On Sunday, Kevin Harvick achieved a feat he had been trying to accomplish for nearly 17 years. For the second time in his career, the California driver captured the checkered flag and won at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. Harvick had dominated the 500-mile race, much like he had in the previous four events at the speedway. However, Trevor Bayne’s blown engine on lap 297 in turn 1 brought out the final caution and changed the course of the event in the final stage.
Teams used the yellow flag period to make their final pit stops of the race. The #4 of Harvick led the field down pit road and quick work from his five person crew returned him to the lead for the restart with Brad Keselowski in second. On the final restart, Harvick powered away from the field and built up a substantial lead. He completed the last 21 laps under green and grabbed the win by a margin of 2.690 seconds.
The win featured some interesting statistical achievements for Harvick and his Ford teammates. His win in the second race of the season marks only the second time in his career that he has won the race following the Daytona 500. In 2014, the California driver started 14th in The Profit on CNBC 500k at Phoenix International Raceway. He grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 74 and ended up leading 224 laps in a dominating victory at his best track of the time. Later that year, he captured his first career Cup championship, which could be a good sign for 2018 since Atlanta was the second race of the campaign this year.
Finally, Ford as a manufacturer captured the Top 3 positions in Atlanta. Harvick led the Ford trio followed by Keselowski and Clint Bowyer. Joey Logano and Kurt Busch finished sixth and eighth, respectively, giving Ford five of the Top 10 finishers. Interestingly, Ford has the oldest body style of the three manufacturers in the series. Toyota introduced a new Camry last season and Chevrolet is now competing with the brand-new Camaro body. Despite the age on the Fusion, Ford drivers excelled in Georgia on Sunday.
Those two statistics are fascinating, but two others haven’t been given as much attention since Harvick’s victory. Let’s take a look at those stats now, starting with the unbelievable changes in NASCAR that have occurred since the California driver earned his first victory at AMS in 2001, nearly 17 years ago.
On March 11, 2001, Kevin Harvick’s life changed forever thanks to the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at AMS in only his third start behind the wheel of Richard Childress Racing’s #29 Chevrolet. His rise to the Cup Series was not a normal path, though. Just a month prior to the AMS race, Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time champion and legendary figure in the sport, was killed in a last lap crash during the Daytona 500.
In the wake of an unimaginable tragedy, Richard Childress decided against completely shutting down the #3 team. He changed the team’s number to 29 and put Harvick, a full-time driver for his organization in the NASCAR Busch Series, in the newly numbered racecar. In his first two career races, Harvick managed an average finish of eleventh and came to Atlanta with some confidence. After 500 miles of hard-fought racing, he proved his abilities to the entire world.
With six laps to go, Harvick took the lead from Dale Jarrett and set his sights on an emotional victory. Behind him, though, a three-time champion mounted a charge for the lead: Jeff Gordon. Over the final few laps, the #29 held off the #24 of Gordon until turn 3 of the last lap. The Cup champion powered underneath Harvick exiting turn 4 using a shot of momentum from the corner. The two raced through the quadoval side by side and came across the finish line in a thrilling photo finish. The California kid beat the Cup champion by 0.006 seconds to capture his first career win.
Tears were shed on pit road as Harvick captured an unprecedented win. The same team who had lost a driver less than a month earlier was now heading to victory lane with their new driver in a bittersweet moment. And on the frontstretch, the California kid celebrated his victory while remembering the driver he tragically had to replace. As he rode around backwards in front of the fans, he held three fingers out the window as a tribute to the late Earnhardt. Truly, it was one of NASCAR’s greatest finishes and one of the most emotional ones as well.
Flashforward to February 25, 2018, just 14 days shy of the 17th anniversary of Harvick’s first victory. Harvick returned to AMS and captured only his second win at the track in 17 years of competition, despite his recent dominance. He celebrated with another emotional tribute to Dale Earnhardt on the frontstretch. Between those two wins, though, there are only a few similarities. Harvick himself, the track, and his victory celebration holding three fingers out the window are the only shared things from his first win at AMS in 2001 and his second win in 2018. Just listen to the differences for Harvick.
He drove a Chevrolet in 2001, but he piloted a Ford on Sunday. He won in the #29 in 2001 while he took the #4 to victory lane just a few days ago. He drove for Richard Childress Racing 17 years ago and now competes for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick had no career victories until he won in 2001 and Sunday’s victory was the 38th of his Cup career.
