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Kevin Harvick is easily have became one of the impressive drivers in the Cup series over the past two seasons. Week in and week out, he have been bad fast since joining SHR. Almost every weekend, he can be locked in as a top 5 driver. At times it look like he just playing a video game adjusted to rookie level. Yeah so he been very good over the past two seasons and I think he will repeat similar success in 2016. If I had one complaint, then I would say it him not being able to finish out races. I lost count how many races Harvick ''should have'' won. He always seems to find ways to lose the lead late and more often than not it because a late race caution.
He will be his strongest on the intermediate racetracks in 2016, he been nearly unstoppable the past two seasons at this type of racetrack since joining SHR. At 17 races on the intermediate racetracks, he compiled 7.6 average finish with 5.5 average running position and 122.3 driver rating. I would consider Charlotte, Michigan and Homestead as his three best intermediate racetracks, but I don't think he have an bad track to be honest. He have found some sort of success pretty much everywhere, so kinda hard to just pick out a few. However, I would consider Charlotte and Michigan as his best two recently. He been very strong at Charlotte recently. Over his past 4 races at Charlotte (2 seasons), he have compiled 3.5 average finish with 4.5 average running position and 127.4 driver rating. He been nothing short of amazing at Charlotte lately. Over his past 12 Charlotte races, he have knocked off 11 Top 11 finishes. Including 9 Top 9 finishes. He have finished 1st or 2nd in 4 of his past 6 races at Charlotte, and have finished 1st or 2nd in 5 of past 10 races at Charlotte. At the moment, Kevin Harvick is the best driver in the series at Charlotte and that won't likely change in the near future! The second track that I want to look at Michigan, because he been very good here since joining SHR. Over his past 4 races at Michigan, he have compiled 8.8 average finish with 5.5 average running position and 123.1 driver rating. His 8.8 average finish position isn't impressive, but remember he finished 29th in last June's race. Minus that 29th place finish, he have knocked off 5 straight 2nd place finishes. I am not joking 5 straight second place finishing, dating back to the 2013 season. It ridiculous how stupid consistent Harvick been at Michigan since the repave!
Shorter flats racetracks will be Harvick's next strongest type of racetrack. Phoenix is an obvious must-start in fantasy nascar. I think pretty much everyone knows that, but he also been pretty damn good at New Hampshire. Last season at the shorter flats (4 races), he have compiled 6.8 average finish with 2.8 average running position and 137.8 driver rating. He been better at Phoenix than New Hampshire. I would say Phoenix is his best racetrack since joining SHR and quite frankly it not even close. Over his past 4 races at Phoenix, he have compiled 1.3 average finish with 1.8 average running position and 148.7 driver rating. I mentioned Harvick looked like he was playing a video game at some tracks, he stats at Phoenix looks like out of a video game honestly. Overall 9 of his past 11 Phoenix (dating back to 2011) races have ended inside the top 6. Including 7 top 2 finishes in his past 8 races at Phoenix. Including 5 of those 7 Top 2 finishes ending in wins. He won 4 straight races from November 2013 to March 2015. He finished 2nd this past fall. Even though he probably should have won that race too, however a late caution for rain launched Dale Jr to pull off an upset victory against Harvick. At New Hampshire he haven't been bad, but his numbers aren't as impressive like at Phoenix though. Over his past 4 races at New Hampshire (2 seasons), he have compiled 14.3 average finish with 4.8 average running position and 119.1 driver rating. Over his past 12 races at New Hampshire (daitng back to 2010 season), he have knocked off 8 Top 12 finishes. Including one top 5 (2 total Top 5s) finish over each of the past two seasons. However 3 of past 5 races have ended in 21st or worse. But not for lack of trying though. Last fall (chase race), he had a dominating car. He led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with just a few laps left. The other race that he finished poorly (30th - June 2014), he ran out of fuel on the last lap while running up inside the top 5. Every time he been at New Hampshire, he have had a top 5 car. Don't expect that to change in 2016 either in my opinion. I think he will soon break through here and find victory lane again for the first since 2006. It probably only matter of time honestly. He been very strong at New Hampshire!
