LONG POND, PA. – Kevin Harvick hasn’t had the sexiest season during his farewell tour.
In his defense, the former Cup champion hasn’t had a Ford capable of carrying him to the front throughout much of 2023. But just like his 22 previous years on NASCAR’s top tour, Harvick’s talent and consistency have kept him in the Playoff hunt.
And Saturday’s fourth-place qualifying effort at Pocono Raceway was no exception.
“We had a good practice and a good qualifying session and a good starting spot,” Harvick said. “So we’re off to a good start.”
While the Toyotas appeared to be the class of the field in practice and early in qualifying, Chevrolet driver William Byron secured the pole with a lap of 170.629 mph. Harvick’s lap of 169.750 mph in the No. 4 Busch Light Peach Mustang was a mere 0.273 seconds behind.
Harvick, who scored his only win at Pocono in his 39th start at the track, is content with his car for Sunday. He was 13th on the speed chart after 13 laps. Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, Harvick has enjoyed an average finish of 9.11 at Pocono. In his last 16 starts on the 2.5-mile track, Harvick has finished outside of the top 10 just three times.
“Pocono is just a unique race track,” Harvick said. “For me, it’s been one of my favorite places to come to as I’ve been at SHR and even at RCR (Richard Childress Racing). We’ve had some good times and good runs here, and so it’s always one of my favorite parts of the year and times of the year to come up, especially when it’s 75-76 degrees and the rest of everything we’ve been doing is burning hot, especially since we’ve gone to one race and seen the infield and the campers and the crowd.
“It’s always been a great area for fans, for us and it’s like all the rest of the racetracks that we go to. It’s something I’ve been prepared for and, for me, I’m enjoying the last times going to the racetrack and hearing all the stories and the fans and everything that comes with it.”
Harvick is currently ninth in the Cup standings, 99 points behind leader Martin Truex Jr., but he’s still searching for his first victory of 2023. Of the six race tracks remaining on the schedule before the Playoffs, Harvick has accumulated 12 wins on five of the venues, with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course being the lone exception.
How would “Happy” feel about scoring a win at Pocono in his final stop at the Tricky Triangle?
“We want to win anywhere,” said Harvick, who has been sitting on 60 career wins since his last victory at Richmond Raceway 11 months ago. His first of two wins last year came in Race 23 at Michigan Speedway.
Harvick has advanced to the Championship 4 round five times since NASCAR introduced the elimination format nearly a decade ago. He won the title in 2014—the first year of the current Playoff system. While Harvick is comfortably in the top 16 in the point standings, he understands that having a victory entering the postseason is preferable for the team’s morale.
“Mentally, a win is always better,” Harvick said. “For us, we’ve been close a few times with just things not going right on the days that the cars have been the fastest. We just keep plugging along and keeping our heads down and grinding away like we always do.
“Hopefully, that cycle of fortunes turns on the day when your car is fast, and if it’s not on a day when your car is fast, you hope that you’re in the right spot at the right time. But, yeah, winning would be better.”