In 2001, he was a rookie and an unknown driver. Now, he is a Cup champion and one of the most recognized faces in NASCAR. 17 years ago, he led 18 laps on the way to victory and began his career as “The Closer,” a nickname he has earned through many late race wins. On Sunday, he led 181 laps in another dominating performance he has become known for delivering.
The differences for Harvick from 2001 to 2018 are more numerous than those I just listed, including in his personal life. But the amount of changes for him made me think about something else. How much has changed about NASCAR between the 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 and the 2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500? I knew there was a lot, but I was amazed during my research about how much the sport has evolved from the drivers to the title sponsor to the racecars. Let’s analyze some of those incredible differences.
In 2001, Jimmie Johnson was a regular driver in the NBS who was winless in 43 career starts. The day before Harvick’s victory, he had finished ninth driving the #92 Chevrolet for Stanley Herzog. Now, the California driver is a NASCAR Hall of Fame lock with his 83 Cup wins and his record tying seven Cup championships, as of this writing. In the next couple of years, Johnson could be the record holder for championships with eight and be regarded as the greatest of all time in stock car racing.
In 2001, Jeff Gordon was the most recent winner at Las Vegas before heading to Atlanta where he lost in a photo finish to Harvick. The Vegas victory was the 53rd of his career and his first of the season as he chased his fourth championship. Now, Gordon is retired from racing and is a broadcaster for FOX Sports. He finished his career with 93 wins and four championships, which currently puts him at third all-time on the Cup Series win list and makes him a lock for the Hall of Fame as well.
Bobby Labonte was the reigning Cup Series champion after delivering Joe Gibbs Racing the title in 2000. The Texas driver entered Atlanta in 2001 with 16 career wins and a desire to win after narrowly losing the previous race at the Georgia track in a photo finish with Dale Earnhardt. Labonte struggled throughout the 2001 race and finished 33rd after engine woes ended his day . Now, he is a retired driver who works with FOX Sports as an analyst for their prerace coverage. He ended his career with 21 wins and the 2000 championship.
17 years ago, Tony Stewart was a nine-time race winner in NASCAR’s highest division and a championship favorite in just his third season. However, he didn’t have a championship on his record. He ended up finishing 27th in the Cracker Barrel 500 on that Sunday afternoon in 2001. Now, he is a retired team owner who, ironically, entered Harvick’s car in the race on Sunday. The Indiana driver also has three Cup championships and 49 wins on his Hall of Fame résumé. Pretty soon, the polarizing figure will find his name called in Charlotte.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was only in his second season behind the wheel of a Cup car. Rookie of the Year honors had eluded him in 2000 and he had no Most Popular Driver awards. Still, the North Carolina driver had two wins to his credit entering Atlanta in 2001 with a heavy heart in the wake of his father’s death. He ended up finishing 15th at the 1.5-mile Georgia speedway. Now, Junior is a recently retired NASCAR superstar who ran his last race in Cup in the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He ended his career with 26 victories and 15 Most Popular Driver awards as he transitions into the role of broadcaster for NBC Sports.
Six Hall of Fame drivers competed in the 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 at AMS where Harvick captured the win. Rusty Wallace (Class of 2013), Dale Jarrett (Class of 2014), Bill Elliott (Class of 2015), Terry Labonte (Class of 2016), Mark Martin (Class of 2017), and Ron Hornaday Jr. (Class of 2018) all competed for the victory 17 years ago. Jarrett finished the highest of the group with a fourth-place effort followed by Labonte in fifth, Wallace in 12th, Elliott in 15th, Hornaday Jr. in 39th, and Martin in 41st. All six drivers are now retired with a few working in radio and TV while the others spend their time in other aspects of the sport.
Dave Blaney and Bill Elliott competed against Harvick at Atlanta back in 2001. Blaney, a notable figure in the sprint car racing world, finished 34th in his Bill Davis Racing Dodge at Atlanta. Elliott, the 1988 Cup champion, finished 15th in his quest for a victory at his home track. On Sunday, a Blaney and an Elliott competed against Harvick as well. But it was not Dave and Bill. It was Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. The two sons of former racers battled for the victory at AMS. Ryan came home in 12th in his second race driving for Roger Penske and Chase grabbed his first Top 10 driving the famous #9 his father piloted for most of his career, including 2001.
