NASCAR Cup Series

'Happy' times: Three reasons why Harvick can win the Daytona 500

Published Feb. 20, 2015 3:15 p.m. ET

foxsports

The offseason may be over, but Kevin Harvick's reign as Sprint Cup Series champion is just beginning.

After an impressive 2014 season in which he won the final two races of the season and the first ever winner-take-all championship, Harvick has shown up to Daytona International Speedway in search of his second Daytona 500 victory.

Here are three reasons why Harvick will score the big win Sunday afternoon:

1. Momentum, baby!

In their first season together, Harvick and his Rodney Childers-led team hit the ground running and never looked back. Earning five wins, 14 top fives, 20 top 10s and eight poles, the group meshed well and the results showed on the track.

Knocking off the first-year jitters by going out and earning the championship, the No. 4 team is showing no signs of slowing as it kicks off the 2015 season.

What better way to do that than with a win in The Great American Race?

2. Hendrick horsepower

While Harvick drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, the motor in his No. 4 Chevrolet comes from Hendrick Motorsports. If Speedweeks up to this point is any indication of things to come Sunday, the Hendrick-powered cars are going to be tough to beat.

Jeff Gordon captured the pole for Sunday's race, Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start second and third, respectively, Tony Stewart's Hendrick-powered SHR car starts seventh, and Harvick will roll off 11th with Kasey Kahne lined up behind him in another Hendrick-powered car.

Although they are two separate organizations, Hendrick and SHR work closely together, and that should pay off for Harvick come Sunday.

3. Been there, done that

Harvick enters Sunday's race one of only nine drivers in the field with a Daytona 500 victory. While the cars, competition, and rules are different than they were when Harvick earned his first Daytona 500 victory in 2007, the defending series champion knows what it takes to get the job done.

In 27 career starts at Daytona International Speedway -- including the July race -- Harvick has two wins, six top fives and 11 top 10s. He has led a total of 178 laps and failed to finish only three races.

With one Daytona 500 victory already under his belt, a Hendrick-powered motor under his hood and momentum on his side, Harvick -- and his team -- are plenty capable of getting to Victory Lane Sunday evening at Daytona.