NASCAR at Phoenix recap: Kevin Harvick sends reverberating message to ‘all you haters’

The slight can be real or imagined. In the grand scheme, it doesn’t matter. What is of great consequence is Kevin Harvick will use the perceived grievance as motivation, and if there is an absolute truth throughout his career it is that an angry Harvick typically up ends riding roughshod over the opposition and getting the last word.

Harvick offered the latest example when he won Sunday at ISM Raceway, a victory that comes on the heels of his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 team being flagged for a pair of rules violations midweek that raised questions about the validity of Harvick’s win last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He even waded into the debate Friday with a forceful press conference where he questioned NASCAR officiating policies and whether executives were too quickly influenced by what fans said on social media.

That press conference set the tone for what was to come Sunday. Admittedly furious over what he thought were minor infractions that snowballed into something more significant due to the backlash on social media, Harvick came into the weekend fuming that his back-to-back dominant wins were now being viewed with skepticism.

”I’ve been mad as all get out because this team does a great job,” Harvick said earning his 40th-career win. “This organization does a great job and we’ve got fast race cars. And to take that away from those guys just really pissed me off last week.”

True to his nature whenever he feels slighted, Harvick knew there was only one appropriate response. The goal was to come into the Phoenix-area track and dominate like he had so many times previously. Winning for a third week in a row would send a reverberating message to anyone who dared to question him or his team.

Though ultimately the result was similar, Harvick didn’t steamroll over the field in the same manner he did at Atlanta Motor Speedway or Las Vegas. Kyle Busch had the fastest car for much of the afternoon, leading a race-high 128 laps, before a slow final pit stop gave Harvick the opening he needed to snatch away the lead and build an advantage Busch couldn’t overcome with only 53 laps remaining.

The win was Harvick’s track-best ninth at ISM, but this one he said was different. Because of the heightened stakes, this triumph was more comparable to winning the season-end Cup Series championship finale.

Anything short of a win Sunday would’ve only intensified the chatter that Harvick won at Atlanta and Las Vegas not solely because he is a great driver with a superior team, but because crew chief Rodney Childers had somehow sneaked a tricked-up, illegal car through NASCAR technical inspection. And such disrespect is not something Harvick will take idly.

“... We just wanted to stomp ‘em,” said Harvick. “We didn’t stomp ‘em but we won and that’s really all that matters.

“To all those haters out there, I see you.”

The victory lane interview was vintage Harvick in every sense, filled with pointed barbs that exemplified his don’t-back-down mentality. As was when he stopped his car on the front straightway on his celebratory victory lap, then got out and slapped the rear windshield while pointing at the grandstands.

“I made it very clear to pat my window and thank it for doing its job this week,” he said.

A third straight win doesn’t absolve NASCAR finding two infractions on Harvick’s race-winning car at Las Vegas. Nor does it give back the seven playoff points that were stripped that may be critical come the postseason when Harvick is chasing a second Cup Series championship.

But Sunday again underscores the fact that while Harvick may be the oldest active driver in NASCAR’s top division, he remains one of its best. And when motivated to stick a thumb in the eye of those who doubt him, he transforms into the very best.

“There’s not many things that you can do to showcase character,” Harvick said. “When you showcase character and grit as a team, as a unit, that’s more powerful than any of us being good at what we do.

“Those are the moments that you just love to live in and be a part of and succeed in. You can’t even explain them unless you’re a part of them, because they’re just so rewarding.”