Tragically, two drivers in the 2001 Atlanta race have passed away in the 17 years since the event. Jason Leffler, who was battling for Rookie of the Year honors in the series driving for Chip Ganassi, finished 32nd in his first Atlanta visit. On June 12, 2013, Leffler died in a sprint car crash at the Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey. It was a tragic loss for the sport because of the impact “Lefturn” had made on his fellow competitors and the success he had achieved behind the wheel. Also, Bobby Hamilton captured a 22nd place finish in 2001 for his #55 owned by Andy Petree. On January 7, 2007, the truck champion lost his battle with head and neck cancer. Both drivers have been missed since their deaths because of the on and off-track impact they made.
Finally, Harvick’s 2001 win came in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series while driving a fourth generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo. His victory on Sunday came in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series while piloting a sixth generation Ford Fusion. The primary sponsor name has changed from Winston to Nextel to Sprint to Monster Energy in those 17 years. The sport has also moved through different body styles, including the fifth generation Car of Tomorrow and the current sixth generation race vehicle.
It’s amazing how much can change in 17 years. Drivers, teams, racecars, and sponsors have all changed in the time between Harvick’s first and second victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Despite all the shifts, the California newcomer back in 2001 has remained a figure in the sport and climbed to the top of NASCAR as a champion now. 17 years from now, I can only imagine how much will have shifted between Harvick’s second win at Atlanta and another driver’s victory at the historic speedway. Heck, it could be another Harvick in victory lane as his son, Keelan, could be behind the wheel of a Cup car.
The final interesting stat from Harvick’s victory Sunday deals with laps led and domination at the 1.5-mile track in recent years. Over the last five races at Atlanta, the 2014 Cup champion has led 915 laps. All those races have been with him behind the wheel of a Stewart-Haas Racing car. Plus, he has led at least 115 laps in all five events. Harvick led 195 in 2014, 116 in 2015, 131 in 2016, 292 in 2017, and 181 in 2018.
His success in every race intrigued me and made me think of a question. How does the rest of the field stack up when it comes to laps led in the last five Atlanta events? Below this paragraph, I recorded the total amount of laps each driver led in all five of those races. I was shocked to find some very interesting statistics from the data. Check out the data below and follow it to my analysis:
Total Laps Led in Last Five Atlanta Races
Kevin Harvick: 915
Jimmie Johnson: 146
Kurt Busch: 136
Matt Kenseth: 110
Joey Logano: 85
Denny Hamlin: 77
Martin Truex Jr.: 35
Kasey Kahne: 25
Ryan Newman: 20
Kyle Busch: 11
Kyle Larson: 7
Mike Bliss: 2
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 1
Brett Moffitt: 1
David Gilliland: 1
Clint Bowyer: 1
Joe Nemechek: 1
Carl Edwards: 1
Cole Whitt: 1
Only two drivers other than Harvick have led over 115 laps total in the last five AMS races: Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. Johnson led 146 total in the last five trips to Georgia and Busch led 136 in those same races. Their laps led, however, can’t compare to Harvick’s. He has led 527% more laps than Johnson and 573% more than Busch, his current SHR teammate. Plus, in three of the five races on their own, Harvick led more laps than Johnson and Busch did combined in all five. For years, Phoenix was considered the California driver’s track. Now, Hampton, Georgia, and AMS has turned into Harvickton due to his incredible success at the speedway in recent years.
Despite leading all those laps and being “The Dominator” in those five races at Atlanta, Kevin Harvick struggled to be “The Closer” he had been labeled in the past few years. In the four races prior to Sunday’s event, he dominated and led many laps, but he couldn’t capture the victory due to a multitude of issues. On Sunday, though, he dominated and closed out the race in the lead after 500 miles.
It was truly a victory 17 years in the making. Through all the changes in our sport between 2001 and 2018, Sunday was an opportunity to remember those differences as Harvick celebrated his victory. A chance to reminisce about NASCAR 17 years ago and a moment to remember where we’ve been. But also a chance to remember what’s still the same. The impact of the legendary Dale Earnhardt, who was honored in both races, and a California driver chasing the dream of being a winner in the Cup Series played a key role at AMS in 2001 and 2018.
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
racing-reference.info/race/2001_Cracker_Barrel_Old_Country_Store_500/W
racing-reference.info/race/2018_Folds_of_Honor_QuikTrip_500/W
racing-reference.info
-Images:
2001: happy4harvick.com/2013/11/29/kevin-harvick-wins-atlanta-2001/
2018: www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/news/harvick-reflects-after-atlanta-win-honors-dale-earnhardt-1009312/
-Full Races:
2001: www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Sd5vFo6iU&t=4s
2018: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZWS8P3oyOM
