Harvick looking dialed in again – ESPN

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BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 team has been the class of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field for the last year and a half.

So why does it keep finishing second?

Mind you, finishing second eight times in 14 points-paying races in 2015 isn’t shabby by any standard. Yet the feeling persists that Harvick and his team, led by crew chief Rodney Childers, probably ought to have more than two wins (at Las Vegas and Phoenix) on the board.

Harvick’s run of second-place finishes is even more pronounced at Michigan International Speedway, site of Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400. The Bakersfield, California, native has finished second at MIS in his last four Cup Series starts dating to June 2013, when he was still driving for Richard Childress Racing.

“That second-place thing we have going on is a good thing and a bad thing,” Harvick said. “I learned a long time ago that sometimes those things happen, so it’s better to be on a second-place streak than a 10th-place streak.

“In our situation, we are fortunate to be running the way we are, but sometimes things don’t go exactly your way,” he continued. “Like this past weekend (at Pocono Raceway, where Harvick finished … wait for it … second!) — we were coming to pit road, downshifting and all, but on pit road and the caution comes out and we go from leading the race to 12th. The good part is the cars are running fast. Rebounding and recovering from certain situations like that and finishing second, that’s a good thing. A lot of times situations like that turn into eighth- to 10th-place finishes.”

Harvick and the Budweiser Chevrolet have again been the class of the field so far during the Michigan weekend, holding an 0.7 mph advantage over the field in the opening two practice sessions. However, pole position slipped away, taken by Kasey Kahne in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while Harvick qualified — second.

The question is whether Harvick can dominate from the front row and finish the job to earn his third win of the 2015 season.

“The good thing about [Michigan] is that it has definitely aged and the groove has spread out over the last couple of races,” Harvick said. “You have a lot more options than you did a few years ago, when they repaved it, and every time we go back there, it gets a little more racy.

“I think this particular rules package is going to be interesting this time because the draft has always been pretty effective there.”

Kahne earned his first pole in three years and is looking for the race win that will lock him into the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Like many other drivers, he worries that the reduced power and higher cornering speeds that are a product of this year’s rules package will produce single-file racing.

“As far as being on the throttle 100 percent, I ran a lot more today than I’ve ever [run] at Michigan,” Kahne said. “I’m hoping the groove will widen out toward the top of the race track like it used to be. Last year was the first year we were able to run low in [Turns] 1 and 2 without being really slow.

“If it’s like that, yeah, we will be able to draft up and make moves if you have that momentum. But it’s really tough to say exactly how that is going to go because the off-throttle time right now is not very much. I think as the track gets rubbered in and tires get hot you will see more lifting, and at that point hopefully we will pass more.”

Carl Edwards, who qualified fourth in the No. 19 Arris Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, said that with so much full-throttle running, drivers will need to get creative if they want to pass.

“It really doesn’t matter to any of us if we’re going 200 mph down the straightaway as long as we have to get in that corner and slide the car and brake and use our skill set to get through the corner,” Edwards said. “Those are the kind of things that NASCAR and everybody is working on — to find that balance — and this place, it’s going to be tough.

“Fortunately, there are three, four or maybe even five different lines you could take in the corners,” he added. “Even if we don’t slow down a lot, we’ll have the opportunity to find clean air and make passes.”

Jimmie Johnson leads the Chase Grid with four race wins, and despite a couple of uncompetitive outings by the standards of the No. 48 team, the six-time Cup Series champion is putting together a season arguably as impressive as Harvick’s.

Johnson has finished first, second or third in seven of the last eight Cup races, including wins at Texas, Kansas and Dover. The defending champion of the June Michigan race will start eighth on Sunday, one spot ahead of last week’s race winner, Martin Truex Jr.

Team Penske experienced mixed emotions after qualifying, with Brad Keselowski delighted to be starting third at what he calls one of his “weakness tracks,” while teammate Joey Logano was unhappy after qualifying 11th at what he thinks has been one of his best tracks since moving to Penske in 2013.

“I honestly didn’t think we would qualify this well, but we are working on it and trying to get better,” Keselowski said. “We came with some new stuff on the car, which seems to be working, so I am proud of everyone at Team Penske, Ford and Roush Yates engines for that.”

With a pole speed of nearly 202 mph, Michigan’s 2.0-mile layout has surpassed Atlanta Motor Speedway as NASCAR’s fastest non-restrictor plate track. As such, engine reliability is often an issue.

Goodyear has also brought a harder right-side tire to Michigan this year, a compound previously used this year at Las Vegas and Talladega.

While fuel economy and tire wear will undoubtedly play a part in the result, Kahne and Harvick are the men to beat if the Michigan race is decided on speed alone.

“Starting up front, having the track position and having a great pit stall throughout the race which will help the pit guys,” observed Kahne. “But doing a good job on restarts, that will be key for me. Staying toward the front will be key to being there late in the race and having a shot on that final restart or that final long run — whatever it may be.”