Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson establish early-season supremacy

Through seven races Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick each have a pair of victories, a fact not lost on the competition nor on how it may impact who makes NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

A year ago three of the 16 Chase participants qualified not because they won one of 26 regular season races, but by their points rankings. But as Johnson and Harvick continue to hoard victories, the likelihood increases that more drivers will make the playoffs without winning.

“Will we have 16 winners this year? I don’t know,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. after finishing third behind Johnson and Harvick Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. “It doesn’t look like it the way Harvick’s running. If he wins enough races, the odds are not really good to have 16 winners.”

That Earnhardt, a teammate of Johnson’s, singled out Harvick for his dominance isn’t surprising. In addition to two wins, Harvick also owns four runner-up finishes along with an eighth-place finish and has led more than twice as many laps as anyone else.

Johnson, however, has been equally strong, if not outright better at times. The six-time Sprint Cup champion beat the reigning titlist straight up at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas, and in both instances Johnson drove away from Harvick in the final laps.

“Harvick (and the No. 4 team) are unstoppable right now,” Earnhardt. “I was surprised he didn’t win tonight, but he’s at Texas and Jimmie is very strong here. It could have been either one of them. ... Jimmie is a six-time champion. He’s got a hell of a résumé.”

The strong early-season showing by Johnson and Harvick is not a coincidence considering they are de facto teammates. Although Johnson is with Hendrick Motorsports and Harvick with Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick supplies cars and Chevrolet engines to SHR -- giving both drivers nearly identical equipment.

Other teams have taken note of the performance level of the Hendrick-powered cars, but it’s a work in progress. Denny Hamlin of Toyota-backed Joe Gibbs Racing won the race before Texas, but that came on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway where having the best engine and chassis package isn’t a sizable advantage.

But on a track like Texas, which is 1.5 miles in length, the JGR cars weren’t competitive Saturday. Hamlin finished 11th, while teammates Carl Edwards, David Ragan and Matt Kenseth placed 10th, 13th and 23rd, respectively. And though the Fords of Joey Logano (finished fourth) and Brad Keselowski (fifth) were competitive, they weren’t in the same class as their Chevrolet counterparts.

“Stats don’t lie and the stats say that those guys -- or really anyone with a Hendrick engine or chassis -- are going to be capable of winning right now,” Hamlin said. “To be realistic, we need stuff to go our way. We need cautions and track position. We just can’t drive through the field like those guys are capable of. We’re a work in progress.”

Said Earnhardt: “I’m glad I’m where I’m at. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else because it doesn’t look like them other cars are much fun to drive.”

Yet even for those who are with Hendrick -- or an affiliate organization -- not everything is equal. While Johnson has excelled, his three teammates remain winless, and the same goes for Harvick and his three SHR teammates. If that trend continues, then the remaining Hendrick brigade of Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, as well as SHR’s Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick, may need to accrue points if they wish to earn playoff berths.

“If we don’t win a race, I think we’re a good enough team to put enough points together to get one of them (Chase) spots, so I’m probably worrying for nothing,” Earnhardt said. “But I don’t want to assume anything -- nothing is a sure thing.

“I want to win to know I’m in. I don’t want to wait all the way to Richmond (the regular season finale) or whatever to count points.”

Sprint Cup Series standings