FOX group have labeledRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – In recent years, Kevin Harvick has exercised his dominance at Phoenix International Raceway by crushing the competition. In Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, he maintained his mastery by a matter of inches, banging fenders with Carl Edwards in a side-by side overtime battle on the way to the finish line. After the drivers traded shots on the way to the stripe, Harvick pulled ahead to win the fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Running the fastest lap of the day when it counted most, Kyle Busch paced a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top three starting spots for Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway (on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET). Busch covered the one-mile distance in 26.014 seconds (138.387 mph) in Friday’s final round of knockout qualifying, a session interrupted by Jimmie Johnson’s hard wreck against the Turn 2 wall. The Coors Light Pole Award was Busch’s first of the season (after an inspectionRead More