Harvick Hopes To Become Second Driver
To Win Consecutive Crowns
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title-winner Kevin Harvick enters Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 Championship Round race (3 p.m. ET on NBC) as the favorite to take home his second straight series crown. If he finishes ahead of fellow Championship 4 drivers Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., Harvick will become the 11th person in NASCAR history to win consecutive NSCS titles.
Harvick heads to Homestead as its reigning race winner. He had to finish first to win the championship last year, otherwise runner-up Ryan Newman would have taken home the title. In 14 career starts at Homestead, Harvick has one win (7.1%), six top fives (42.9%) and 12 top 10s (85.7%). His 7.6 average finish at the 1.5-mile track ranks first among active drivers. He also owns the fourth-best driver rating (102.5) and average running position (10.0) among active drivers at Homestead.
At Phoenix on Sunday, Harvick placed second – his 15th top-two finish of the season and the most in the NSCS since Jeff Gordon posted 19 in 1998.
A loop statistician’s dream, Harvick leads the NSCS in average running position (7.3; Next-best driver: Kyle Busch, 9.2), fastest laps (1,370; Next-best driver, Brad Keselowski, 650), laps led (2,248; Next-best driver: Joey Logano, 1,359) and driver rating (118.9; Next-best driver: Kyle Busch, 107.1).
A Harvick championship would be the third for Stewart-Haas Racing, which has won titles with Harvick (2014) and Tony Stewart (2011).
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