Kevin Harvick comes into this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway as a favorite to win. Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/NASCAR via Getty Images
When a driver wins four straight races at a single track, there has to be a reason. Right?
In the case of Kevin Harvick, who has been to victory lane after the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Phoenix International Raceway — not to mention five of the last six — there are several.
First and foremost (and not surprisingly), he likes the place.
“It’s just a fun place and I feel like, for me, for whatever reason throughout the years, the flat-track stuff has always kind of fit my driving style, whether it be here or Loudon or any of those flatter types of places,” said Harvick, who grew up watching races and competing at PIR.
There’s more to it, though, than a simple affinity for the race track. According to Kurt Busch, Harvick’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, the defending Sprint Cup champion has developed a knack for finding the fastest way around the one-mile speedway.
“He has a keen sense to find more speed than anybody else, whether it’s moving up, (when) the groove moves up in (turns) 1 and 2, or if he’s able to carry more speed through (turns) 3 and 4,” Busch said on Friday morning before opening Cup practice at PIR.
“You’ve got to watch him, though, because it changes. He will find different speed on the track all throughout a tire run. It might be corner entry at the beginning of the run. It might be corner exit at the later part of the run. He’s able to find the last little bit out of this track that nobody else has been able to find over the years.”
Whatever the reason, Harvick is a prohibitive favorite in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, the race he won last year when he had to take the checkered flag to advance to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Carl Edwards Focused On Winning At Phoenix
Unlike the three drivers behind him in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings — Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano — Carl Edwards won’t be in a must-win situation in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix.
But don’t tell him that.
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And if any of the three drivers below Edwards happens to win on Sunday and joins Jeff Gordon as an automatic qualifier for Homestead, the number of spots available on points will shrink from three to two.
That’s why Edwards is approaching the race at PIR much as Keselowski, Busch and Logano are.
“We feel like, if you look at the scenarios, we’ve really got to perform here,” Edwards said after posting the fourth-fastest speed in Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session. “We have to win this race – that’s our mission.
“We have to qualify well, we have to make good decisions and, really, we have to have some speed. We’re approaching this race as a must-win race. That’s the only way to guarantee our spot. If one of the guys behind us leap-frogs us and wins, it’s going to be a tall order to advance, so we just have to give it all we’ve got.”
Can-Am Expands Presence With PIR Sponsorship
Phoenix International Raceway president Bryan Sperber announced on Friday that Can-Am will be the title sponsor of the Nov. 13, 2016 Chase race at the one-mile track.
Earlier this season, the manufacturer of motorized recreational vehicles and engines signed on as entitlement sponsor of the Daytona Duels, 150-mile qualifying races that set the starting order for the season-opening Daytona 500.
The Can-Am brand, owned by BRP, includes such popular recreational vehicles as Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo, Rotax and Spyder.
“There is a tremendous affinity for outdoor power sports among NASCAR fans, particularly in the desert Southwest, that makes this a fantastic fit,” Sperber said.
“The passion, energy and excitement synonymous with the Can-Am brand will be on full display throughout the Can-Am 500 race weekend as the Chase for the (NASCAR) Sprint Cup comes to Phoenix.”
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