Getty Kevin Harvick has made some strong comments about his pit crew.
The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang is not happy about his fourth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway. The reason is that Kevin Harvick was in a position to challenge for his 59th Cup Series win before a pit road issue dropped him back into the field.
Harvick made strong comments about his pit crew after the road course race in California. His final pit stop on Lap 81 of 110 took 22 total seconds due to problems on the left side of the No. 4 Ford Mustang. His previous two stops took fewer than 12 seconds each. Instead of heading back out onto the track with Chris Buescher, he fell back into the pack and lost his opportunity to contend for a win.
“We had our minimum of once-a-week catastrophic failure on pit road and got back as far forward as we could, as usual,” Harvick said after exiting the No. 4 Ford Mustang. “It is what it is, I guess. We didn’t finish where we should have. We took away all of our chances. We should have been second at worst, but we keep screwing up every week.”
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Harvick Needed a Win at Sonoma Raceway
GettyKevin Harvick (front) needed to reach Victory Lane to reach the playoffs.
The road course race at Sonoma Raceway presented a massive opportunity for Harvick and the No. 4 SHR team. He entered the weekend below the playoff cutline and in need of a win to punch his ticket to the playoffs.
Harvick was in a position to achieve this goal before the 22-second pit stop. He could have challenged race-winner Daniel Suarez for the top spot in the running order, and he would have done so at a track where he previously won in 2017.
Instead of contending for the win, Harvick ended his day with 39 points. This helped him keep himself near the cutline, but he is still seven points behind teammate Aric Almirola. The driver of the No. 10 SHR Ford is also winless, so the battle between these two will only increase in intensity if more first-time winners reach Victory Lane in the regular season.
Harvick’s Championship Odds Have Dropped After 16 Races
GettyKevin Harvick’s odds to win the Cup Series championship have changed.
The driver of the No. 4 SHR Ford Mustang has not won since 2020, but he has remained in the championship conversation. The reason is that he has been one of the most consistent drivers in a career featuring 770 starts and 58 wins over 22 seasons.
As evidence of this, BetMGM listed Harvick at 14-1 odds to win the Cup Series championship entering the 2022 season. This put him in a tie with Joey Logano and ahead of Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, and Ross Chastain among others.
The situation has changed after 16 races. Harvick now sits at 33-1 odds to win the Cup Series championship. He is in a tie with Suarez, who entered the year at 150-1 odds. There are 14 other drivers ahead of Harvick, including first-time winners in Chase Briscoe and Chastain.
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