NASCAR: With Pocono doubleheader looming, Harvick, Hamlin still seeking first wins

Jun. 20—Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin dominated the NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Pocono Raceway last year.

Harvick won the first race and finished second in the second race. Hamlin was second in the first race and took the checkered flag in the second.

The victories were the fourth for each driver at that juncture of the pandemic-altered season. Harvick finished with nine wins and Hamlin wound up with seven.

This season, however, is a different story.

Unless one finds Victory Lane today in Nashville, both will head to Pocono for this weekend's twinbill winless.

Through 16 races, Harvick has four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes, with his best effort being a second place at Kansas. He is ninth in the point standings — he was leading after 16 races last season.

"Our (car) 4 team has done a good job of dotting the Is and crossing the Ts and getting the most out of race cars that just aren't fast enough," Harvick said. "We as a group have done a good job of salvaging finishes and gaining points and keeping ourselves in contention and doing the things it takes to buy yourself some time in order to fix the race cars and make them faster."

He compares this season's struggles to 2017, when Stewart-Haas Racing switched from Chevrolet to Ford.

"It's part of the ebbs and flows of what we do as a sport," Harvick said. "Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're bad. I've got a lot of eyeballs watching me at home that you feel responsible for setting an example of how you handle it when things aren't going your way. As a group, we've tried to be productive and concentrate on the things that we need to be doing. You have to understand that things are going to be good and things are going to be bad. When you really shine is when things are bad and you bring them back to good. We'd love to have the cars where they were last year, but they're not."

That's going to take work.

"So that's what we're doing," he said. "We're working."

Hamlin, meanwhile, is doing a bit better. He leads the point standings. He has nine top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.

However, eight of his top-fives came in the first nine races. He has had three finishes outside the top 10 in the last seven races.

"For the first 10 races, I thought we were one of the best cars each and every week," Hamlin said. "We're still one of the best of the rest, but we're going to have to get a little better as the summer months go on if we want to compete with them in the long term."

Neither driver currently is in danger of missing the playoffs over the season's final 10 races. Hamlin is 12th in the playoff standings and Harvick is 13th, both well above the 16th-place cutoff line.

Still, both want to remove that zero from the 'W' column. Pocono is a place they can do that.

When Harvick won there last season, it was his first victory in 39 starts at the track. He has five runner-up finishes at Pocono, and in 13 races there since August 2014, he has nine top-fives.

"There's a number of things that go into winning races no matter where you go," Harvick said. "We prepare every week with the expectation to go out and win. When that doesn't happen, we come home and prepare for the next week as to why we didn't win last week or why we ran like we ran last week. That's just really the routine. That's the world we live in. We have short-term memories and worry about what we can control. That's it."

Last year's win was Hamlin's sixth at Pocono, tying him with Jeff Gordon for the track record.

Car bodies and aerodynamic packages may change. But Hamlin feels he will always have an advantage at Pocono because the track suits his driving style.

"It's an always-changing race track," Hamlin said. "It poses a lot of challenges because each turn is very different. It has different banking, different radiused. So you can't get your car perfect around that track. You have to understand the balance of what it takes to be good there. Realize where your passing zones are, typically into and off of Turn 1. You have to have your car good in those particular corners and maybe sacrifice a little bit through the Tunnel Turn. That's what really matters; that you have a car that can pass, that's maneuverable.

"Once they put the PJ1 (traction compound) down on the top side, you're able to run a little higher at that track. One of my wins last year, we won that way, being able to move up the race track. That was a great addition to that track, making it more raceable."

Fans were not allowed to attends last year's races at Pocono due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the track is operating at full capacity again.

"Pocono Raceway has some passionate fans," Hamlin said. "Coming there for 16 years, I've gotten to see some packed crowds there. Last year winning, it still was great, but it was different because you're not in front of the fans and feel that excitement. So going back there and having fans is going to be fantastic. The infield there is always packed with great campers out there barbequing, they've got a great kids area in the infield. It's got a lot of family amenities and that's what makes it a great track."

Things get under way Friday with the ARCA Series General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 race at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the NASCAR Truck Series CRC Brakleen 150 is scheduled for noon, followed by a 325-mile Cup Series race at 3 p.m. On Sunday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pocono Green 225 goes off at noon and the Cup Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 gets the green flag at 3:30 p.m.

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