By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Kevin Harvick joined an elite club Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Not only did he set the record for the most laps led by a winner in Las Vegas history, but he scored a special win in the sport’s history.
Harvick’s Pennzoil 400 triumph was the 100th of his NASCAR career, partnering his 39 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins with his 47 XFINITY Series wins and 14 in Camping World Trucks.
“It all happens so fast,” Harvick said. “It lets you reminisce about a lot of things you’ve done in the sport. Winning a 100 races is something I thought I’d never do.”
It may seem quick for the 42-year-old, but it took nearly 18 years to reach the 100 mark. Scoring his first national win in the XFINITY Series at Gateway in 2000, He added the Cup Series to the list in 2001 before joining Truck Series Victory Lane at Phoenix in 2002.
Now, Harvick becomes only the fourth driver in NASCAR history reach 100 wins across the three national series, joining Richard Petty, Kyle Busch and David Pearson.
“You look back on the different wins — the wins here, the wins at KHI, Richard Childress Racing, JR Motorsports, all the vehicles I’ve been fortunate to drive,” he said. “I know how hard it is to get to Victory Lane and to see we’ve been in there 100 times is almost something I can’t even fathom myself. It’s pretty awesome.”
Winning his last three NASCAR starts (the last two Cup starts and his last XFINITY start), Harvick chases Pearson’s mark of 106 NASCAR wins to move to third on the all-time wins list.
Way to go! That's the 100th #NASCAR national touring series win for @KevinHarvick! What an accomplishment! #4TheWin pic.twitter.com/kGAGfopVte
— Haas Factory Team (@HaasFactoryTeam) March 4, 2018