Kevin Harvick has 'a lot of fun' on way to another second-place finish
When statisticians look back at Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, they will see defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick started the day second and ended it second.
However, there is much more to the story.
With one of the fastest cars all weekend long, Harvick blew an engine in Saturday's final practice after posting the fastest lap of the session. With his crew swapping out motors late Saturday afternoon, Harvick was forced to start at the rear of the field.
From the drop of the green flag, Harvick's No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet went to work slicing and dicing his way through the field.
After the first 25 laps, Harvick was inside the top 15. He was fifth when the second caution of the day flew on Lap 48. By Lap 87, he was in the lead.
Harvick went on to set a blistering pace and lead five times for a race-high 116 laps. However, in the end, it was Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson who got the advantage and took the victory.
After a hard-fought day, Harvick blamed his failure to win on a poor late restart, but said he had fun trading the lead back and forth with Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet.
"It was a lot of fun coming up through there. Jimmie was right up in front of me coming up through the pack," said Harvick. "We made it to 13th or 14th on the first run in about 20 laps. It was fun. I was looking forward to it."
With Sunday's finish in Atlanta, Harvick has back-to-back runner-up finishes to kick off the 2015 season, but his impressive streak actually goes back to the end of 2014. Harvick has finished either first or second in the past five Sprint Cup Series events.
Despite missing out on the victory and an assured spot in the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup field, Harvick was pleased with the overall outcome of the day and knows it is a long season.
"All in all, it was a good, solid day," he said. "I know everybody wants to win. We just have to keep doing what we're doing. You put yourself in that position, you'll be able to win races."
