Kevin Harvick’s winning streak ends in early crash at Fontana

Kevin Harvick’s bid to win four consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races ended in a crash on Lap 37 of Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Harvick and Kyle Larson were racing for the third position when contact between them sent Harvick careening into the outside backstretch wall, heavily damaging Harvick’s No. 4 car. His Stewart-Haas Racing team was able to make repairs, but Harvick was uncompetitive for the remainder of the afternoon. He finished 35th, nine laps behind race winner Martin Truex Jr.

Replays of the accident showed Harvick coming down on Larson, who was positioned to his inside, initiating the contact. Harvick took responsibility for the accident, blaming himself for racing too hard, too early in a 400-mile race.

“I went down to side draft and (Larson) was coming up and just knocked the thing to the right and just spun out,” Harvick said. ”I don’t know that that was his fault. I think that was my fault for coming down the racetrack and trying to side draft and we touched. I tried to get a little too much there.”

Harvick was attempting to become the ninth driver in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) to win four Cup Series races in a row and the first since Jimmie Johnson in 2007. He entered the race as one of the favorites and Larson thought Harvick had the fastest car on Sunday before their collision.

“The race car was there, it was just a mistake,” Harvick said.

Larson also suffered damage on his car, though it was minimal and he was able to continue on. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver would go on to finish second, his best result of the season.

“It was a pretty tough race from the start,” Larson said. “Obviously, Kevin and I had our issue there down the backstretch, just racing hard, side drafting each other for a few laps. I think he came down to maybe side draft down me, got in my right rear, it spun him pretty quick.”