Kevin Harvick Not Worried About Competition In NASCAR Chase

Leading the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup after three races, Kevin Harvick is not concerned with the competition around him.

“We have two battles right now,” Harvick said. “One is against ourselves and the other one is against the guy second in points. That’s the way we look at it.”

Harvick said he does not care where Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards or any one else is in the championship hunt. Instead, he and the No. 29 team are focused on their own program, improving consistency and minimizing mistakes.

“You’ve just got to control the things you can control and minimize the damage on the days when things aren’t going well,” he said.

By winning four races in the first 26 races of the season, Harvick said the team has had a bit of a buffer thanks to the added bonus points.

“We haven’t done anything spectacular or anything really stupid yet, we’re just kind of middle of the road,” he said, adding that other teams have “shot themselves in the foot” by making mistakes in the first three races.

“You can take yourself out of this thing pretty easily by making mistakes or doing something that gets you a 30th-place finish,” he said. “If you can avoid those things, you can keep yourself into it.”

Harvick said he feels the team is “more comfortable” with the Chase situation this year as opposed to last year, but said it is too early in the Chase to feel the pressure that will come in the final few weeks of the season.

“Once you come out of Martinsville and Talladega, you know where you stand as far as those last few weeks,” he said. “You try to keep yourself close and see how you came out of those few races and the last three (races) the pressure will ramp up pretty good.”