Road courses will be another strong type of racetrack for Harvick and I personally don't think Harvick get enough credit as a top tier road course racer. Last season at the road courses (2 races), he have compiled 3.5 average finish with 8.0 average running position and 121.2 driver rating. He been very good at both tracks and should be considered for both tracks as race-winning threat! Over the past two seasons at WGI (2 races), he have compiled 5.0 average finish with 9.5 average running position and 113.6 driver rating. Overall he been very good at WGI. Dating back to the 2010 season (6 races), he have knocked off 6 straight top 15 finishes. Including finishes of 3rd and 7th over his two races with SHR. 3 of his past 5 races have ended inside the top 7 and 4 of his past 6 races have ended inside the top 11 overall. He haven't been quite as good at Sonoma, but still very respectable. Over the past 2 seasons (2 races) at Sonoma, he have compiled 12.0 average finish with 11.0 average running position and 105.7 driver rating. His final finish position was deflated in 2014, when he got mixed up in the Jamie Mac and Clint Bowyer incident. He eventually finished 20th, even though he had the best car in that race up to that point. He never have won at Sonoma, but he been pretty good over his past 6 attempts. Over his past 6 races (dating back to 2010), he have knocked off 4 Top 10 finishes. In 15 career starts, he have compiled 9 Top 14 finishes. With his best career finish coming in 2nd, during the 2007 season. At road courses in 2016, I expect him to be a strong contender for wins at both tracks!
You can expect Harvick to be a strong performer at the short tracks, but he seems to be a bit inconsistent with his finishes though. Last season on the short tracks (6 races), he have compiled 12.0 average finish with 8.2 average running position and 113.5 driver rating. His numbers are very good compared to his competition, however his numbers could be better if he didn't have some misleading finishes. He probably been his best at Richmond though. Over his past 4 races at Richmond, he have compiled 8.0 average finish with 5.8 average running position and 110.5 driver rating. Overall he have knocked off 14 Top 10 finishes over his past 20 races (dating back to 2006) at Richmond. Over his past 13 races, he have knocked off 13 straight Top 19 finishes. Including 7 straight top 14 finishes and 6 of those 7 races ended inside the top 11. He been less successful at Bristol lately, but he been bad fast in every race since joining SHR. Over the past 4 races at Bristol, he have compiled 22.5 average finish with 9.5 average running position and 108.9 driver rating. He have knocked off two top 11 finishes (2nd, 11th) and two poor finishes (38th,39th). In 2014, he was very strong and had a top 5 car. However something broke on his car and got hard into the wall with about 25 or so laps to go. In last season spring race, he probably had the car to beat. But he ended up a lot of laps down after leading 184 laps. Cannot remember what happened to him, but pretty sure he got involved in a wreck. Of course that race was crazy, so cannot really count it against him. Overall 5 of his past 8 races have ended inside the top 15. Including 3 of those 5 races ending inside the top 11. I would say Martinsville is the track he is most underrated at among the three shorts. Over his past 4 races at Martinsville, he have compiled 14.0 average finish with 12.0 average running position and 102.4 driver rating. So why is he the most underrated at Martinsville? Well for one he have 3 top 10 finishes over his first 4 races with SHR at Martinsville. Nothing too flashy, but not too many drivers have been consistent at Martinville lately. He ranked 8th in average finish (14.0), tied for the most top 10s (3), 6th in average running position (12.0), and 6th most time spent inside the top 15 (76%). Overall across the board he been very good. Overall he been very good at Martinsvlle. 7 of his past 10 races have ended inside the top 8. Including 5 straight top 13 finishes. With 4 of those 5 races ending inside the top 8.
Fun fact of the day (or preview I should say), Harvick have posted an average driver rating of 101.0 or greater at every track over the past two seasons, except two racetracks. Those two tracks are? You guess it, Daytona and Talladega! Even though he been very good at Talladega in the past two seasons. Over his past 4 races at Talladega, he have compiled 9.8 average finish (series-best) with 11.8 average running position and 99.8 driver rating. Last season he had finishes of 15th and 8th. He have knocked off 5 straight top 15 finishes and have 7 Top 15 finishes over his past 10 Talladega races. Overall he been very consistent. Especially over the past two seasons with 3 Top 9 finishes in 4 races. Based on performance, he have been his worst at Daytona. Over his past 4 races at Daytona (2 seasons), he have compiled 14.5 average finish with 19.0 average running position and 81.9 driver rating. His 19.0 RP and 81.9 DR ranked as worst among all tracks on the schedule. Must be nice to still manage an 14.0 average finish, I think most drivers would kill have stats like that. Now he obviously have performed better than his stats show and he definitely have too! Last season he had finishes of 4th and 2nd. In his Daytona debut with SHR, he finished 13th. His lone bad finish was 39th in 2014 summer race. Overall he been very consistent over his past 12 races at Daytona (6 seasons), he have managed 7 Top 7 finishes. Including 5 Top 4 finishes. Including 3 of his past 5 Daytona races. Expect him to be a strong driver on the plates, but I wouldn't bank on him to deliver each time though.
