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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: AAA 400October 4, 2015Kevin HarvickDOVER, DELAWARE THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by race winner Kevin Harvick, driver of the No.4 Budweiser Jimmy John's Chevrolet for Stewart‑Haas Racing. Today Kevin led a single‑race career‑high 355 laps. His previous high was 272 laps led at Richmond on May 6 of 2006. Most importantly, he delivered yet another clutch performance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, winning his way into the Contender 12 round. Walk us through this race today, and with all the pressure that you had going into this race, just talk about your performance and yet another clutch performance for the 14. KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don't think there was really any pressure. I think for us, we all knew what we had to do, and it was really no different preparation than what we would do on a weekly basis. You know, all in all it was business as usual, and I think when you look at the first three Dover races that we've had here, it was definitely right in line with the things that we had done here before, just didn't have any problems today, so just really, really proud of my group for getting the last little bit out of everything that they could. Everybody was flawless on pit road and up top, and everything just went well. THE MODERATOR: This was also the 750th win for Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. What's it like to bring home that record for Chevrolet? KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, well, Chevy has been a big part of our sport, and obviously been very successful. Just really, really proud to be a part of that, and hopefully we can be a part of a few more. Q. I know you said there was no pressure and you were going out to do what you could do, but at the same time you haven't won since March and you've had a ton of good cars and a lot of great weekends and haven't been able to put it together, so clearly winning is not easy, even if everything falls right. How can you explain what happened today in terms of it was a high‑pressure situation even if you didn't feel it? How did your team and you rise up to this level to deliver a clutch win like this? KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don't really believe that we did anything different. We've led a lot of laps at a lot of different races, and it's like I've told you guys, these things go in cycles. The circumstances today were pretty straightforward. We didn't have any crazy endings, and we just came in, put tires on it, and were fortunate to have a couple lap cars in between us a couple times to just have a straight‑up race. So I think as you look at last week, led a bunch of laps, and didn't think it was close, and then wound up the car not having enough fuel in it because it just didn't get enough fuel in it. We did everything the same way last week. We've been in these situations a lot this year and haven't pulled it off, but there's no way to get frustrated. If you're going to get frustrated over running like we've run this year, you're probably going to be a detriment to your team, and for us it's something to where you show up on Monday and you do the same thing, whether you win or lose. We've been through winless periods before, just like last year, and we've been through periods where we've won races and consecutive races. It really isn't‑‑ it's just the nature of this team and what they do, and the character of it is deep, and they all believe in each other. When you have a group of people like this that doesn't do things out of the ordinary for situations like this, you know, they just look at it as another task at hand. Q. I can understand I think why you don't feel like it's really a pressure situation given what your team has been able to accomplish and what you know you guys are capable of, but what do you consider to be a high‑pressure situation? What would that be like for you? KEVIN HARVICK: Probably stepping into Dale Earnhardt's car. That was pretty high. Q. Anything from today that‑‑ KEVIN HARVICK: There will never be anything close to that one. I think that that'll supercede any of these situations by a long ways. When you look at the sport's biggest hero gone, you look at millions of race fans that are depending upon somebody to drive that car and you have 350 people that have jobs and families and you're their guy, never done it before, but good luck. Know what I mean? That's a lot of pressure. Q. Sorry we're kind of keeping the pressure theme going here, but you've had a number of these as you called them last year, walk‑off moments. Do you kind of embrace being in these situations as opposed to being in good shape? KEVIN HARVICK: You know, the payoff when you get in these situations, the rush that you get out of these types of situations, just from the situation itself throughout the day and the moments, are something that are a lot of fun to be a part of. Obviously you don't want to be in these situations, but no matter what, when you get to Homestead, you're going to be in this situation. If you're not ready