As the NASCAR circuit begins to visit more and more racetracks for the final time this season, Kevin Harvick finds himself running his last Cup Series race at those venues.
Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is another one of those weekends for Harvick. Just as last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway was and the next few weeks will be looking ahead to the upcoming events at Pocono Raceway, Richmond Raceway, Michigan, and Indianapolis.
Harvick, the NASCAR Cup Series champion from 2014, is retiring from full-time competition at the conclusion of the season. He will transition into the FOX Sports broadcast booth in 2024 and, for now, has no plans of running a NASCAR race again in the future.
There is no getting sentimental for Harvick. Saturday, ahead of getting on track at New Hampshire, Harvick said there has been “no issue” balancing the enjoyment of these races while being focused on the overall season.
“We had such a laid-out plan for so long, and all of that was intended to know you’re going to do things (for the last time) but also put yourself in a position to be competitive,” Harvick said. “We’ve done that pretty much every week except for Chicago and North Wilkesboro. You just have to grind away, and that’s kind of the nature of the beast with this particular car. You’re going to have some weeks that you’re off. So, for the most part, we’ve been competitive. We’ve had a couple of chances to win races and just hadn’t had that all come together and be able to get to victory lane.
“So, from the competition side, I think everyone has gone well. And the rest of it, we planned for and knew it would be more work than what a normal season would be.”
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Harvick is ninth in the championship standings with seven top-10 finishes and four top-five finishes. A second-place finish at Darlington Raceway in May is the No. 4 team’s best effort.
Although winless, Harvick is well above the playoff grid cutline. With seven races remaining in the regular season, Harvick is 12th on the playoff grid, the highest driver without a win. He has a 126-point advantage on the cutline.
“I think there are some places that you look at and realize everything that you’ve been able to accomplish throughout the years,” Harvick said. “That’s the cool part about this year — you can let your guard down and go back and say, ‘Yeah that has been a good racetrack for us, and we have been fortunate to have some success.’
“That makes it fun because there’s nothing to hide anymore. You don’t have to hide what you think about really anything, just because of the fact that next year is different. But for years, I didn’t want everybody to really know what I was thinking or know too much about you. Because you can put yourself in a position to where people know your weaknesses and strong points, so the less you say, the less they know.
“That’s not really relevant this year, and that’s been fun to just let your guard down and say what you think.”
#4EVER a legend at #TheMagicMile. 👏@KevinHarvick | @StewartHaasRcng pic.twitter.com/TSvpAuFske
— New Hampshire Motor Speedway (@NHMS) July 15, 2023
New Hampshire presented Harvick with a custom-built musket to commemorate his four Cup Series victories at the track. Harvick is tied with Jeff Burton for the most victories all-time.
Sunday will be Harvick’s 40th career start at New Hampshire.