“Our Car Just Struggled”: Kevin Harvick Unsatisfied With Top 5 Finish at Pocono

In his final season in NASCAR, Kevin Harvick remains winless so far. But every passing week, the #4 driver is getting closer and closer to his first win that would book his place in the playoffs. After all, he left it late last season when he won back-to-back at Richmond and Michigan to enter the playoffs.

But after the race at Pocono, Harvick, who finished in 4th position, claimed he would’ve preferred something else. He also emphasized the need to be consistent with what they’re doing as he shared his thoughts on the ‘strange race’.

Kevin Harvick would’ve preferred a win in his final appearance at Pocono

In a post-race interview, Harvick confessed that instead of his 4th place finish, because of which he currently sits 8th position in the standings, he would’ve preferred the ultimate prize in his final appearance at the tricky triangle. “I would have rather won, but I think we just have to keep ourselves in the mix, keep doing what we’re doing and you just never know how these things are gonna play out,” Harvick said as per NBC Sports.

“We needed the front in clean air and we never really got that. Our car just struggled in traffic on that first lap of the restarts to get going with the front tires, but it was a strange race. I didn’t ever think that that strategy would play out like it did, running where we were and then have it cycle all through,” he continued.

“You’ve just got to keep going every lap. They know what they’re doing up there and let it play out.”

In another interview, when asked whether he thought the race was a bit more fiery than the usual Pocono show, with helmets being thrown, controversial moves to win, and a post-race expletive-filled confrontation, Harvick simply replied, “Not really.”

#4EVER pursuing. @KevinHarvick and the No. 4 crew were relentless at Pocono with a shot at the end, but come home with a P4 finish. pic.twitter.com/YXV3V2iu06

— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) July 24, 2023

Harvick thinks drivers in the playoff would steer clear of any trouble

Of course, as the season stretches out and the contenders for the prize in Phoenix get fewer and fewer, things are obviously going to heat up between drivers on the field. But could that mean things heating up to the point that we’d see something like a Noah Gragson-Ross Chastain Watermelon punch special? Kevin Harvick doesn’t think so.

“I think the playoff guys, they don’t want anything to do with having any trouble before they get in the playoffs and that’s a lot of guys,” Harvick told Chad Knaus. “I think you got some guys that are going to throw some Hail Marys and go into the playoffs swinging for the fences.”

When Knaus asked Harvick if he would throw some punches for fun in his last season, Harvick instantly ruled it out. He claimed there’s nothing fun about getting punched in the face.