Author: Kenny Bruce
Date: Jan. 26, 2015
What are Harvick's chances of claiming the title back-to-back?
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet
Rank in final 2014 standings: First
Wins: Five (Phoenix in March, Darlington in April, Charlotte in October, Phoenix in November, Homestead in November)
Year in photos: Recap Harvick's 2014 season
Strides: Harvick often said that a driver doesn't switch teams with the expectation of running worse. And that was the case for the Bakersfield, California, native when he ended a 13-year run at Richard Childress Racing to join Stewart-Haas Racing for the '14 season. Although he was stepping into a slot made available with the departure of Ryan Newman, Harvick's No. 4 team was built new, from top to bottom -- a new driver, new crew chief in Rodney Childers, a new, handpicked crew and new equipment.
The result? Harvick won his first NASCAR Sprint Cupchampionship, five races, a series' best eight poles and he led more laps (2,137) than any other driver. By a wide margin.
Never higher than third in final points during his stay at RCR, Harvick won early last season to earn a spot in the Chase, and then won key races during the 10-race, elimination-style format to continue to advance. He closed the season with wins at Phoenix, which guaranteed his place in the four-team finale, and then at Homestead to secure the title.
Although his Chevrolet was fast each and every week, it wasn't consistency that carried him to the title.
"Our success came all from winning races," he said. "In the end, it was winning the last two races; winning early in the season and getting ourselves in the Chase. Pretty much, if you're going to look at the root of our success, it wasn't about consistency. It was really about winning for us."
Setbacks: While he won five races, Harvick knows there were several other wins that slipped from the team's grasp in '14. Mechanical issues early in the season derailed strong runs on several occasions. Problems on pit road were enough of an issue that heading into the Chase, his over-the-wall crew was swapped with that of teammate and team co-owner Tony Stewart.
It was the final tweak, but a sign that the team was still trying to improve.
"If you look at the first half of the year, we were fast, but we made a lot of mistakes," he said. "We won a couple of races, but it really took us a good half ... of the year to get to where we weren't having problems and get our stuff situated."
The early issues "really tested our team from a mental (aspect) on how we were going to react after having so many disappointments," he said.
Quoteworthy: "You always try to take what you have and make it better. If you don't do it better than you did last year, it's your own fault."
What's next: Once you've reached the top, what else is there?
"I think the ultimate drive is just that sense of failure," Harvick said, "especially after you've reached the highest amount of success that you can reach. But the team and organization, as a group, we can all get a lot better.
"This is a sport where you have to constantly reinvent yourself and what you do. There isn't a year that goes by that something doesn't change. ... We'll re-evaluate everything and talk about what we did this year and how it got better, how the championship affects it."
While Harvick said he expected changes within the SHR organization during the offseason, his core group would remain intact. While he and teammate Kurt Busch qualified for the Chase, Busch was eliminated early while fellow SHR drivers Stewart and Danica Patrick failed to make the 16-team field.
With a pit crew that stepped up when it mattered most, and mechanical issues addressed, Harvick has high expectations as he begins defense of his title.
"This team," he said, "has a lot of confidence."
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