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Will Kevin Harvick win again at Phoenix?

by Mike Haag | Posted on Saturday, March 12th, 2016

DesertDomination_Harvick

Can anyone stop NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick from winning this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway?

I don’t think so.

When it comes to racing and winning at Phoenix, no driver is as dominate as Harvick on the Arizona oval.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, speaks to the media during a press conference prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 11, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, speaks to the media during a press conference prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 11, 2016 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

The driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet has won five of the last seven races, including four of the last five at the one-mile track.

“It’s obviously been a great race track for me personally, but really for the last two years at Stewart-Haas Racing it’s been phenomenal,” said Harvick during a news conference on Friday at PIR.  “We have won three of the four races and got beat by the rain in the last one.  All-in-all it’s been a lot of fun to come here.  For me personally, this is a fun place to come just for the fact that I started racing here in the mid-90’s and you still see a lot of the same fans and people that followed your career up through the ranks.  I love coming out here and look forward to getting another weekend started.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, aims for his eighth victory at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, aims for his eighth victory at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Harvick has a record seven victories at Phoenix and he will compete for number eight in Sunday’s Good Sam 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX).  In addition, he has 1,345 career laps led and his 264 laps led in a single race (Nov. 2014) are both track records.

Since PIR was repaved in 2011, Harvick has led all drivers with five wins, a 4.6 average finish, 1,028 laps led and a 130.1 driver rating.  He is off to a fast start in 2016, posting finishes of fourth (Daytona), sixth (Atlanta) and seventh (Las Vegas).

I am predicting Harvick will score another victory at PIR on Sunday and he will become the fourth different winner in as many races to score a victory so far this year.

Kevin Harvick graphic and photos courtesy of NASCAR.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Good Sam 500

The Place: Phoenix International Raceway

The Date: Sunday, March 13

The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 312 miles (312 laps)

 

 

About the Author

Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 35 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 18 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.