Kevin Harvick has a pretty simple explanation for why he ran out of gas with about 40 laps remaining in the Cup race last Sunday at Sonoma.
“It’s just flat-out doing something that your car won’t do,” Harvick said Thursday prior to Nationwide Series practice at Kentucky Speedway. “They knew exactly how far the car would run on fuel and they tried to stretch it one more lap.
“That’s the bottom line. They tried to stretch it to a two-stop race when we had planned to do a three-stop race. That just bit us.”
The Richard Childress Racing veteran, who finished a frustrating 16th in that event, told his team during the race that “we’re all going to lose our jobs” if they couldn’t keep making mistakes.
He didn’t mean it as a threat but it could have been taken that way considering that Harvick asked for Clint Bowyer’s crew after last season, his second consecutive year when he finished third in the standings.
Harvick wanted a change from his Gil Martin-led crew that he hoped would give him a better chance to win a title. He also asked for a new crew chief after the season and is now working with Shane Wilson.
Kevin Harvick says everyone on the 29 team needs to step up, including the driver. (AP Photo)
But so far, the new team has made a few too many mistakes for Harvick’s liking.
“I was tired of sitting in the seat and making up for mistakes,” Harvick said about his frustration.
He sits sixth in the standings with three top-fives and no wins this year.
“It’s mistakes from top to bottom,” Harvick said. “There’s nothing to hide. The cars run fast enough to win races. The cars run fast enough to be in the top 10.
“Stuff can’t fall off the car, you can’t run out of gas for the fifth time this year–it’s just flat-out mistakes.”
Harvick said everyone needs to step up–“myself included”–and the entire team has talked about the issues.
“It’s very, very obvious as to why this team hasn’t won a race,” Harvick said. “We’re fortunate to be in the position that we’re in in points. But we can’t scramble, and you can’t win a championship and you can’t win races on a week-to-week basis making the mistakes that we made.”
“It’s just flat-out doing something that your car won’t do,” Harvick said Thursday prior to Nationwide Series practice at Kentucky Speedway. “They knew exactly how far the car would run on fuel and they tried to stretch it one more lap.
“That’s the bottom line. They tried to stretch it to a two-stop race when we had planned to do a three-stop race. That just bit us.”
The Richard Childress Racing veteran, who finished a frustrating 16th in that event, told his team during the race that “we’re all going to lose our jobs” if they couldn’t keep making mistakes.
He didn’t mean it as a threat but it could have been taken that way considering that Harvick asked for Clint Bowyer’s crew after last season, his second consecutive year when he finished third in the standings.
Harvick wanted a change from his Gil Martin-led crew that he hoped would give him a better chance to win a title. He also asked for a new crew chief after the season and is now working with Shane Wilson.
Kevin Harvick says everyone on the 29 team needs to step up, including the driver. (AP Photo)
But so far, the new team has made a few too many mistakes for Harvick’s liking.
“I was tired of sitting in the seat and making up for mistakes,” Harvick said about his frustration.
He sits sixth in the standings with three top-fives and no wins this year.
“It’s mistakes from top to bottom,” Harvick said. “There’s nothing to hide. The cars run fast enough to win races. The cars run fast enough to be in the top 10.
“Stuff can’t fall off the car, you can’t run out of gas for the fifth time this year–it’s just flat-out mistakes.”
Harvick said everyone needs to step up–“myself included”–and the entire team has talked about the issues.
“It’s very, very obvious as to why this team hasn’t won a race,” Harvick said. “We’re fortunate to be in the position that we’re in in points. But we can’t scramble, and you can’t win a championship and you can’t win races on a week-to-week basis making the mistakes that we made.”