for it, it'll eat you up, and luckily I had Tony Stewart and a lot of experienced people to help me through that week last year because it was a lot different, and I think that those comments and suggestions of how you handle your week have just rolled over into things that we've done this year, and you just don't let those types of situations overwhelm you. I think that's Zipadelli's pretty standard line is don't let this week overwhelm you because it'll be to the detriment of you if you don't pay attention and keep yourself at bay. Just a lot of experienced people. Q. I just want to go back to the last pit stop there when you took two tires. I know your car was really good today. Just when Kyle Busch took four, did you think at all that maybe he could get an advantage with that, or was your car just that good even with two tires? KEVIN HARVICK: Well, their cars didn't really run any faster or slower in the race when they took two tires. You know, it took me 15 or 20 laps to get back around the guys that came out in front of me, and I just didn't think that losing control of the race was the right thing to do. I thought if we could keep control of the race and be able to control the restarts, because they just get more intense as you go through the end of the race and have to step things up. I just didn't want to lose control. Q. What does it mean to win at a track as unique as Dover? KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I'm just happy we won because Keelan keeps asking for Miles the trophy. It'll probably be the only one we don't put in storage with the rest of them. It'll go in his playroom. That's what he asked to do with it. So I'm just glad that I didn't let him down. Q. When Rodney was in here, he was saying that the team really pulled out the stops the last couple weeks and pulled out a couple of cars maybe they weren't intending to use earlier, like Dover this weekend in particular, and he said you guys didn't know what you were going to use yet for Charlotte. Is there any concern on your part that so much is expended the last couple weeks to make sure you got through that next round that now it's time to play catch‑up again in the second round? KEVIN HARVICK: I think I've been here for two years, and I have no idea which cars I've raced. I have no clue. I couldn't tell you which ones I've driven or haven't driven, so I'm just‑‑ usually every time I get in them, they're fast, so I don't even ask. Q. Last week they talked about what if Harvick gets eliminated, what the advantage would be. Now the reality is that Johnson was eliminated today. What does that do to the rest of the way for the Chase, at least the next round? KEVIN HARVICK: You know, I don't even know who's been eliminated, so we're so narrow‑minded in the approach that we take to things, it's really‑‑ you try to stay in your garage stall. You don't really look at the times on the board. You just try to focus on the things that concern you. You know, we're just happy to be able to make it to the next round and be able to keep racing for a championship. Yeah, I mean, like I say, I'm sorry I don't follow any of you guys on Twitter, I don't follow NASCAR on Twitter, I don't read stories, I don't go online, I just‑‑ I think it's better for us to stay focused on the people who are 100 percent in tune with our situations and around us and keep things as positive as possible to stay as narrow‑minded as possible, because the more narrow‑minded we can approach things, the more focused we're going to be on those narrow‑minded things that we're focused on. You know, everybody has bought into that. Nobody listens to the chirping. But we're just going to line them back up and see how it goes next week. Q. Well, when you took the checkered flag, how much of a relief was it that you felt? Was it like a big weight lifted off your shoulders? KEVIN HARVICK: You know, I never really felt any pressure. I would have been more disappointed for my guys and for Stewart‑Haas Racing than I would have for myself. I would have found a way to kind of cope with everything and move forward and do the things going forward. I would have been more disappointed for the guys on my team, for the guys at the shop that put their heart and soul into all these race cars that we put on the track for Stewart‑Haas Racing. I could have dealt with it myself. I've been through a lot of ups and downs in my life and career of things that you've had to handle. But a lot of those guys haven't, and I would have felt like I let them down more than anything and would have felt bad more for that than I would have myself for sure. Q. Kevin, how much did the other title contenders blow it today by allowing‑‑ by not beating you and not preventing you from advancing in this Chase? KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I don't really know how to answer that. You know, I know we did our job and we were able to punch our ticket to move forward. We're still in the battle and still looking forward to the challenge of just trying to make it to the next round. It's like I've told you guys before: Some stats are going to be ugly, some stats are going to be pretty, it's just a matter of how