Despite NASCAR's youth movement, veterans control the 2016 Chase

Harvick was down — eight points outside of the top-eight in the Chase, to be exact — entering the second race in the Round of 12 on Sunday. An engine failure at Charlotte Motor Speedway the week before had put the Rodney Childers-led team in dire straits.

Yet when this crew is faced with adversity, Harvick overcomes. And Sunday’s win, his fourth of the season, was no exception.

“I try every week to find something to motivate myself, and I know these guys do the same thing,” Harvick said. “It’s hard to keep yourself motivated and continue to perform at a high level. Being able to do it for three years now says a lot about the character of this team and the things that they do.”

Harvick’s team was assembled entering the first year of NASCAR’s most recent playoff format in 2014. They won the title that year and advanced to the final four last season. Harvick lost the championship to Kyle Busch by one point after the No. 18 team won the season finale at Homestead.

The value of experience

Although the sport continues to promote its youth movement, it’s the 40-something former champions — Harvick and Jimmie Johnson — who, with wins, have locked themselves into the Round of 8 with the Chase wild card race at Talladega Superspeedway looming large this weekend. Matt Kenseth, 44, is second in points behind Johnson.

Harvick, 40, believes his experience is an invaluable asset.

“Experience in our sport is much different than other sports because my eyes don't work as good as they used to, my reflexes might not be as good, but they're still not bad,” Harvick said. “I think being able to communicate with your race team and sit in there and talk through some things, try to give them a ballpark of what you think, then let them go from there, you know, definitely has more weight than probably a lot of other sports.

“I think Peyton Manning, you look at him, he was a very good example of that. He didn't have the most strength or power left in his arm, but he had the best thoughts and strategies and things to approach defenses, preparation. It got him through in the end.”

One month before Manning turned 40, he led the Denver Broncos to the NFL championship over the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton. For Manning, it was his fourth Super Bowl appearance and his second title. Newton, then 26, had never played in the NFL finale.

Past champions make up half the remaining Chase field

Of the 12 drivers remaining in this Chase round, six are former champions. Johnson has qualified for every Chase for the Sprint Cup since NASCAR introduced the program in 2004. Under the latest format, this will be Johnson’s first transfer into the Round of 8.

If he’s learned anything from the last two years, it’s that there is no clear path to the title other than winning. That’s why the six-time champion feels it’s best to keep pushing his team.

“Ideally, I want to keep the pressure on our team,” Johnson said. “I want us to have more exposure to race winning pressure, championship pressure. I feel that makes everybody stronger on the race team and there are trophies to go get. I want more trophies this year without a doubt.

“We are showing up with the normal mindset. I think it would be smart for us to not change anything and take the pressure off of ourselves. You’ve got to be at 100 percent for these final races.”

The new blood

When the pressure was on Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing team last weekend at Kansas, they delivered. By the time most of the Chasers reach the second round of the playoffs, they have been in this position before. Only two drivers — Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon — are making their playoff debuts. Both have won titles in NASCAR’s lower tiers, but neither driver has ever won a Cup race.

Harvick isn't taking the younger competition for granted, particularly after Kyle Busch — 10 years his junior — knocked off the No. 4 team last year. But he still believes that history is on his side.

“I think for a lot of the young guys, I think Chase is doing a good job,” Harvick said. “In his situation, he's got a championship team, crew chief, that have come in and really helped him progress through a lot of things.

“But there's really still nothing that you can replace experience with, especially winning experience, inside the car.”