Large Flats will be another strong type racetrack (yeah I know I have said that often in this preview) and I expect him to contend for race wins at both Indy and Pocono. He been very stout at Indy recently. Over the past 2 seasons (2 races), he have compiled 5.5 average finish with 4.5 average running position and 125.1 driver rating. His 5.5 RP and 125.1 DR ranked as the best in the series over the past two seasons. Last season he led nearly half of the laps (75 of 164) and finished 3rd. In 2014, he started from the pole and led 12 laps. But never had anything for Gordon or Kahne though. He probably had about top 5 car for the event I would say. Overall he have 7 straight Top 19 finishes at Indy. Including 6 of the past 7 ending inside the top 13 and 4 of 6 races ending inside the top 8. He also been very strong at Pocono recently, but he been robbed of some finishes. Over the past 4 races at Pocono, he have compiled 15.0 average finish with 15.0 average running position and 101.9 driver rating. He heck of a lot better at Pocono, then his stats have shown. In his debut with SHR at Pocono in June 2014, he was very strong. He made a case for having the strongest car in that race in the early stages. However after a pit stop (while leading), Harvick had a loose wheel and had to pit. It took him the entire event to recover and finish in 14th. He followed that disappointing 14th with back to back 2nd place finishes. Then of course last summer (August 2015) he blew his engine and only completed about 20 laps. Overall 10 of his past 14 races at Pocono have ended 14th or better. Including 4 of his past 6 races ending inside the top 14. Overall you can expect him to run up front at both racetracks, even though he probably will be more useful at other racetracks on the schedule.
Alright time to wrap up this preview! Harvick is stupid fast week in and week out. He is one of those drivers who seems to run well no matter what racetrack he goes to. So it very hard to pick out certain tracks to use him at. I think he will have a hard time matching his first two seasons at SHR because there very few drivers who can match those type of numbers. But I have a feeling he will find a way to match it or come close trying. I think he will be his best on the intermediate racetracks and flat racetracks. He will also perform well on the road courses, I feel like he will be the most undervalued at both WGI and Sonoma. On the opposite side of that, I believe he will have some trouble finishing races on the short tracks and plates. Regardless how he finishes, he will always have a top 5 car. I think we can pretty much set that in stone, unless something crazy happen to him in 2016. Which is probably very unlikely.
Twitter - @JeffNathans
Kevin Harvick is easily have became one of the impressive drivers in the Cup series over the past two seasons. Week in and week out, he have been bad fast since joining SHR. Almost every weekend, he can be locked in as a top 5 driver. At times it look like he just playing a video game adjusted to rookie level. Yeah so he been very good over the past two seasons and I think he will repeat similar success in 2016. If I had one complaint, then I would say it him not being able to finish out races. I lost count how many races Harvick ''should have'' won. He always seems to find ways to lose the lead late and more often than not it because a late race caution.
He will be his strongest on the intermediate racetracks in 2016, he been nearly unstoppable the past two seasons at this type of racetrack since joining SHR. At 17 races on the intermediate racetracks, he compiled 7.6 average finish with 5.5 average running position and 122.3 driver rating. I would consider Charlotte, Michigan and Homestead as his three best intermediate racetracks, but I don't think he have an bad track to be honest. He have found some sort of success pretty much everywhere, so kinda hard to just pick out a few. However, I would consider Charlotte and Michigan as his best two recently. He been very strong at Charlotte recently. Over his past 4 races at Charlotte (2 seasons), he have compiled 3.5 average finish with 4.5 average running position and 127.4 driver rating. He been nothing short of amazing at Charlotte lately. Over his past 12 Charlotte races, he have knocked off 11 Top 11 finishes. Including 9 Top 9 finishes. He have finished 1st or 2nd in 4 of his past 6 races at Charlotte, and have finished 1st or 2nd in 5 of past 10 races at Charlotte. At the moment, Kevin Harvick is the best driver in the series at Charlotte and that won't likely change in the near future! The second track that I want to look at Michigan, because he been very good here since joining SHR. Over his past 4 races at Michigan, he have compiled 8.8 average finish with 5.5 average running position and 123.1 driver rating. His 8.8 average finish position isn't impressive, but remember he finished 29th in last June's race. Minus that 29th place finish, he have knocked off 5 straight 2nd place finishes. I am not joking 5 straight second place finishing, dating back to the 2013 season. It ridiculous how stupid consistent Harvick been at Michigan since the repave!
