LAS VEGAS, Nev. – You would think that coming off his 38th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory last weekend at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick would be anxious for the three tracks in NASCAR’s West Coast Swing.
Over the years, Las Vegas, ISM Raceway (Phoenix) and Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway have been particularly kind to the 2014 Cup champion, but there’s another race apart of the three week stretch that has Harvick most looking forward too.
“To be brutally honest with you I am looking forward to going to race the K&N car more than any of them next Thursday,” said Harvick. “Not because I don’t enjoy what I do here but because I have never raced at Kern County Raceway in my hometown. I like coming to all three of these races because i get to see so many fans and friends.”
Harvick will drive the Mar. 15 race for Jefferson-Pitts Racing, the same NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (NKNPSW) organization he won with last year at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. It will be Harvick’s second K&N West race in 11 years after running the series’ full-time 20 years ago.
Of course, with no points on the line and the lone goal of bringing home the checkered flag, Harvick’s laidback approach to the race makes him a favorite.
“The race of the three weeks that we are out here, the four that I am going to race, the one I am looking forward to the most is the K&N race because it isn’t something I get to do all the time,” added Harvick.
Currently fourth in the Cup Series standings entering Sunday afternoon’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas, Harvick’s previous success at Las Vegas or his dominance over the years at Phoenix doesn’t mean either hold the clout as the favorite.
It’s the final race of the West Coast Swing – the wide, hold your breath monster of Auto Club Speedway.
“If I had to pick one out of the three I would pick California just because I love the surface and how much the cars wear out the tires and slide around and the multiple grooves and all the things that come with California Speedway.”
In 24 starts at Auto Club, the Bakersfield, Calif. native has just one win (2011), six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has finished second in two of the last three Cup races at the 2.0-mile oval.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
