Kevin Harvick falls just short of championship repeat

In a season filled with an abundant number of second-place finishes, Kevin Harvick’s most recent runner-up finish is one that may have been the most painful to accept.

Harvick lost not only the race to Kyle Busch by finishing second Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but also the championship with Busch taking the 2015 Sprint Cup title and denying Harvick a second straight title.

“I know we’re disappointed about finishing second tonight, but it’s kind of the theme of the year,” Harvick said. “Unfortunately, it’s just one short. But all in all, it’s been a great couple years, and couldn’t be prouder of our bunch of guys.”

Thirteen times Harvick finished second this season, a modern era record (1972 to present), and the most since Bobby Allison’s 15 in 1970. Overall, Harvick amassed a series-best 28 top-10 finishes in 36 races in addition to leading all drivers in laps led and average finish.

But Harvick fell one point shy of repeating as champion. He needed to find a way around Busch’s No. 18 car Sunday and for much of the race, Harvick’s machine was inferior with Busch regularly maintaining a sizeable advantage.

“We were definitely a little bit off tonight,” Harvick said. “We just kept throwing stuff at it, and we never really found anything that really helped the car that was like, ‘Oh, man, that’s what we needed right there.

“It seemed like the 18 got better and we didn’t get any better. We just stayed the same and never could fix the problems that we had.”

Harvick and Busch previously had a contentious relationship -- including Harvick intentionally crashing Busch in the 2010 season finale at Homestead. In recent years, though, the animosity between the two has subsided, as each became first-time fathers.

Post-race Sunday, Harvick lauded Busch for overcoming serious injuries that caused him to miss the first 11 races of the season and rallying to earn a Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff berth. Busch broke his right leg and left foot in a February crash during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

“As a person, you mature and you get more mature through time, whether you’re doing dumb things at the racetrack or not and learning from those things,” Harvick said. “Those obviously are unfortunately part of our life lessons, some more than others, and I think Kyle and I have definitely been on that side of it.

“That’s a great comeback story from where he was after Daytona.”