Shorter flats racetracks will be Harvick's next strongest type of racetrack. Phoenix is an obvious must-start in fantasy nascar. I think pretty much everyone knows that, but he also been pretty damn good at New Hampshire. Last season at the shorter flats (4 races), he have compiled 6.8 average finish with 2.8 average running position and 137.8 driver rating. He been better at Phoenix than New Hampshire. I would say Phoenix is his best racetrack since joining SHR and quite frankly it not even close. Over his past 4 races at Phoenix, he have compiled 1.3 average finish with 1.8 average running position and 148.7 driver rating. I mentioned Harvick looked like he was playing a video game at some tracks, he stats at Phoenix looks like out of a video game honestly. Overall 9 of his past 11 Phoenix (dating back to 2011) races have ended inside the top 6. Including 7 top 2 finishes in his past 8 races at Phoenix. Including 5 of those 7 Top 2 finishes ending in wins. He won 4 straight races from November 2013 to March 2015. He finished 2nd this past fall. Even though he probably should have won that race too, however a late caution for rain launched Dale Jr to pull off an upset victory against Harvick. At New Hampshire he haven't been bad, but his numbers aren't as impressive like at Phoenix though. Over his past 4 races at New Hampshire (2 seasons), he have compiled 14.3 average finish with 4.8 average running position and 119.1 driver rating. Over his past 12 races at New Hampshire (daitng back to 2010 season), he have knocked off 8 Top 12 finishes. Including one top 5 (2 total Top 5s) finish over each of the past two seasons. However 3 of past 5 races have ended in 21st or worse. But not for lack of trying though. Last fall (chase race), he had a dominating car. He led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with just a few laps left. The other race that he finished poorly (30th - June 2014), he ran out of fuel on the last lap while running up inside the top 5. Every time he been at New Hampshire, he have had a top 5 car. Don't expect that to change in 2016 either in my opinion. I think he will soon break through here and find victory lane again for the first since 2006. It probably only matter of time honestly. He been very strong at New Hampshire!
Road courses will be another strong type of racetrack for Harvick and I personally don't think Harvick get enough credit as a top tier road course racer. Last season at the road courses (2 races), he have compiled 3.5 average finish with 8.0 average running position and 121.2 driver rating. He been very good at both tracks and should be considered for both tracks as race-winning threat! Over the past two seasons at WGI (2 races), he have compiled 5.0 average finish with 9.5 average running position and 113.6 driver rating. Overall he been very good at WGI. Dating back to the 2010 season (6 races), he have knocked off 6 straight top 15 finishes. Including finishes of 3rd and 7th over his two races with SHR. 3 of his past 5 races have ended inside the top 7 and 4 of his past 6 races have ended inside the top 11 overall. He haven't been quite as good at Sonoma, but still very respectable. Over the past 2 seasons (2 races) at Sonoma, he have compiled 12.0 average finish with 11.0 average running position and 105.7 driver rating. His final finish position was deflated in 2014, when he got mixed up in the Jamie Mac and Clint Bowyer incident. He eventually finished 20th, even though he had the best car in that race up to that point. He never have won at Sonoma, but he been pretty good over his past 6 attempts. Over his past 6 races (dating back to 2010), he have knocked off 4 Top 10 finishes. In 15 career starts, he have compiled 9 Top 14 finishes. With his best career finish coming in 2nd, during the 2007 season. At road courses in 2016, I expect him to be a strong contender for wins at both tracks!
You can expect Harvick to be a strong performer at the short tracks, but he seems to be a bit inconsistent with his finishes though. Last season on the short tracks (6 races), he have compiled 12.0 average finish with 8.2 average running position and 113.5 driver rating. His numbers are very good compared to his competition, however his numbers could be better if he didn't have some misleading finishes. He probably been his best at Richmond though. Over his past 4 races at Richmond, he have compiled 8.0 average finish with 5.8 average running position and 110.5 driver rating. Overall he have knocked off 14 Top 10 finishes over his past 20 races (dating back to 2006) at Richmond. Over his past 13 races, he have knocked off 13 straight Top 19 finishes. Including 7 straight top 14 finishes and 6 of those 7 races ended inside the top 11. He been less successful at Bristol lately, but he been bad fast in every race since joining SHR. Over the past 4 races at Bristol, he have compiled 22.5 average finish with 9.5 average running position and 108.9 driver rating. He have knocked off two top 11 finishes (2nd, 11th) and two poor finishes (38th,39th). In 2014, he was very strong and had a top 5 car. However something broke on his car and got hard into the wall with about 25 or so laps to go. In last season spring race, he probably had the car to beat. But he ended up a lot of laps down after leading 184 laps. Cannot remember what happened to him, but pretty sure he got involved in a wreck. Of course that race was crazy, so cannot really count it against him. Overall 5 of his past 8 races have ended inside the top 15. Including 3 of those 5 races ending inside the top 11. I would say Martinsville is the track he is most underrated at among the three shorts. Over his past 4 races at Martinsville, he have compiled 14.0 average finish with 12.0 average running position and 102.4 driver rating. So why is he the most underrated at Martinsville? Well for one he have 3 top 10 finishes over his first 4 races with SHR at Martinsville. Nothing too flashy, but not too many drivers have been consistent at Martinville lately. He ranked 8th in average finish (14.0), tied for the most top 10s (3), 6th in average running position (12.0), and 6th most time spent inside the top 15 (76%). Overall across the board he been very good. Overall he been very good at Martinsvlle. 7 of his past 10 races have ended inside the top 8. Including 5 straight top 13 finishes. With 4 of those 5 races ending inside the top 8.
