NASCAR New Hampshire 2014: Kevin Harvick: Winning in the Chase is ‘overrated’

With assured entry into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, winning was the central focus through the course of the regular season. NASCAR has tried to maintain that emphasis by guaranteeing advancement to the subsequent playoff round if a driver reached Victory Lane.

But despite its best intentions to de-emphasize points racing and stress the significance of victory, not everyone is convinced that going all-out for wins is the preferred method to securing a championship.

“I think the whole winning thing is really overrated,” Harvick said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Obviously, you want to win. You want to win every week and you show up to try to win, but you can’t take any unnecessary chances and that is kind of the box that the point system puts you in. It’s good and bad.”

Under the revised Chase format the bulk of the playoff field will be filled by non-winners. One scenario could see three Chase competitors win the first three races (Chicagoland, New Hampshire and Dover), with nine drivers then moving on via points. Theoretically, if non-playoff drivers were to win every event in a round, the entirety of the subsequent Chase bracket field would be determined by points.

As an example where being conservative was more advantageous than going hard for a win, Harvick cited last week’s Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway. In the final laps he and Kyle Larson were racing for the lead, but instead of challenging the rookie more forcefully for the checkered flag Harvick elected to play it safe.

Larson, a non-Chaser, went on to finish third while Harvick slid back to fifth. But the result was good enough that -- barring something catastrophic happening at either New Hampshire or Dover -- Harvick is a sure bet to proceed to Round 2.

“I felt like (Larson) was faster and obviously drove by us and then as we got to the end you are kind of in a pretty vulnerable spot and you don’t want to turn a top five finish into a 25th-place finish because the risk versus reward is not there, especially in the first round,” Harvick said.

However, if a similar situation arises in the latter rounds and Harvick needs a victory to advance, then his mindset will change accordingly.

“If you are in desperation mode and you are in the third round of one of the rounds and outside looking in then the circumstances change,” Harvick said. “It’s all very circumstantial as far as what you need to do. I feel like that goal changes on a weekly basis and you have to adjust to that as you go and how much risk versus reward that is there for you.”