Opinion: Harvick's 2020 NASCAR Season is Historic but its Legacy Remains TBD
We are witnessing the stuff of legend from Kevin Harvick, Rodney Childers and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team right now.
They won again on Sunday, sweeping the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader weekend at Michigan International Speedway, reaching six wins in just 22 starts with 14 races still remaining.
That is where the superlatives merely begin.
The No. 4 team has finished no worse than fifth in nearly two months over the past nine races. They have an average finish of 5.9 and are currently on pace to set a new single-season top-10s record -- currently held by 2007 Jeff Gordon with 30.
It should speak volumes anytime you’re in the same conversation with peak Jeff Gordon, right?
"Look, we've had some great years," Harvick said. "I wouldn't call this our best. I think 2015 and 2018 were great years. We closed (out) 2014 really good. It's hard to tell what the end of the year is going to bring as far as this could be the last win, you might win six more.
"You just never know."
Harvick has a chance to become the first driver since 2007 Jimmie Johnson to win 10 times. He is on par with 1998 Jeff Gordon with his 5.7 average finish -- even if his 13 wins that year remains rarified Modern Era air.
He has built a 137-point advantage in the regular season standings over Denny Hamlin and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 and 140 over Brad Keselowski and the Team Penske No. 2. In other words, there is a mathematical probability that Harvick could take the next three weekends off and still claim the regular season championship.
For all the talk of 'The Big 3,' the championship standings are the most telling point of separation between Harvick, Hamlin and Keselowski. Even then, it’s still difficult to discuss what Harvick is doing without feeling rightfully disrespectful to the other primary contenders.
It’s reminiscent of the aforementioned 1998 season in that everyone remembers what Gordon and crew chief Ray Evernham accomplished, but overlook Mark Martin’s seven wins, 26 top-10s and 22 top-5s.
Any other season, Martin claims the championship.
The same could be said of Gordon’s 2007 season -- one that produced six wins, 30 top-10s, 21 top-10s and a 7.6 average finish -- and fell short to the Jimmie Johnson Chase for the Championship Buzzsaw of the late 2000s.
Ditto Carl Edwards winning nine times with 27 top-10s and 19 top-5s in 2008. He too was chopped down by the Jimmie Johnson Chase for the Championship Buzzsaw.
In other words, as great as Harvick and Childers has been this season, they are a chainsaw away from becoming yet another really impressive asterisk.
At this point, Harvick is a virtual lock for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race in November, now held at Phoenix Raceway, a venue the 2014 champion has mastered over the past two decades with nine wins in 35 starts.
They are the championship favorites.
There is a high likelihood that Hamlin and Keselowski will join him there, too. And make no mistake, they’re no slouches either:
Kevin Harvick: 6 wins, 19 top-10s, 15 top-5s
Brad Keselowski: 3 wins, 16 top-10s, 9 top-5s
Denny Hamlin: 5 wins, 14 top-10s, 12 top-5s
And much like 2018, when Joey Logano made it the 'The Big 3 and Me,' and defeated Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the entirety of a season only nets you an equal 25 percent shot to win the championship.
So, appreciate the moment. Respect it. But despite everything Harvick and the No. 4 team has accomplished, it guarantees nothing.
