NASCAR Sonoma recap: Kevin Harvick showcases usual form, returns to Victory Lane

Kevin Harvick didn’t think we would’ve been able to beat Martin Truex Jr., who had the fastest car during Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway. Rodney Childers, Harvick’s crew chief, possessed full confidence they would’ve found a way to beat Truex, who led a race-high 25 laps.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Truex’s engine wasn’t up to the task of lasting the entirety of the 219-mile race, expiring 24 laps from the finish. Seizing on the opportunity before him, Harvick capitalized by running down and catching leader Brad Keselowski, then leading the final 22 laps to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“(Truex) was the guy that we were going to have to race all the way to the end,” Harvick said. “He had a great car, and once he fell out, I felt like we were 100 percent in control of the race, no matter what had happened, whether it was old tires or new tires.”

With his first win of the season, Harvick is essentially locked into the playoffs. Although ranking high in points that he would’ve likely been among the 16 participants who qualified for the postseason regardless of Sunday’s outcome, now there is no concern.

Because before Sonoma, Harvick’s postseason wasn’t 100 percent certain. An influx of first-time and unexpected winners this season (Ryan Newman at Phoenix; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Talladega; Austin Dillon at Charlotte; and Ryan Blaney at Pocono) presented a scenario where perennial contenders who hadn’t yet won such as Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Joey Logano (who won in April but doesn’t get the benefits due to a post-race rules violation) all entered the weekend with their playoff futures still in doubt.

For Harvick, this was an unusual position he found himself in. Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, never has the 41-year-old gone this late into the season without paying a visit to victory lane.

But SHR’s offseason switch from Chevrolet to Ford brought the typical hurdles an organization encounters when it changes manufacturers. And although the team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas managed the transition better than most — Busch won the season-opening Daytona 500 and Clint Bowyer holds the final playoff transfer spot — challenges have persisted.

“I can say this now, but I had mixed emotions about how the year was going to go just because of the fact that we had a lot on our plate to switch over,” Harvick said.

“It’s just a big undertaking, and one day I think when we get done with this year, I think everybody will actually learn all the details of all the things that it took to get to this particular point, but it’s a huge undertaking, and I think it says a lot about our people at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

If there is a defining characteristic of Harvick’s tenure with SHR it is resiliency in the face of adversity. The bond between he and Childers is unwavering, a relationship forged by building a team from the ground up that’s become a dominating force on the track.

During their time together Harvick and Childers captured the 2014 Cup title and have won 13 races, tied for third-most in that span. This season, even in spite of an uneven start brought about by the manufacturer change, Harvick has rounded into his usual form. Over the past 10 races, he has a win and only two finishes outside the top 10. His 11.2 average on the season ranks third-best, and he’s fourth in laps led.

Their resolve combined the speed they’ve shown is why even if he hadn’t won Sunday, Harvick fully believed a victory would’ve materialized sooner rather than later.

“I knew we were going to win again just for the fact that our cars were running good,” Harvick said. “It’s been a good year, we just hadn’t been to victory lane.”

That win assures Harvick of another shot at the championship. And in all probability, he’ll be a primary player throughout the postseason; just as he and Childers have been on an annual basis.

“We’ve been through good stretches and bad stretches, and I think that’s the great part about our team,” Harvick said. “We know we’re capable of winning races at any type of racetrack and confident in each other in what we do.”