Coming to Phoenix, a track that’s been Kevin Harvick’s playground as of late, Joey Logano acknowledged that Harvick is very fast at Phoenix, “but he is also beatable” at Phoenix.
Speaking to the media earlier today at Phoenix International Raceway, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was asked if Harvick winning five of the last six races at the track changes the dynamic and if he was paying more attention to what Harvick does in practice than he normally would.
“I think it is no secret that what he has done here is very impressive. He has won a lot of races here and definitely has something figured out,” Logano said. “We have learned as a race team to worry about ourselves. That is the only way we will control our own destiny. We also learn from what other people are doing to change what we are doing sometimes. We watch what he does on and off the race track. We have to. We have to see what it is and what makes him dominant at this race track.”
In 27 career starts at Phoenix, Harvick has amassed eight wins, 12 top-fives, 16 top-10’s, 1,484 laps led, a 10.3 finishing average, finished on the lead lap in 20 races and never failed to finish a race at Phoenix.
His eight wins at Phoenix both his career best of any track, nowhere else does he have more than three, and the most of any driver in NASCAR history.
It’s been during the last four years, however, when Harvick has made the Valley of the Sun his playground. Since 2012, he’s finished second, first, 13th, first, first, first, first, second and first. In that span, he has a 3.8 finishing average. In the last five trips to Phoenix, he’s led no less than 139 laps in each race (leading 224, 264, 224, 143 and 139 laps in those five).
He’s been nothing short of dominant in his career at Phoenix.
Despite his dominance, Logano says Harvick is beatable here.
“If you look at the spring race, that was pretty close. That was really close,” he added. “It was fun to watch for me on the way out here. There have been times that he hasn’t been very strong. He didn’t qualify very well here in the spring race. There are a lot of opportunities out there for us and it isn’t a given for him. This garage area is very tough and advantages don’t last very long. Yes, he has had an amazing run here and his advantages have lasted a long time and will still be a car we have to go compete against to beat but we don’t come in here feeling defeated. I feel like my team has everything it takes to beat him.”
