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NASCAR CUP SERIES: CONSUMERS ENERGY 400August 9, 2020Kevin HarvickBrooklyn, Michigan THE MODERATOR: Kevin, fancy meeting you here again. Congratulations on the win, congratulations on bringing home the trophy for Ford. Talk us through what that means to bring that home. KEVIN HARVICK: Well, Michigan is overall an important race for everybody at Ford, Roush‑Yates, really all the teams. They make you well‑aware of the importance of the Heritage Trophy and how much they want to keep it in their lobby. I got a nice text from Edsel Ford last night to make sure I knew how happy he was, but he made sure I was well aware they didn't want to keep it for one day, they wanted to bring that trophy back. We are really happy for everybody at Ford that our Busch Light Apple Ford was really fast again today. I had a little trouble in the end in three and four, Denny was really good down there. We were able to do a little defensive driving and keep him back there and make it to victory lane in the end. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions from the media for you. Q. Where does this season rank for you in how consistent you've been? Win number six in the regular season, what makes this season unique? KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I think COVID makes it unique, first off, just the circumstances that it takes to get to the racetrack. I think a lot of that just goes into how prepared our team is and the details that they're covering to get the cars right, get them close, come to the racetrack, watch the pit crew perform, watch Rodney make great calls. I get to race the car on the racetrack and do the best that I can. On the days when things aren't going like we want them to with the handling in the racecar, we figure out a way to have some good pit strategy or restarts. They have a great pit stop on pit road. When one side is down, there's somebody there to pick up the pieces on the other side. That's what it takes to run well week in and week out. In the circumstances we're in, you're just not going to hit it every week. You're going to have to battle through it, try to have the best day that you can. As far as where it ranks, it's really hard. I don't think about things like that. I just go week‑to‑week. As you get to the end of the season, you can kind of sit back and really look back on the things that have happened. That's the same thing that we'll do this year. But it's been a great year. Can't argue with that. Q. The car looked more challenging to drive the last couple runs. Was the track any different today than yesterday? KEVIN HARVICK: I would say yes just because we had more rubber on the racetrack, it was about eight degrees warmer when we started the race today. The PJ1 was a little further up the racetrack and running well. They did a really good job with the racetrack this weekend of making that third line usable. Like yesterday when I had a good car and could go anywhere on the racetrack, make it work, Denny had that today. When I tried to block high, he'd just go low. When I'd go low, he'd go high. It just gives you a lot of options when you have three options instead of two. The car in front of you has a 50% chance of blocking that move. I think the racetrack was racy all weekend. I think today my car was tighter from the get‑go, mostly in turns three and four. I never could get the car to the center of the corner like I wanted to. Q. I feel like I recall in the past when we've asked you about what car you have at Homestead or something, you've been, I drive what Rodney brings, I don't really care. This car is your Brickyard 400 car, now you've swept this weekend. Would you be interested to know when the next time this car is going to roll out? KEVIN HARVICK: I bet we don't run it any more, to be honest with you. I think there's so many different styles of racetracks that we're going to as we go forward here. Obviously we're going to a road course next week, then we go to a low downforce track two races in a row at Dover, then a superspeedway car, then you go into short tracks, Darlington with high downforce cars. I know you won't run it at Vegas or Charlotte. Honestly, I don't think you'll run this car anymore. Q. This is your ninth straight top‑five finish along with six wins. You're a past champion. Have you ever been in a zone like this before? KEVIN HARVICK: Look, we've had some great years. I wouldn't call this our best. I think 2015 and 2018 were great years. We closed 2014 really good. It's hard to tell what the end of the year is going to bring as far as this could be the last win, you might win six more. You just never know. I think the most important thing is to stay focused on the week‑to‑week attitude of trying to prepare the best that you can. Win or lose last week, on Monday you have to be preparing for the next week. It's ultra important to have a short‑term memory. I think our team does a really good job with that, making sure we're prepared for the next race the best that we can. You take all of that you can out of that on Monday morning, then move on to the next one. Q. I'm not sure of the math, but I can't figure out a way you wouldn't be on the pole for the road course since you won the race and you're the leader in points. What does it mean now you're kind of earning your starting position? KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I'm a little bit torn on that. That wasn't my vote. I voted for 1 through 36 random draw every week for charter teams. I think it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Obviously I think that there's definitely some merit to it as far as earning your position in the things that you do. I think in the position that we're in, there's also some merit in keeping it mixed up, keeping it fair, having some new players at the front, giving them an opportunity. At some point during the year, some of those guys are going to qualify good and have a chance to have a good weekend. If you're back in the mid part of the pack, you don't have an opportunity to qualify, sometimes those are taken away. It will be interesting. I'm good with whatever. I think me leading everybody into turn one at Daytona could be interesting because I have no freaking clue where I'm going as we go down there. Most everybody in the field is the same way. We'll prepare the best that we can and hope that we can make it around the first lap with all the wheels still headed in the right direction. Q. Next on the all‑time win list is Kyle Busch with 56. You kind of wish he was running a little bit better so at least it was more of a contest when you hit that milestone? KEVIN HARVICK: I don't think that's going to be a contest. I think as you look at the longevity of Kyle's career, he'll be way ahead of that number as he goes forward. I guess that's sort of a short‑term thing as you look at it because he's going to be around this deal a lot longer than I am. I think as you look at his past and the things that he's done, he's going to keep winning. Like I say, I think that's short‑term for the next few years, then we'll see where it goes from there. Q. With all the craziness going on in 2020, is it kind of like a ray of hope or a bright light that you're able to compete at this level? KEVIN HARVICK: It says a lot about our organization and a lot about our team, how they can prepare racecars, the details that are going into those racecars, the things that they're doing. I think as you look at all that, it's all about the people. It's the people that are here every week grinding away at the racetrack, it's the people at the race shop, Roush‑Yates, Ford Performance. It just takes so many people to do what we're doing. I think this is really something that we've been fortunate to excel at, adapt. We're good at adapting and adjusting, trying to figure things out on the fly. I think that's what experience brings you with this particular race team. I love my guys to death. They do a great job. I hate not being able to celebrate with them. That's the part that really frustrates me more than anything. As you look at it, I mean, it's going to be this way for a while. I don't see this really changing into the majority of next year. I think this is going to be the new normal for the foreseeable future, in my opinion. THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much for joining us. Congratulations. We'll see you next week at the road course. KEVIN HARVICK: All right, guys. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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