Need for Speed
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jared Turner
When will bleeding stop for Kevin Harvick?
Just how bad are things going to get for Kevin Harvick?
Once regarded as one of NASCAR's top drivers, the former Daytona 500 champion is in a deep hole just one race from the official halfway point of the 2009 Sprint Cup season.
Besides being buried 27th in points and boasting no prayer of a rally into NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup, Harvick is also in the midst of his longest winless streak as a Cup driver.
It was 89 races ago, in the 2007 Daytona 500, when Harvick last visited victory lane in a points-paying Cup race. But even last season, when the Bakersfield, Calif., native was shut out of the winner's circle, he still made the Chase.
So the natural question is how a driver of Harvick's achievements can fall from Chase contender to field filler in half a season? Clearly, team owner Richard Childress' swap of the crews on Harvick's No. 29 car and teammate Casey Mears' No. 07 isn't working.
In the seven races since Gil Martin replaced Todd Berrier as Harvick's crew chief earlier this year, Harvick has posted nary a top-10 and fallen even deeper in the standings.
Mears, who is now paired with Berrier, has actually been solid if unspectacular over that same stretch, having scored a pair of ninth-place finishes and an 11th.
So just what is ailing Harvick?
While it might be easy to point the finger at Martin, we shouldn’t forget that Martin is the crew chief who guided RCR's Clint Bowyer into the Chase the last two seasons.
He is clearly no slouch.
But neither is Harvick, an 11-time Cup race winner.
So here's just one theory on Harvick's struggles: His driving duties at RCR have taken a backseat to his role as co-owner of Kevin Harvick Inc., which fields Nationwide and Truck teams.
If this is the case - perhaps Harvick should consider if he wants to continue driving or put all his efforts into his ownership role at KHI.
That way, his commitment – successful or not – can’t be questioned.
But whether Harvick's involvement at KHI or something altogether different is the main source of his woes, the question still remains: When will the bleeding stop?
Jared Turner
Jared Turner has written about NASCAR for the past three seasons. He joined SceneDaily as a staff writer in February 2008.
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Comments
5 responses to "When will bleeding stop for Kevin Harvick?". Post a Comment.
JT2424 said:
Jul 3, 2009 at 8:42 AMI have three things to say; 1. Everyone is making a big deal over Richard Pettys 200 win 25 years ago, But they fail to mention his car was found to have a Illegal Carb.(He Cheated)
Report as Abuse2. This America Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. (Jermey Mayfield)
3. Bill Weber did a Great Job on every Broadcast on every Channel, I will miss his commits.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbridgetteshealy said:
Jul 3, 2009 at 12:00 PMPerhaps you need to really look at the situations instead of just the stats, which most reporters would do. Seven races...harvick was running 5th at RIR, and the 77 wrecked him. then at LMS, 10 laps into the race and the 77 wrecked him again. NHIS he was up to 15th and extremely happy with his car and Kyle busch wrecked the field. he was running 7th at Sonoma and once again was put into the wall...that is 4 wrecks not his fault. he also finished 11th at darlington. And the remaining two? top 20's. maybe he is too into his KHI deal, so either be an opinion writer or a true reporter. but let your headline show which we are reading.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportboudruxbone said:
Jul 3, 2009 at 1:44 PMMaybe It's the one thing everyone's forgotten about including me. It could be with his long time friend and racing parner Tony Stewart. That won't stop the bleeding this year but next year it could put another piece of this puzzle together at S.H.R. And put another brick in trhe foundation for total Nascar Domination By S.H.R.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 5, 2009 at 10:59 AM#1 what does anything you just said have to do with Kevin Harvick?
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSTP43FAN said:
Jul 13, 2009 at 1:25 PMJT2424 - Petty's car was legal; the carb was legal; there was no cheating.
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