Date: Michael Vega
Date: Jan. 19, 2015
QUINCY — The view was breathtaking as Kevin Harvick sat down Monday for an interview in the terrace room of the Tavern at Granite Links.
“We’ve got a great view today,’’ said Harvick, surveying a panoramic view of Boston’s skyline from his corner table.
“It’s a good view, but I’m glad that I’m sitting in here because the pond is frozen down there. So we’re going to stay inside and take the view in.’’
Harvick has an equally breathtaking view of his sport, from his exalted perch as NASCAR’s reigning Sprint Cup champion.
Harvick captured the first NASCAR series title of his career in his first year with the No. 4 Chevrolet fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing, winning five races in the revamped, three-phase elimination Chase format.
Among those five were must-wins in the final two Chase races, at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he staved off race and championship runner-up Ryan Newman, who landed at Richard Childress Racing after being supplanted by Harvick at SHR.
So what is the view like for Harvick now that he has scaled NASCAR’s summit?
“Well, it’s definitely a spot that you want to experience again,’’ said Harvick, who was in Boston to attend the Ultimate Fighting Championship event Sunday night at TD Garden, where several mixed martial arts fighters represented by his management company, Kevin Harvick Inc., competed.
“So it’s been great to be able to go through the Champion’s Week [in Las Vegas last month] and everything that we’ve done to celebrate it,’’ he said. “But, in the end, it’s time to get back to racing and do what we do on a weekly basis and get back on the track.’’
Harvick will begin his title defense when he and the rest of his Sprint Cup colleagues show up at Daytona International Speedway next month for the season-opening Daytona 500 Feb. 22.
It can be such a struggle to get to the top of any sport. But, Harvick was asked, how does he intend to remain on top? What does he do for an encore?
“That’s the hard part,’’ he said. “I think that’s probably a good source of motivation for us, is to make sure that you go out and try to experience that success again.
“For me, I’ve worked my whole life to get to the point of being in this position, and to be able to accomplish that is pretty rewarding. So you want to be able to experience that again.’’
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