JOLIET, Ill. – Kevin Harvick has a soft spot in his heart for racing at Chicagoland Speedway.
Harvick won the first two races held at the 1.5-mile track in 2001 and 2002 and considers it a favorite especially in recent years as the original surface has aged.
“I think as we have come here we have had fast cars, it is just hard to get everything to work out everywhere,” Harvick said of his Chicagoland performance. “I think as you talk about the race track in particular, I think those first few years coming here it was obviously a really high grip situation as far as the asphalt and the different style of race track just because of the amount of grip and the style of asphalt that they used.
“I think today, the biggest difference is really just the asphalt. It has a lot of bumps and a lot of character. It is worn out. The tires fall off. They have changed the tires a few times over the last few years and you have had to keep up with that. It is a really hard track to get the handling of the car right because the bumps are so bad. That is a good thing.”
Harvick has won five times this year – with three coming at 1.5-mile tracks – in a season that has been one of dominance. Only six driver shave visited Victory Lane in the schedule’s first 16 races, the lowest number of winners through this point of the season since 1979.
Chicagoland Race Winners | Chicagoland Driver Averages
Stewart-Haas Racing has two of those spots with Harvick and teammate Clint Bowyer, a trend the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion does not see ending anytime soon.
“Nothing surprises me,” Harvick said. “The previous couple years, I think that should be more of a surprise than the cars and teams you see running well this year. When you look back at the last couple of years there have been what I would call some surprise winners in unique situations to win superspeedway races or a fuel mileage race or something. A road race. Something along those lines.
“I think as you look at the way this year has played out, I don’t really feel like it is a whole lot different other than maybe the 48 is not running as well as they have in the past and they are not in the mix but I think as you look at really the past few years for sure I think it is pretty consistent as to who the good teams and cars have been.”
Harvick will also race in today’s Xfinity Series Overton’s 300. Yesterday, he posted the best 10 consecutive lap average in final practice.
