• Earning It Since 2014: Harvick is in his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and his third at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In the 105 Sprint Cup events since their pairing at the beginning of 2014, Harvick and Childers combined to produce 12 victories, 10 poles, 52 top-five finishes and 73 top-10s; led 5,736 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch.
• Trophies of 2016: Harvick is one of 13 Sprint Cup winners through the first 34 races of 2016. He scored his first win of the season March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway in one of the closest finishes in series history, when he beat runner-up Carl Edwards to the finish line by .01 of a second. He scored his second win of the season in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he started 24th, led 128 laps and beat runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., by 1.933 seconds. He scored his third win of the season Sept. 25 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, where he started 19th, led eight laps and finished .442 of a second ahead of runner-up Matt Kenseth. He scored his fourth and most recent win of the season on October 16 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where he started 11th, led 74 laps and beat runner-up Edwards by 1.183 seconds.
• Survive and Advance: Harvick’s Oct. 16 win in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas locked him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup Round of 8. He advanced to the Round of 12 by winning the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Sept. 25. Harvick finished the regular season with 876 points – more than any other driver. It marked the second consecutive season he has led the Sprint Cup points after the 26-race regular season.
• First or Second: Since joining SHR at the beginning of 2014, Harvick and Childers have teamed to score 35 top-two finishes – 12 wins and 23 runner-up efforts in 106 total races. The pairing has finished either first or second in more than 33 percent of the Sprint Cup races since the start of 2014.
• 10,000 Laps Led: After leading 214 laps at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Harvick became just the fifth active full-time driver to lead 10,000 laps in his Sprint Cup career. He joins Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Kenseth. Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix earlier this season to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career.
• 1,000 Laps Led for the Third Consecutive Season: Harvick has led 1,305 laps through the first 34 points-paying races of 2016. He has now led 1,000 laps for a third consecutive season. He has led at least one lap in 21 of 33 points-paying Sprint Cup events this season. Prior to joining SHR in 2014, Harvick’s season-high was 895 laps led in 2006.
• Harvick in the Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix: Sunday’s Can-Am 500k will mark Harvick’s 28th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix. Harvick has a series-high eight wins, 12 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s at the mile oval. The 40-year-old driver has led 1,484 laps, has an average starting position of 16.3, an average finish of 10.3, and has completed 99.7 percent (8,391 of 8,413) of the laps he’s contested there.
• Topping the All-Time Sprint Cup Win List at Phoenix: Harvick’s series-high eight career Sprint cup wins at Phoenix tops a list that shows Johnson next-best with four career wins, followed by Davey Allison, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Edwards and Mark Martin with two wins each.
• Winner of Five of the Last Six at Phoenix: Harvick has won five of the last Sprint Cup races at Phoenix and six of the last eight. He is the only driver to win four in a row. He won the November 2013 race, swept the 2014 races and won in March 2015 before ending his streak with a runner-up finish in November 2015. Jimmie Johnson is the only other driver to win three straight when he won the November 2007 race and swept the 2008 races. Only five drivers have won consecutive Sprint Cup races at Phoenix and Harvick is the only driver to win consecutive races twice. Harvick also swept both races in 2006. He has led 1,064 laps in his last six races at Phoenix.
• Perfection at Phoenix: Harvick has scored a perfect 150.0 driver rating at Phoenix on three occasions. His first was in November 2006, when he started second, led 252 of 312 laps and reached victory lane. His second was in his November 2014 win, when he started third and led 264 of 312 laps. His third came in his win last March, when he started first and led 224 of 312 laps.
• Career Totals: Harvick has 35 wins, 152 top-five finishes, 282 top-10s and 16 poles in 572 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Sunday’s Can-Am 500k.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
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