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In a year dominated by Toyotas, how Harvick has risen to the occasion

Just when it appeared Matt Kenseth was a sure bet in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick busted up the Toyota trifecta with a win.

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Action Sports Photography

Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Chevrolet
Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet beats Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota; Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet; Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrole; Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Restart: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

For most of the 2016 season, the Cup tour has been a Toyota buffet with Chevrolet and Ford picking up the crumbs where and when it can. 

But on Sunday, when Harvick needed to rally after a slow start to the Chase at Chicagoland, he came back with a vengeance — and a win. 

“It's really the nature of our team,” Harvick said. “It's one of those things where you get behind a little bit, and I feel like that's something I like because you can motivate yourself and you can motivate everybody around you by your actions and the things that you do and the attitude that you carry to the car on practice days and how you present yourself in the meetings.  

“These guys were mad after qualifying (19th). I was kind of laughing, and it was like, it's going to be fine. I don't know if you guys have noticed but we passed a lot of cars over the last three years. We can pass.”

Harvick proved his ability to pass at Chicagoland Speedway. He was sent to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments before the start of the race. In 11 laps, Harvick carved his way to 15th. However, an ill-timed caution while the No. 4 was on pit road knocked Harvick off the lead lap. He never recovered and finished 20th. The result dropped the 2014 Cup champion to 13th in the standings. 

Keeping at it

Sunday’s win not only enabled Harvick to transfer to the second round in the Chase — he proved to the competition the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team won’t go down without a fight. 

“It's just that time of year ‑‑ last two years we've kind of just worn ourselves out and really stressed out over trying to perform at this level, but we already perform at that level,” Harvick said. “We've just got to keep performing at that level. A lot of times you can talk yourself into being so amped up that you can talk yourself into making mistakes or doing things wrong, and this team has done a great job.

“But when you get in these situations, it's fun to be able to succeed. It's kind of like an addiction. You just love the rush of being able to be behind and be able to perform and make that happen. It's something that is very gratifying.” 

Harvick has enjoyed a stout season. In addition to his three wins, he has the most top 10s on the tour (22) and is tied with Brad Keselowski for most top-five finishes (14). He’s led the third most laps (1219) and his 8.6 average finish is a series’ best. 

Not focusing on the competition

Still, on a weekly basis Harvick has been challenged to dethrone the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. Along with Martin Truex Jr., the JGR alliance has won 14 races and led 4,449 of 7,945 possible laps in 2016. 

Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers isn’t worried about the competition. After all, Childers is the only boss to lead a Sprint Cup team to the final round of the first two Chases under the current playoff format. And Harvick won the 2014 championship. The only obstacle that concerns Childers is the No. 4 team.

“I think the question is can we stop ourselves,” Childers said. “That's the question. I felt like we had a great car last weekend and put ourselves in a bad position and probably could have won the race just like they did, and we won today.  

“So it's up to us. It's up to us to take good cars to the racetrack. It's up to us to have good pit stops.  It's up to me to make good decisions during the weekend and on pit road, and I think if we do that, we'll keep advancing as far as we can.”

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