It’s happened again.

Kevin Harvick finds himself in poor position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup following his 38th-place finish at Charlotte, caused by a blown engine.

He’s been able to overcome Chase adversity by winning in a dire situation in each of the past three seasons: New Hampshire this year, Dover last season when he finished championship runner-up and Phoenix in 2014 on his way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Right now, Harvick sits last in the Chase’s Round of 12 standings – eight points behind Denny Hamlin on the cutoff line, while also trailing three other drivers for the final spot in the Round of 8. He’ll try to produce another stellar performance under pressure in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET on NBC) where he has logged one win (fall 2013) and three runner-ups in his last six races.

“The repave is definitely what changed and turned things around for us at Kansas,” Harvick said of the 2012 resurfacing. “Really, I liked the race track the way that it was before with the asphalt really worn out and cars sliding all over. But once the repave happened we were able to really hit on some things and for whatever reason it kind of fits my driving style and we have got some good results out of it. It has been a really good performing race track for us and one that we look forward to going to and hopefully continue to get good results out of because it’s been so good for us in the past.”

Harvick doesn’t believe he has to win at Kansas or the next race in Talladega to advance like he has had to do in the past.

“You at least have another option,” he said. “As crazy as this thing can be, anybody can have trouble so it can even up pretty fast.”

Oct. 13, 2016

Staff Report
NASCAR Wire Service

All eyes were on rookie NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Chase Elliott, before he ever gripped the wheel of the famed No. 24 Chevrolet this season. As the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott and the successor of four-time champion Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports in the 24, the shadows of past racing legends and fan expectations loomed for the young talent even during his reign as the 2014 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion.

The younger Elliott grew up racing go-karts and late models while watching his father compete in NASCAR-sanctioned events long after his 1988 championship. But for the 20-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native, the realization that the baton had officially been passed didn’t set in until he headed to Daytona International Speedway in early 2016.

“I think a lot of it kind of sank in going to Daytona, and heading down to the Daytona 500 to not watch him race was weird,” Elliott said. “It was interesting to go through all the same motions, except knowing I wasn’t there just to watch.”

So far, Elliott has lived up to the expectations by becoming one of only three rookies to ever make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. He has yet to win his first race, but claims nine top-five showings – the most by a rookie since Carl Edwards scored 13 in 2005.

“I think I’ve been lucky to have some good moments over the racing I’ve done to this point, and I think a lot of the things we went through have led to the opportunities we have today,” Elliott said.

Bill Elliott had a knack for winning the biggest of races. He visited Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 twice, as well as the Southern 500 three times. On Sunday, Chase Elliott can prove he received the “clutch gene” in arguably the most important race of his life to this point – the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET on NBCSN; NASCAR.com/tickets) – the halfway mark in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Though Sunday’s race doesn’t carry the prestige of a Daytona 500, it’s become absolutely vital to Elliott’s season. He needs to produce a strong performance to make up ground in the Chase. After a late-race wreck at Charlotte, he currently sits three points below Denny Hamlin for the final transfer spot to the Chase’s Round of 8.

Elliott’s accomplishments up to this point of the season show the task is possible. Right off the bat, he became the youngest driver ever to capture the Daytona 500 pole. He reeled off 12 top 10s in the first 15 races, and although he hasn’t won yet, proved he’s a threat for the checkered flag every weekend with some near misses at Pocono and Michigan.

In the Chase, Elliott has led the second-most laps in two of the four races, trailing only six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson both times.

“I’m proud of a lot of moments that we’ve had,” Elliott said. “I’m not so proud of some, like anybody else, but I definitely don’t like to narrow it down to one thing, because it wasn’t one thing that made everything happen just in the flip of a switch.”

Some might say Elliott’s success is largely attributed to growing up in a “racing family,” but the feats he’s achieved a mere 30 races into his rookie season demonstrate his talent and indicate greater success to come.

“There’s definitely no certainty, and I think that’s the biggest challenge as you grow up and are trying to race. You just never know what’s going to happen or how things may play out,” Elliott said. “I couldn’t be any luckier for how things did work out, but there was definitely no certainty along the way.”

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Where Jimmie Johnson is concerned, last week’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Charlotte means more than the end of a 24-race dry spell and a ticket into the Chase’s Round of 8.

Guaranteed to be one of the final eight drivers eligible for the series title this year, Johnson can start to entertain the possibility of a seventh championship that would tie him for the all-time record with two icons of the sport—Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

“Yeah it’s definitely more realistic, because we are alive and transferring to the Round of 8,” said Johnson, the only driver to qualify for the Chase every season since the inception of the playoff format in 2004. There is still so much racing between now and then. We’ve had some consistent runs, so definitely building confidence in that.

“The victory is a huge boost. We’re definitely building momentum at the right time. It’s probably later than we would’ve liked, but at least it’s going in the right direction. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Though Johnson won a record five straight titles from 2006 through 2010 and added another in 2013, he has yet to win under the elimination format that debuted in 2014. In fact, he failed to advance beyond the Round of 12 in each of the first two years of the current system.

That all changed at Charlotte.

“We clearly are in that Round of 8, but, man, this Chase… I think some felt like it got off to a calm start. Then last weekend, with half the Chasers having issues in the race (five Chase drivers finished 30th or worse), I think it just shows anything can happen.

“The guys that are living it day in and day out—we don’t take it for granted. I’m certainly not taking it for granted and don’t think I’m in a layup situation for Homestead (the Championship 4 race) by any stretch. We need to make sure we’re part of that final four, and there is a lot of work between now and then.”

Kevin Harvick, who needs a strong finish on Sunday to climb out of the Chase cellar, brushed the outside wall ever so slightly in Saturday’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Kansas Speedway. But the No. 4 car sustained some appreciable damage after recording the fastest 10-lap average in the session at 183.740 mph.

Kurt Busch, Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, wasn’t as fortunate. After positing the third fastest single lap in happy Hour (185.797 mph), Busch blew his right front tire on the final lap of his closing run and dug the front of his No. 41 Chevrolet into the infield grass. Busch had to go to a backup car and will start Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 with no practice laps in the backup.

Pole winner Matt Kenseth was fastest in final practice at 186.361, an indication his car is equally stout in race trim.

Like Truex, Brad Keselowski has a formidable history at Kansas Speedway.

It’s the track that gave the driver of the No. 2 Ford his first victory in a Team Penske car, the year before his 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship season.

Keselowski will start eighth in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, his worst qualifying position in the last seven races here. In his last six events at Kansas, Keselowski has led laps, averaging 24 per race.

With four victories in the 26-race regular season, Keselowski hasn’t yet shown the speed necessary to win in the Chase, but he sailed through the Round of 16 with remarkable consistency—as the only driver to post a top-five finish in each of the three opening-round races.

A solid seventh-place run last Sunday at Charlotte put Keselowski in solid position to advance to the Round of 8, with the cutoff set to come next weekend at Talladega, one of the No. 2 team’s best tracks.

So even though the eighth-place qualifying effort was a slight tick down for Keselowski, he’s comfortable with his starting position heading into Sunday.

“You always want to be really high up but compared to where we were in practice that was a really good gain,” said Keselowski was ninth fastest in Saturday’s final practice and 10th on the speed chart in 10-lap average.

“I’m looking forward to making the most of that come race time, because I think we have a much better race car than a qualifying raw speed car.”