Desert storm: Logano, Kenseth wary of Harvick's freaky fast speed
If you look at the numbers alone, Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway ought to be an easy slam-dunk victory for Kevin Harvick, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
Harvick swept both Cup races here last year and has won four of the last five at the 1-mile desert track.
He qualified on the pole Friday and in Saturday's final Happy Hour practice, Harvick was fastest in single-lap runs, as well as five- and 10-consecutive fastest lap averages.
Clearly, Harvick is the prohibitive favorite today.
And two of the drivers most likely to challenge him for supremacy weren't exactly brimming with confidence on Saturday.
"I wouldn't say we are the only guy that has the speed to run with him," said Joey Logano, who will start today's race next to Harvick on the outside of Row 1. "I wouldn't say we have the speed to run with him, either. I feel like our last run in Happy Hour, we made a long run of 25 laps and I feel like we were okay. Then I look at the times and we were just a little bit off still. They have it figured out with that 4 car (Harvick) right now and I have to be able to catch up to them."
Matt Kenseth, who will start fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, was pretty much in the same boat as Logano after Saturday's Happy Hour final Sprint Cup practice.
"Felt like we made some gains and some things were better, some things were worse," said Kenseth. "I'm sure Kevin (Harvick) is going to be the guy to beat. He has been the last few years here and there were some other guys that were real fast in practice, too. Hopefully we will get a good balance (Sunday) and we'll have a good day."
Logano made it clear that Harvick is still the man to beat.
"This is his territory for sure so to be able to race with him (Harvick) and try to beat him is going to be a lot of fun and a big challenge but there is no reason we can't do it," said Logano. "I feel we made some good gains today in practice and we are close. With a couple more adjustments we will be right where we need to be. I feel like in practice we were a top-five car and maybe a little better than that, but I feel like we need one more step to be a winning car right now."
VIDEO: Check out the Las Vegas odds for Sunday's Sprint Cup race in Phoenix
