Kevin Harvick, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, earned another top-five finish on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished third at the prestigious Coca-Cola 600.
The Bakersfield, California native was elated after posting his second-best finish of the season. He went to the back after five bad pit stops, but his No. 4 team did a fantastic job and they kept battling. The 46-year-old also felt that he had a decent car after hitting the wall in Turn 2 on lap 220 in a close battle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which brought out the 12th caution of the race.
While speaking in a post-race interview, Kevin Harvick described his P3 finish at NASCAR’s longest 600 mile race, stating:
“We went to the back five times for bad pit stops too, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang team did a good job. We just kept battling. We had a decent car after I hit the wall I got a lot tighter and then every time we’d make it up, we’d just fall on our face on pit road and go to the back again. We just kept battling. That’s just kind of the name of the game in this particular race because it’s just so long. I knew the attrition was gonna be high.”
The California native has had consistent performances so far this season with three top-five and seven top-ten finishes. He also recorded his fifth consecutive top-ten finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kevin Harvick talks about racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Speaking about the longest race of the season, Kevin Harvick admitted that his race was horrifyingly wicked, given the crashes and spins out there on the track. He went on to say that he was glad that his No. 4 car as well as his team worked well, getting him a good finish in the end.
Harvick said:
“Our race was atrocious. We went to the back eight times, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford just kept plugging away and we wound up in a good position there at the end and wound up with a good finish, but it was ugly. Everybody’s night was ugly for the most part.”
Despite not having a victory yet, Kevin Harvick might be able to get a playoff ticket with the finishes he has posted so far. Currently, with 373 points, he stands 11th in the Cup Series standings.