NASCAR Las Vegas 2015 recap: Kevin Harvick serves reminder who’s the champ

In the days leading up to “The Rumble in the Jungle,” Muhammad Ali would attempt to assert his dominance over George Foreman by walking into a room and shouting, “The champ is here! The champ is here!”

At the time Ali was, in fact, not the champion. That distinction belonged to Foreman, as Ali was stripped of the title for refusing to join the U.S. Army after being drafted. Soon enough, though, Ali regained the championship when he knocked out Foreman in the eighth round of their fight.

The stakes were far lower and in the grand scheme any historical significance won’t ever be comparable. But Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick experienced his “The champ is here” moment that should reverberate throughout the NASCAR garage.

Exhibiting a dominant performance, Harvick led 53 percent of all laps (142 of 267) -- Joey Logano was next-best at 47 laps. At no point was he seriously challenged in the latter stages. His margin of victory was only a smidge under 2 seconds because Harvick backed off in the closing laps due to a vibration, which he thought may be a deflating tire.

Instead, the only thing deflated were the hopes of the guys behind him thinking they might have a chance to catch the No. 4 Chevrolet.

Further disconcerting was Las Vegas marked the sixth consecutive race (dating back to last season) where Harvick finished second or better. That puts him in rarefied air with Jeff Gordon the last driver to accomplish such a feat back in 1996.

“Any time you say Jeff Gordon in a streak, obviously things are going OK,” Harvick said.

Following Harvick storming to the championship, it was hard envisioning how he or the 4 team could improve. But improve they have. Gone thus far are the all too frequent silly miscues and rash of mechanical failures, which cost Harvick a profusion of potential victories early last year.

Just as they have been since the final months of 2014, Harvick and company were flawless Sunday. Never once did he turn the wheel wrong. The pit crew was equally outstanding, and in a testament to their ability have yet to incur a penalty through three races, despite NASCAR’s increased pit road enforcement.

If there were any concerns about complacency or a championship hangover, the torrid start to the year has eradicated that notion. The only hangover associated with Harvick is from too much of his sponsor’s product.

Postrace in the winner’s press conference Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers spoke with an edge about their ravenous hunger to continually strive for more. Each recognizes while 2014 was great it could have been better and what held them back was not the competition, but themselves. Speeding penalties, dropped lug nuts, blown engines and the like have been corrected.

“I think (the team) actually have forgot that we won the championship last year, and that’s the best thing that could have happened because it’s a week-to-week goal of acting like you’ve never won a race in your life,” Harvick said. “[Sunday] might be the last one, and that’s how we have to approach it. We’re going to celebrate it like it’s the last one. We’re going to approach next week like we’ve never won a race because that’s what keeps it fun and that’s what keeps us motivated, and you have to continuously find motivation, and these guys have all bought into each other.”

In 1996 Gordon didn’t win the championship the year he rolled off six straight finishes of second or better, and there’s a chance Harvick may not take the title this season. The Chase is too unpredictable, and as Gordon demonstrated last year all it takes is one slip either by you or those around to extinguish your playoff hopes.

Until then, Harvick is the still the champ. And if a reminder was needed, Las Vegas more than served that purpose.