Kevin Harvick Fired Up For Atlanta
Cup preview: Atlanta lights Harvick's fire
Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
If the 2006 season were like the first two versions of the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, we'd already be talking about magic numbers - where the points leader has to finish in the next four races to clinch the title, that is.
With four races left this season, however, the only relevant number is "9." That's how many drivers could possibly hold the points lead after Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Of the Chase competitors, only 10th-place Kyle Busch, who is 171 points behind leader Matt Kenseth, isn't within reach of the top spot in a single race.
With the top five drivers within 48 points of each other, no team can afford to approach the Chase conservatively. According to Kevin Harvick, who moved into second place when Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton dropped out of last Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville with a blown engine, each of the Chasers is pushing his equipment to the limit.
"Everybody is pushing everything to the extreme, whether it's engines, bodies, drivers," Harvick said. "No matter what it is, you're pushing everything as hard as you can, so you're walking that ultra-thin line of being good with an advantage of more horsepower or more downforce or whatever the case may be, being more aggressive on the racetrack.
"But when you push it too far, you wind up crashing the car or blowing an engine or whatever you're pushing it on - and everyone is pushing everything. It appears to be sloppy, but it's just that a lot of us have had good fortunes through the year, and now it seems like some of those bad fortunes have caught up to us. But on the performance side, we're still OK and able to salvage good finishes out of it."
more on Kevin Harvick at Atlanta 500
Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
If the 2006 season were like the first two versions of the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, we'd already be talking about magic numbers - where the points leader has to finish in the next four races to clinch the title, that is.
With four races left this season, however, the only relevant number is "9." That's how many drivers could possibly hold the points lead after Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Of the Chase competitors, only 10th-place Kyle Busch, who is 171 points behind leader Matt Kenseth, isn't within reach of the top spot in a single race.
With the top five drivers within 48 points of each other, no team can afford to approach the Chase conservatively. According to Kevin Harvick, who moved into second place when Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton dropped out of last Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville with a blown engine, each of the Chasers is pushing his equipment to the limit.
"Everybody is pushing everything to the extreme, whether it's engines, bodies, drivers," Harvick said. "No matter what it is, you're pushing everything as hard as you can, so you're walking that ultra-thin line of being good with an advantage of more horsepower or more downforce or whatever the case may be, being more aggressive on the racetrack.
"But when you push it too far, you wind up crashing the car or blowing an engine or whatever you're pushing it on - and everyone is pushing everything. It appears to be sloppy, but it's just that a lot of us have had good fortunes through the year, and now it seems like some of those bad fortunes have caught up to us. But on the performance side, we're still OK and able to salvage good finishes out of it."
more on Kevin Harvick at Atlanta 500
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