CHICAGO – Don’t talk to reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick about the Joe Gibbs Racing contingent as favorites to win the Chase.
He doesn’t want to hear it, and he’s not afraid to provide bulletin-board material to the JGR shop.
“I think we’re going to stomp ‘em,” Harvick said during question-and-answer session with reporters on Chase Media Day at The Murphy event space in Chicago. “That’s what I think. Hopefully, they can beat themselves. I don’t know that we’re better than them. I think, for us, it’s all about having the experience.
“It’s really not about having the fastest car at this particular point. It’s about having the experience to be able to go out and handle the emotions of 10 weeks. And I think that, as you go into these 10 weeks, you have to put it all together, and there’s a lot more than racing to handle.”
No one handled the pressure better than Harvick last year. Forced to win the final two races to claim the title, he did so. He’ll begin the next wave of his title defense in Sunday’s MyAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN).
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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