By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
August 15, 2010
BROOKLYN, Mich.—For Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick, the most important moment of this season wasn’t when he won the Budweiser Shootout to kick-start the rebirth of Richard Childress Racing. It wasn’t when he won at Talladega to snap a 115-race winless streak. It wasn’t even Sunday, when he won at Michigan International Speedway to give his organization its first victory in 20 years on the big track in the Big Three’s backyard.
No, the most important moment of Harvick’s season came in a loss—a runner-up finish at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, when he tried to force his way past Jimmie Johnson, slapped the wall, and wound up second. But in the process, he learned a valuable lesson—how to win again.
And the benefits of that experience were certainly on display Sunday, when Harvick stalked Denny Hamlin before overtaking him with 11 laps remaining and running away to score a victory that should dispel any lingering doubts about his ability to contend for the Cup Series crown. It was RCR’s first win at Michigan since Dale Earnhardt prevailed here in 1990. But more importantly, it was Harvick’s third victory of this season, allowing him to close the bonus-point gap between him and win leaders Hamlin and Johnson. It was also his first win on a track other than a restrictor-plate venue, and evidence that he’s more than capable on the intermediate tracks that dominate the Chase.
“They’re strong,” said Jeff Gordon, who had a solid car early but faded to 27th. “They showed it all day. All three of their cars were strong, especially Kevin. This is the time to get momentum, going into the Chase. He’s leading the points. Even though they’ve shown strength, they haven’t gotten the victories on these types of race tracks, and these are very important race tracks to win on right now. I think that was a huge win for them.”
Although Harvick has led the points for all but five weeks this season, he’s lagged behind championship rivals Johnson and Hamlin in race victories, a fact that’s threatened to unseat him from that top spot once the playoff begins and the top 12 drivers are reseeded based on wins. Until Sunday, his victories this year had come on restrictor-plate tracks Talladega and Daytona, only one of which is in the Chase. He hadn’t won on an unrestricted track larger than a mile since Indianapolis in 2003, something that led to valid questions about his viability as a championship contender given the preponderance of intermediate ovals in the season’s final 10 events.
At Michigan, those questions were answered authoritatively. Harvick’s victory made him the first driver to clinch a Chase berth, and left even his rivals conceding that he is the man to beat for the title.
“I don’t think you can put together any 10-week stretch during the year when Kevin has been off,” said Hamlin, who finished second Sunday. “He’s always been solid. Even when we had that 10-week stretch when we won all those races, there were a few bad races in between, and I’m sure probably Kevin scored the most points probably still in that 10-week stretch. Through the course of the regular season he has just been really, really good, really reliable. He’s been a guy who’s been super solid. I really don’t see how he can’t be the favorite going into it, as solid a performances as he’s had. And he’s really not tapered off, he’s gotten better.”
And it all goes back to Southern California, where Harvick led 27 laps before Johnson took the lead on a pit-road exchange. Harvick had whittled a 1-second advantage down to .311 seconds with four laps remaining when he tried to make the pass—and instead banged off the wall.
“I think California should have been for sure the first win, but we hadn’t won in so long that I forced the issue,” Harvick remembered. “That for me was the best point of the year, remembering and telling myself, ‘You can’t force winning.’ Winning just happens, and it comes in cycles, and those circumstances all of the sudden start going your way. When I tried to force it at California, if I’d have waited two laps I’d have driven right by [Johnson]. That would have been the first win. Instead, I tried to force it too soon. That was really what got me going back on the right path as far as how to think and not force those things.”
Sunday, he put that lesson to use. With about 20 laps remaining, Harvick made a move on Hamlin and backed off. With 11 to go, he came back and finished it. With that unparalleled Earnhardt-Childress horsepower underneath the hood—Harvick had led by more than six seconds earlier in the event—he ran away from the field, leaving other drivers and any questions about his legitimacy as a title contender behind him.
“When you’re that much faster than the guy in front of you, you’ve got to take your time until the laps are out,” Harvick said. “That’s kind of what I did today. I didn’t want to make a mistake by running into the wall when Denny rolled up to the top. I didn’t want to do the same thing I did behind Jimmie, and push into the fence in the middle or up off the corner. I just tried to take care of my car and let time take care of his. Mine got better as it progressed, and I knew that. There was no reason to force it until it was very clear we were going to make the move and go by.”
So many small details go into such a victory. Harvick said he studied tapes of some of Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s old races at Michigan, trying to get a feel for how to run the wide track’s high line, and doing it expertly on Sunday. Crew chief Gil Martin said the No. 29 team is doing a better job of preparing race strategy and making fewer off-the-cuff pit decisions, which perhaps played into the call to stay out on old tires during the final caution period. And then there’s Harvick, clearly more patient, and seeming only to get better as rival teams struggle to figure out shortcomings in the final few weeks before the Chase.
Even though he leads second-place Gordon by 293 points, his victory total still isn’t quite as high as some other drivers’, and if the regular season ended today he’d still be looking up at Hamlin and Johnson in the revised standings. But after one close call after another—at California, at Atlanta, at Las Vegas, at Pocono, at Indianapolis—Harvick at last showed that he’s capable of winning even when the plates are off. The one remaining question about the No. 29 team seems to have been answered, and emphatically so.
“We know we’re going to be a contender,” Childress said. “That’s all we can ask for is to be a contender. If we’re that, we’ll have a shot at winning it.”
http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/opinion/08/15/inside.line.dcaraviello.kharvick.michigan.title/story_single.html#page2
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.