Fun fact of the day (or preview I should say), Harvick have posted an average driver rating of 101.0 or greater at every track over the past two seasons, except two racetracks. Those two tracks are? You guess it, Daytona and Talladega! Even though he been very good at Talladega in the past two seasons. Over his past 4 races at Talladega, he have compiled 9.8 average finish (series-best) with 11.8 average running position and 99.8 driver rating. Last season he had finishes of 15th and 8th. He have knocked off 5 straight top 15 finishes and have 7 Top 15 finishes over his past 10 Talladega races. Overall he been very consistent. Especially over the past two seasons with 3 Top 9 finishes in 4 races. Based on performance, he have been his worst at Daytona. Over his past 4 races at Daytona (2 seasons), he have compiled 14.5 average finish with 19.0 average running position and 81.9 driver rating. His 19.0 RP and 81.9 DR ranked as worst among all tracks on the schedule. Must be nice to still manage an 14.0 average finish, I think most drivers would kill have stats like that. Now he obviously have performed better than his stats show and he definitely have too! Last season he had finishes of 4th and 2nd. In his Daytona debut with SHR, he finished 13th. His lone bad finish was 39th in 2014 summer race. Overall he been very consistent over his past 12 races at Daytona (6 seasons), he have managed 7 Top 7 finishes. Including 5 Top 4 finishes. Including 3 of his past 5 Daytona races. Expect him to be a strong driver on the plates, but I wouldn't bank on him to deliver each time though.
Large Flats will be another strong type racetrack (yeah I know I have said that often in this preview) and I expect him to contend for race wins at both Indy and Pocono. He been very stout at Indy recently. Over the past 2 seasons (2 races), he have compiled 5.5 average finish with 4.5 average running position and 125.1 driver rating. His 5.5 RP and 125.1 DR ranked as the best in the series over the past two seasons. Last season he led nearly half of the laps (75 of 164) and finished 3rd. In 2014, he started from the pole and led 12 laps. But never had anything for Gordon or Kahne though. He probably had about top 5 car for the event I would say. Overall he have 7 straight Top 19 finishes at Indy. Including 6 of the past 7 ending inside the top 13 and 4 of 6 races ending inside the top 8. He also been very strong at Pocono recently, but he been robbed of some finishes. Over the past 4 races at Pocono, he have compiled 15.0 average finish with 15.0 average running position and 101.9 driver rating. He heck of a lot better at Pocono, then his stats have shown. In his debut with SHR at Pocono in June 2014, he was very strong. He made a case for having the strongest car in that race in the early stages. However after a pit stop (while leading), Harvick had a loose wheel and had to pit. It took him the entire event to recover and finish in 14th. He followed that disappointing 14th with back to back 2nd place finishes. Then of course last summer (August 2015) he blew his engine and only completed about 20 laps. Overall 10 of his past 14 races at Pocono have ended 14th or better. Including 4 of his past 6 races ending inside the top 14. Overall you can expect him to run up front at both racetracks, even though he probably will be more useful at other racetracks on the schedule.
Alright time to wrap up this preview! Harvick is stupid fast week in and week out. He is one of those drivers who seems to run well no matter what racetrack he goes to. So it very hard to pick out certain tracks to use him at. I think he will have a hard time matching his first two seasons at SHR because there very few drivers who can match those type of numbers. But I have a feeling he will find a way to match it or come close trying. I think he will be his best on the intermediate racetracks and flat racetracks. He will also perform well on the road courses, I feel like he will be the most undervalued at both WGI and Sonoma. On the opposite side of that, I believe he will have some trouble finishing races on the short tracks and plates. Regardless how he finishes, he will always have a top 5 car. I think we can pretty much set that in stone, unless something crazy happen to him in 2016. Which is probably very unlikely.
Twitter - @JeffNathans