Harvick's optimism grows: "I feel like we can run with anybody now"

Harvick won the first two Stages in Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – picking up two important playoff points in the process – and led a race-high 149 of 337 laps.

That’s the most laps he’s led since the second race of the season at Atlanta, when he led 292 of 325 and ended up ninth.

“In the second half of the race we kept getting looser and looser on the entrance to the corner and we were having a tough time maintaining the speed we had earlier in the race through the center of the corner,” Harvick said.

“We got Stage points and we got bonus points and that’s something that we haven’t done since Atlanta this year. The speed in our Ford is back and the details of the day – keeping up with the race track like when the PJ1 wore off – some guys were better than we were.

“We had about a second or third-place car and with track position we probably could have won.”

Harvick was running second when Kyle Busch hit the wall on Lap 326, which brought the caution. During pit stops, Harvick lost four positions and restarted the race in sixth with just four laps remaining.

Following another caution and a two-lap overtime, Harvick made it back up to third at the finish, leaving him third in the series standings with two races remaining in Round 2 of the NASCAR playoffs.

Harvick seemed most pleased with the speed his team has found in the last several weeks.

“We were on the pole at Darlington, we ran as good as we’ve run anywhere at Chicago and Dover. We didn’t finish well but we had cars that were capable of winning the race,” he said.

“It’s been good four to six weeks for us. We can see the speed there, it’s just a matter of getting the details right.”

The speed, Harvick said, is what will give his team a chance to contend with series leader Martin Truex Jr. for the championship.

“I don’t believe they’re unbeatable at this point. After today, leading all the laps that we did and doing all the things we did, I feel like we can run with anybody now,” he said.

“We still have a lot to detail out because there so many things different on our cars than what we have ever raced before and we’re still progressing.”

Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, has called the last few weeks “eye-opening” in regards to what his team has been able to accomplish.

“I thought we had the best car at Dover and I thought we had the best car for most of the race here until the PJ1 wore off and we got a little bit off,” he said.

“We just needed to execute there on pit road at the end to be able to have a chance and we didn’t do that. There are still some things that we need to work on but I believe our cars have been better the last few weeks.

“It’s definitely eye-opening and I hope we can continue to build on it.”