Can he be stopped? Five drivers that can challenge Harvick in Phoenix
Let's be blunt here: You'd have to be a little bit off your senses to pick anyone other than Kevin Harvick to win Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
The evidence supporting another Harvick victory is overwhelming:
-- Harvick has won five of the last six races at PIR.
-- Harvick has led 978 laps at PIR, more than any other driver.
-- In the last six races overall, dating back to Texas of last year, Harvick has three victories and three runner-up finishes. The last time any driver had six straight top-2 finishes was in 1996, when Jeff Gordon did it.
-- Harvick is the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
-- Harvick's team, Stewart-Haas Racing, has won two of the last four titles.
Add it all up, and anything other than a Harvick victory on Sunday would be a surprise. And a pretty big surprise, when you think about it.
That said, here are the five drivers most likely to challenge Harvick for supremacy in the desert on Sunday:
DENNY HAMLIN: In his last six starts at PIR, Hamlin has a victory, a runner-up finish, a third-place finish and four top fives. He's also led 441 laps here, an impressive total. Joe Gibbs Racing hasn't won a race since Hamlin triumphed at Talladega last May. The team and driver are due to win.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: NASCAR's most popular driver has thrived at Phoenix, both in the track's old layout and after it was reconfigured in mid-2011. Earnhardt won here in 2003 and '04, and in the last four races, his average finish at PIR is 4.75. In this race last year, Earnhardt was the runner-up.
BRAD KESELOWSKI: The 2012 Sprint Cup champ has been strangely quiet through the early weeks of the season so far. That could change on Sunday. In his past six starts at PIR, Keselowski has an average finish of 5.5, with four top fives and just a single finish worse than sixth.
JEFF GORDON: Certainly, Gordon has had his ups and downs at this track, but he posted top fives in both races here last year, including a second-place finish to Harvick last November. Gordon has had fast cars all year, even though his luck has been rotten so far in 2015.
KURT BUSCH: Fact is stranger than fiction, right? Busch has won at PIR already, and after missing the first three races of the season he will be supremely motivated to win. As strange as the last few months have been for Busch, a surprise victory in his first race back would only add to his story.
