Kevin Harvick has not won a race in the first eight events of the 2019 season. It’s happened only once since he joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014.
In 2017, when SHR switched to the Ford Fusion, it took Harvick a bit of time to adjust and won his first race in the 16th race of the season at Sonoma Raceway. For 2019, SHR switched the Ford Mustang and NASCAR introduced a new rules package for the season.
Harvick has six consecutive top-10 finishes between Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. And he had the fastest car at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway last week, but had to start from the rear of the field and had a loose wheel early in the race, which forced him to pit. He was four laps down and in 31st place and no one though he had any chance of rebounded.
His car was so quick that he actually finished on the lead lap and finished 13th. An amazing comeback from what could have been a horrible day.
Harvick will win and he hopes its this week at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. And has always he’ll have the support of Mobil 1 technology.
Mobil 1 isn’t just the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR organization with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track. In its 17th consecutive season as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR,” Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of teams throughout NASCAR’s top three series.
Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for SHR, has had much success at Richmond. Harvick has three wins, three poles, 14 top-five finishes, 23 top-10s and has led a total of 1,109 laps in his 36 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond. His average start is 13.7, his average finish is 10.1 and he has a lap-completion rate of 99.2 percent, completing 14,304 of the 14,422 laps available.
But he’s hoping that he score victory number four at Richmond this week.
KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
Why has Richmond caused so many run-ins over the years, or conflicts between drivers?
“I don’t really know. For us, it’s really the same as any other race. You want to go there and prepare the best you can. Being a short track, it’s just one of those places where sometimes you have to move somebody out of the way and sometimes that doesn’t go over well. Any time you have short-track racing, there are going to be things that happen.”
Do you have a favorite win at Richmond?
“I remember the ones I lost more than the ones I won. The first one, where Ricky Rudd and I were racing in 2001, was pretty cool. But, as you look back at the last one we won in 2013 as part of a green-white-checkered finish, I think we came from seventh to win, so I didn’t really expect to win that one. The other two were probably fairly strong nights for us.”
Do you consider yourself a short-track specialist?
“I think we’ve had success on short tracks in the past. It’s really just a matter putting a weekend together. It’s really no different than any other racetrack. This business is hard to be successful at and sometimes you go through years where short tracks are good and some years not so good. Some years, longer tracks are good and some are not so good. It’s really just about putting together a whole weekend. It all starts with practice on Friday and trying to qualify well. I enjoy the short tracks because we don’t get to go to quite as many as I think we’d all like.”
Is it better to race with your emotions in check?
“I think, emotionally, you can get yourself in trouble. Especially for me, to have those emotions under control opens the door for less noise. I can deal with the noise, but I don’t like the noise and disruption that comes with that noise for my team because they have to start answering questions and looking at things on the Internet to take their focus off of what is most important. It’s most important for them to focus on the details of the car.”
RODNEY CHILDERS, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
Why are synthetic engine oils superior to conventional engine oils?
“Synthetic oil can run hotter than conventional oil which helps all of our parts, especially in the engine. Mobil 1 gives us the best fluids and oils and that is a huge advantage. Every car in the NASCAR field is looking for any advantage they can get and certainly Mobil 1 gives us a huge advantage throughout the year. It’s great to have them as a partner.”
