Harvick Doing Double Duty at Darlington
| Thu, 01 Sep 2016 09:45:07 EDT
With the number of days left before the Chase dwindling, Kevin Harvick hopes to add one more regular-season win as drivers are now jockeying for high post-season seeds.
Harvick's next opportunity comes up Sunday night in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which is celebrating its second annual "Throwback Weekend" to honor NASCAR's history and heritage.
"Not only is it exciting to go back to Darlington and participate in all the throwback stuff, it's an honor to drive a car that is iconic in our sport," said Harvick, whose No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet will display the Busch Beer colors carried by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough in 1979 and 1980. "Cale, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and a lot of these guys paved the way to where our sport is today."
Harvick has his sights set on a potential No. 3 seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which opens next month at Chicagoland Speedway. He shares third place on the 2016 win list with four other drivers: Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth ... all with two victories.
Harvick was victorious at Darlington in 2014 and finished fifth last summer in his bid for back-to-back wins at the track "Too Tough to Tame." He'll be busy on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, pulling double duty in the X-FINITY Series.
"Darlington is a track with a lot of history and one that you circle on your calendar each year," said Harvick, who'll also drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in Saturday's VFW SportClips Help A Hero 200. "This track has a lot of character and it's easy to make mistakes. So we focus on ourselves, race the track and try to avoid those mistakes."
It'll be Harvick's fifth XFINITY Series start this season. His best finish is second (to Kyle Busch) last month at Indianapolis. But the focus for Harvick is clearly Sunday night's Sprint Cup Series race.
He was victorious at Darlington in 2014 and later that season, Harvick was crowned Sprint Cup champion. A similar scenario this year would suit him just fine.
"It's been so much fun to see everyone honoring all the great drivers with these throwback paint schemes," Harvick said. "Those are the guys everyone watched and learned from as our sport grew into what it is today."
Motor Racing Network - "The Voice of NASCAR" - will have live coverage of both events from Darlington Raceway this coming weekend. Air time for Saturday's VFW SportClips Help A Hero 200 is 3 p.m. (ET) with Sunday's broadcast of the Bojangles' Southern 500 starting at 5 p.m. Both races will be streamed live at MRN.com and on the MRN App.
Harvick's next opportunity comes up Sunday night in the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which is celebrating its second annual "Throwback Weekend" to honor NASCAR's history and heritage.
"Not only is it exciting to go back to Darlington and participate in all the throwback stuff, it's an honor to drive a car that is iconic in our sport," said Harvick, whose No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet will display the Busch Beer colors carried by NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough in 1979 and 1980. "Cale, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and a lot of these guys paved the way to where our sport is today."
Harvick has his sights set on a potential No. 3 seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which opens next month at Chicagoland Speedway. He shares third place on the 2016 win list with four other drivers: Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth ... all with two victories.
Harvick was victorious at Darlington in 2014 and finished fifth last summer in his bid for back-to-back wins at the track "Too Tough to Tame." He'll be busy on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, pulling double duty in the X-FINITY Series.
"Darlington is a track with a lot of history and one that you circle on your calendar each year," said Harvick, who'll also drive the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in Saturday's VFW SportClips Help A Hero 200. "This track has a lot of character and it's easy to make mistakes. So we focus on ourselves, race the track and try to avoid those mistakes."
It'll be Harvick's fifth XFINITY Series start this season. His best finish is second (to Kyle Busch) last month at Indianapolis. But the focus for Harvick is clearly Sunday night's Sprint Cup Series race.
He was victorious at Darlington in 2014 and later that season, Harvick was crowned Sprint Cup champion. A similar scenario this year would suit him just fine.
"It's been so much fun to see everyone honoring all the great drivers with these throwback paint schemes," Harvick said. "Those are the guys everyone watched and learned from as our sport grew into what it is today."
Motor Racing Network - "The Voice of NASCAR" - will have live coverage of both events from Darlington Raceway this coming weekend. Air time for Saturday's VFW SportClips Help A Hero 200 is 3 p.m. (ET) with Sunday's broadcast of the Bojangles' Southern 500 starting at 5 p.m. Both races will be streamed live at MRN.com and on the MRN App.