they add up as to who moves on. It sounds like it was pretty intense as far as the points go, and just got to go at it again. We lived to fight another day. Q. I know you didn't spend a lot of time there, but what were your impressions of the changes in the restart zone? KEVIN HARVICK: I felt like I was in way more control today as the leader. Before I felt like I had to do something to really jack everybody up to gain an advantage. I felt like as the leader I was in control of the race again, and I think as you look at the restarts and all the things that we've all as drivers been asking for, is when you're the leader, you should be able to make it to the first corner and feel like you're in control of that restart. That's how we've all raced as we've grown up. It's not a gimmick or a show. It's about the leader having an advantage that he's earned, whether it was on the racetrack, staying on the racetrack, on pit road, however you got to be the leader, you deserve to have that advantage kept. So I think today as you look at the restarts, I thought‑‑ I felt like I was in more control than I had been all year or over the past couple years, and I felt like the restart zone being widened out and being officiated correctly, you know, having to restart within the zone, the second place guy not beating the‑‑ not getting in the gas first, I felt like everybody got the message, and I felt like widening that zone out gave me more options. When it gets to be so short, everybody knows when you get to the second line you're going to have to go because you're going to roll right through the zone if you don't. I definitely felt like I was in more control today. Q. Your answers just sound completely laser focused, which is similar to how you were late in the year last year. But I'm wondering if your comments toward the beginning of the Chase had any impact. You kind of caused a little bit of a brief firestorm for yourself talking about the JGR cars. Was that a reminder for you to close down the ranks to get laser focused, the fallout from that? Did that have any impact on how you're approaching this going forward? KEVIN HARVICK: I don't think so. I think as we got started, as the situation started to stack up there, I think it just‑‑ that circle had to get smaller. The noise had to get quieter, and we had to really know exactly what we needed to be doing. Sometimes situations ignite that fuel. But I think as you look at the guys around us, I really feel like these situations make us tighter, stronger, better, believe in each other more, and we've just got to‑‑ now we've just got to keep our nose down and grind away. Q. In some ways today was kind of a surprising result. In other ways it wasn't in the sense that the team that's been pretty much the fastest the last year and a half advances to continue competing for the championship. Just for you, what has that been like the last one plus seasons, almost two years, as a racer, whether you collect wins or championships, but getting into a car without having to worry about whether you're going to be in a position to compete and you know you are every race? That's got to be the pinnacle of a driver's career, isn't it? KEVIN HARVICK: Well, you know, for me it's been about, all right, don't screw any of this up. You know, how can I contribute to make this better. I think a lot of those things were talked about before Rodney ever started at Stewart‑Haas Racing on day one. I think for me, you know, there's been a lot of things change over the last four or five years for me personally. You know, we put a lot of effort into how we live and where we live and what we own, what we don't own, just to try to make being parents better and be better on Sunday. I think as you look at my situation, I have a group of people that believe in each other. I have a group of people that are experienced, and for me, as I've been able to get in these race cars, I don't worry about how they're going to run when I show up at the racetrack. I know they're going to run fast. We've run fast at virtually every race we've ever been to. For me it's about, all right, look at your notes, look at the past history, look at the things that you've done, and you'd better be ready when you get on the racetrack for the first lap of practice, because they are. There's a sense of if I'm not prepared I'm letting them down because I know every one of them are prepared. There's never a weekend that they show up that they aren't prepared. So for me it's almost been a good motivator to make sure that you show up prepared so you're not letting those guys down that did their job during the week. Q. What did Keelan think about the Monster Miles trophy in victory lane? KEVIN HARVICK: Do you like that trophy? It's pretty cool? Yeah? For whatever reason, Miles the Monster is really the only one that he's been into. We got him a stuffed animal to start the day just in case things didn't go very good. Got to cover your bases as a parent. THE MODERATOR: Well, good luck transporting the real Miles the Monster home, and good luck next week in Charlotte. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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