In the 1999 film, For Love of the Game, Billy Chapel (played by Kevin Coster) is pitching for the Detroit Tigers and in the midst of a perfect game.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, with his arm weary and aching, he looks up to see Ken Strout ready to bat for the New York Yankees. Ken Strout is the son of Joe Strout, who Chapel played with 20 years prior.
Ken Strout is the last chance for the Yankees to break up the perfect game. As Chapel sees him walking up to the plate, he looks up and says, simply, “Why not?”
That’s how Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), might be feeling after this past week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Harvick started on the pole and led early, but he brushed the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall early on as the track may or may not have been a little wet during a constant mist. Then the rains came and, after more than 72 hours, the race finally got restarted late Wednesday afternoon.
Or, better than “Why not?” perhaps an overriding thought in Harvick’s mind is, “It’s a journey.”
That’s because 2020 has been a journey for everyone. NASCAR conducted four races, took a nine-week break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then contested 30 races in six months before getting delayed by rain for more than 72 hours this week at Texas.
Never fear, though, because we (might) be almost done.
Harvick finished 16th at Texas and is still first in points, 42 markers above the cutoff to advance to the Championship 4.
He now moves on to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the final race in the Round of 8.
Harvick has one win, five top-fives, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 628 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. His average start there is 14.1, his average finish is 14.9, and he has a lap completion rate of 98.2 percent – 18,695 of the 19,039 laps available.
Thankfully, Harvick will have the help of Mobil 1 as a sponsor and partner at the tight, half-mile Martinsville paperclip.
Mobil 1 isn’t just the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR team with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track. In its 18th consecutive season as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR,” Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of teams throughout NASCAR’s top three series.
During the playoffs, Mobil 1 is giving fans the chance to win exclusive prizes, including signed exclusive SHR gear, race gloves, race used parts and die casts, one-of-a-kind stickers and a once in a lifetime opportunity to receive a zoom call from SHR co-owner Tony Stewart or Harvick’s SHR teammate Cole Custer.
To find out more or to enter, fans can head to http://officialmotoroilofnascar.com/.
KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
Thoughts heading into Martinsville?
“For me, it doesn’t really change that much. Most of the preparing comes from videos and things you have done in the past. And I could do all that during the rain delay in Texas.”
Can you talk about the promotion with Mobil 1 that is taking place?
“We are always excited to have Mobil 1 on the car and they are such a great partner of ours as we go week-to-week through the entire season. The best thing I’ve seen that you can win in this promotion is a Zoom call with Tony Stewart. That is a little bit scary (laughs), but they have all sorts of cool racing prizes and things and you can go to http://officialmotoroilofnascar.com/ and find all these prizes. It’s always fun to have a sponsor that supports what we do and hopefully we can go to Martinsville and have a good showing.”
Can you talk about your relationship with Mobil 1?
“Running up front and winning races has been a lot of fun together. It’s great to see a partner like Mobil 1 come in be so involved in our race team. They are very involved day-to-day in our engine program and our lubricants, whether its transmission, rear-end hubs, whatever it is – we are always getting something that is better. It’s kind of a little bit of an unfair advantage, but one that everyone works really hard at to continue to get better.”
Why do your prefer Mobil 1 synthetic?
“I’m a synthetic guy because, in 1993 when we were sitting in the engine shop, we dumped Mobil 1 synthetic in and that’s all we did and gained seven horsepower. From that day on, we would actually save our money and then go to the local auto parts store because, at that time, it was like $5.50 a quart and the conventional and other oils were like $3.50. At the big races, we would put the Mobil 1 in the car and the regular races would put the regular oil in there. You know I’m going to say synthetic.”
Mobil 1 Racing Team Report
Rounds 35 of 36 – Xfinity 500 – Martinsville
Car No.: 4 – Mobil 1 Ford Mustang
Primary Team Members:
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Robert Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Engine Builder: Roush-Yates Engines
Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Specialist: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Spotters: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala
Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois
Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Mike “Shrek” Morneau
Hometown: Oxford, Maine
Gas Man: Evan Marchal
Hometown: Westfield, Indiana
Jackman: Stan Dolittle
Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina
Windshield: Shawn Hopkins (also serves as interior mechanic)
Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia
Martinsville Notes of Interest:
· Dynamic Duo: While this is Harvick’s 20th year in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s his seventh with crew chief Rodney Childers, which is the longest pairing of any current driver-crew chief combination. Since joining forces at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014, Harvick and Childers have combined to produce 35 points-paying victories, a victory in the non-points 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 25 Busch poles, 126 top-five finishes and 179 top-10s while leading 11,111 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Kyle Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
· Harvick has career totals of 58 wins, 31 poles, 226 top-fives, 388 top-10s and 15,565 laps led in 716 starts.
· His most recent Cup Series wins came Sept. 19 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
· His most recent Busch Pole came in November 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth
(Pole qualifying has not taken place since May 23 at Charlotte due to the abbreviated weekend schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
· Harvick is ninth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list with 58 victories and is 18 wins behind the late Dale Earnhardt, who is eighth with 76 checkered flags. Harvick is second on the active driver list behind Jimmie Johnson, who has 83 victories.
· More than 15,000 Laps Led: On Aug. 23 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Harvick led the 15,000th lap of his NASCAR career. He is 11th all-time, has led 15,565 laps, and trails 10th-place Busch, who has led 17,942, and Johnson, who is ninth with 18,937 laps led. Harvick has led 11,111 laps as an SHR driver. He led his 10,000th lap as an SHR driver when he took the lead on lap 37 on June 7 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and his 11,000th lap on September 20 at Bristol on lap 476.
· Harvick in the Cup Series at Martinsville: Harvick has one win, five top-fives, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 628 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Martinsville. His average start is 14.1, his average finish is 14.9 and he has a lap-completion rate of 98.2 percent – 18,695 of the 19,039 laps available.
· Harvick in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Martinsville: Harvick has three wins, seven top-five finishes and nine top-10s in 17 starts.
· Points Position: Harvick arrives at Martinsville first in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings with 4,137 points and is 42 markers ahead of the Championship 4 cutoff. This is the seventh time in the last eight years Harvick has advanced to the Round of 8.
· Let’s Win Two: When Harvick won the doubleheader in August at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, he became the first driver in more than 50 years to win NASCAR Cup Series races on consecutive days. Richard Petty won the Albany-Saratoga 250 on July 14, 1971 at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York, and the next day won the Islip 250 at Islip (N.Y.) Speedway. Islip closed in 1984, but Albany-Saratoga is still in operation.
· Laps Completed: Harvick is 14th all-time in laps completed with 204,292 after Wednesday race at Texas. He reached 200,000 laps completed on lap 222 of the July 19 race at Texas. Harvick is the leader among active drivers and could pass 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace, who is 13th with 204,818, before season’s end.
· Second Place: By finishing second Oct. 18 at Kansas Speedway, Harvick has 58 runner-up finishes and is tied with Darrell Waltrip for eighth place all time. Cale Yarborough is seventh with 59 second-place finishes.
· 119 and Counting – Harvick scored his 100th career win in NASCAR’s top three series with his March 2018 Las Vegas Motor Speedway win. He has 118 total victories – 58 in the Cup Series, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Truck Series. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have passed 100 wins in NASCAR’s top three series: Busch (213), Petty (200) and David Pearson (106).
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
