At this point in the NASCAR season it would be easier to ask when Kevin Harvick won’t win a race. The 42-year-old has won three consecutive events for the first time last week and is looking to make it four on Sunday at the Auto Club 400.
He is the 3/1 favorite to win at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. A trio of drivers — Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., and last year’s winner Kyle Larson — are next at 4/1.
The track this week is a 2-mile intermediate, low-banked, D-shaped oval layout. It’s the longest of the speedway’s drivers will face so far this year, but it hardly seems to matter to Harvick. He has won on 1-mile and 1.5-mile intermediate tracks.
Historic Pace
If Harvick were to take the checkered flag, he would be the 11th driver to ever win four in a row — joining Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough. The record for most consecutive victories is 10, held by Richard Petty in 1967.
Harvick won here in 2011, and also has three runner-up finishes. He’s nine victories behind his boss, Tony Stewart, co-owner of the Stewart-Haas Racing team.
“I’d love to catch this guy in wins,” Harvick said. “That would be fun. That would be a good conversation in the shop, anyway.”
The goal of winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Championship is first on his mind, and he currently holds a dominating advantage over his peers. A victory would lengthen that gap even more. Also, drivers who have won four in a row went on to win the championship five of eight times.
Chase Team
Kyle Busch has been close to Harvick, finishing second to him at Atlanta. He has won at Fontanta in 2013 and 2014. He told reporters he respects what Harvick has done.
“They’re certainly good,” Busch said. “They have kind of picked up right where they left off. They’ve been right there each and every week, so far. You’ve gone to three of arguably his best racetracks these past three weeks. They got the job done where they needed to.”
Another potential winner is Truex, Jr. He finished fourth last year and told reporters that he feels close to success in Southern California.
“I feel Fontana has been a good track for us over the years but we just haven’t capitalized on our performance there,” Truex, Jr., said. “We’re right there. It’s like when you’re out fishing and you catch a bunch of fish and you feel like you’re throwing the right lure, but maybe it’s just not the right color – we need to get it dialed in. We’re so close.”