Kevin Harvick’s no-fear attitude will carry him far at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday — very possibly to the finish line.
Why? Harvick embraces Talladega. While some drivers dread coming to the 2.66-mile, high-banked track, Harvick knows he has the equipment and talent to persevere.
Not surprisingly, Harvick has amassed the most points in his last four visits to the track, including a win in spring 2010 and top-fives in each of the last three races. Among the Chase drivers, Harvick’s average finish of 14.3 at Talladega is second only to Kurt Busch's 13.9.
“It is kind of a crap-shoot, and you have to do everything you can to control and do what you think is best for yourself and your car, and try not to make any mistakes on pit road,” Harvick said. “Just have a good plan. Hopefully, we have got all that going for us this week and see how it plays out.
“I don’t think any of the previous stats matter at any race track. I think we are all capable of winning at any particular race track.”
Harvick trails points leader Carl Edwards by just five markers — or five car positions — come Sunday.
When comparing Harvick’s five final tracks to those of Edwards, it would be difficult not to give the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet a slim advantage. Although both Harvick and Edwards have wins at three of the final five tracks, Edwards’ combined average finish at those tracks is 14.6 compared to 13.08 for Harvick.
If the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup battle comes down to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it could be a toss-up between Harvick and Edwards.
Both drivers have completed every lap raced at the track. Edwards has won two of the last three races at the venue, but Harvick hasn’t finished worse than third in those same races and has a slightly better average finish — 2.6.
Harvick said his team has accomplished every goal it set at the start of the Chase.
“The first five tracks definitely aren’t our strong suit by any means, and I think the last five are much better,” he said.
“I felt really good about our Phoenix test, and the things that we had out there — compared to how we had been running on the old-style track. Obviously Homestead has been really good for us as well.
“The next five statistically have been good, but I think statistics don’t matter. It is really all about what you have for me now. You have got to go out and make it happen, and you have to control the things that you can control, not make any mistakes and perform. You have to perform well, too, to make all this happen.”
Zeroing in on this weekend at Talladega, Harvick has the potential to drive circles around Edwards, who has just one top-five finish in 14 starts.
Harvick gained track time — and experience with his drafting partner, Richard Childress Racing teammate Paul Menard — during an electron fuel-injection test on Thursday. Harvick said that allowed the pair to push their cars “to the fullest extent” and take risks they could not have afforded on Friday.
Consequently, the No. 29 team opted out of Happy Hour.
But Harvick seems plenty prepared for Saturday time trials and Sunday’s 500-mile race. His Talladega philosophy is simple.
“There are a lot of things that you can control,'' he said. "You can control-pit road penalties, we can control pit stops, you can control a lot of things, and there are only 42 things that you can’t control to be honest with you,” Harvick said.
“We are not worried about anybody else. We are worried about ourselves, don’t care what anyone else’s record is or whether it is good or bad. We just want to control what we can control and not draw anything else around us to pull us down.
"We don’t need motivation, we have enough motivation sitting on the shelf in Las Vegas with that trophy — that is our motivation. We don’t need stats, we don’t need people and we don’t care about the people around us right now.”
NUMBERS GAME
3 — Windshields from the Nos. 00, 47 and 56 confiscated by NASCAR.
4 — Laps run by Kyle Busch in his backup car after blowing a tire in Happy Hour.
8 — Teams skipped final practice — Nos. 11, 39, 47, 27, 29, 13, 33 & 83.
SAY WHAT?
Tony Stewart on not tandem drafting with David Gilliland yet and the possibility of losing his favorite restrictor-plate dancing partner:
"We don't know. I've kind of heard the Ford guys are kind of being told they have to stay with Ford guys. So we're not sure exactly who we are going to run with on Sunday yet."
