By Jerry Jordan, Editor
LAS VEGAS – Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have become friends over the years and when Busch was visibly frustrated with his performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick tried to lighten the mood and offered him, “a hug.”
Busch was going for a sweep at his home track and fought back from a pit road penalty for speeding to finish third. After the race, he blamed himself for not taking the trip to Victory Lane.
“I could have won with this package, regardless but I threw it away on pit road,” Busch said. “I locked up my tires coming to pit road. The thing wouldn’t stop when they’re sliding.”
Busch also went through his thoughts on the racing package and how it, in his opinion, it was hard to pass. He added he was running faster lap times – “31-flats” – as he was chasing Harvick down but that changed as the cars got closer together.
“When I caught the4 there, I was running 31.40s, so you get stuck in air,” Busch said. “Yeah, it’s challenging. It is all about trying to figure out who can be the man who holds it (throttle) down the longest and trying to find you balance in that way. Cars are faster through the corners. There’s more loads on us. It’s harder physically but, you know, it doesn’t, the wake is just so big you can’t follow a guy through the corners.”
It was at that point that – as Harvick walked over to the media and Busch walked away – that he joked if Busch needed a hug. When asked, he explained the two have become friends through the years and he likes to “prod him.”
“Does he need a hug? Yeah, he’s mad,” Harvick said. “Look, I get along good with Kyle and when he is mad like that, I like to prod him every once in a while to see if you can have some fun with it. The dude just likes to win, so it is just how he is.”
As for the action on the track, Harvick said his car would get continue to get tight in the corners – something that has plagued the No. 4 team for the past two weeks. He was happy to have a good qualifying spot, which helped him stay up front in the first stage, and then crew chief Rodney Chidlers went to work to free-up the car’s handling.
“They just keep scrambling and taking big swings at it to get us close,” Harvick said.
Heading into the Las Vegas race, there were a lot of unknowns of how NASCAR’s new higher downforce package, taller spoiler and less horsepower with react on the track. While some, like Busch, had issues with it; Harvick wasn’t phased.
“I just drive mine as fast as it will go and that’s really the only thing we worry about,” Harvick said. “I try not to get into the whole rules thing.”
Kevin ‘The Closer’ Harvick… The Best of ALL The Rest..! Harvick has that way about him that is similar to ‘The Intimidator’ Dale Sr. If he likes you and knows he can race you hard with the understanding that he always wants to WIN the race… then a little joking and grabbing of the neck is a part of the day at the track.