Kevin Harvick Dominates at Phoenix

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the CampingWorld.com 500 on Sunday for his fourth consecutive victory at Phoenix International Speedway.

Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Harvick’s victory was his seventh-straight finish of first or second, the first driver to match those numbers since Richard Petty did it in 1975.  Harvick’s consistency has squashed any talk of a championship hangover for the No. 4 team.

“It’s almost scary how well things are going,” Harvick said in victory lane.  “I think when you look at the start of this year, we just know each other so much better.  We have a lot of things different than what we had last year.”

Harvick, following his win last weekend at Las Vegas, was a favorite heading into the weekend that saw the driver race on one of his best tracks.  He said racing in the XFinity Series race on Saturday helped set up his good run Sunday.

“The restarts were just really slippery, and I learned that in the race yesterday,” Harvick said.  “You had to really maintain your entrance speed and really slide the thing through the center of the corner to try to keep it pointed off.”

The race also saw the return of Harvick’s teammate Kurt Busch, who was reinstated by NASCAR on Wednesday following a three-week suspension for a domestic violence incident with his ex-girlfriend.

Busch finished fifth on Sunday, and said the finish was a testament to the strength of his team.

“Personally it’s great to get back to them and produce a result like this on our first day back,” Busch said.  “To run up there, to almost lead a lap…the way that we raced today was with heart.  I think there could have been enough good will in the tank to bring home a win, but Kevin’s tough.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jamie McMurray

3. Ryan Newman

4. Kasey Kahne

5. Kurt Busch

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Joey Logano

9. Jeff Gordon

10. Kyle Larson

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Carl Edwards

14. Paul Menard

15. Austin Dillon

16. Matt Kenseth

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Justin Allgaier

19. Aric Almirola

20. Casey Mears

21. David Ragan

22. Landon Cassill

23. Denny Hamlin

24. Clint Bowyer

25. Cole Whitt

26. Danica Patrick

27. Greg Biffle

28. Trevor Bayne

29. David Gilliland

30. Alex Bowman

31. J.J. Yeley

32. Brett Moffitt

33. Mike Bliss

34. Jeb Burton

35. Matt DiBenedetto

36. Josh Wise

37. Brendan Gaughan

38. Alex Kennedy

39. Tony Stewart

40. Sam Hornish Jr.

41. Brian Vickers

42. Michael Annett

43. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images