Atlanta: Special place for Harvick

[Realtree]

 

Atlanta special place for Harvick
March 16, 2007

BY MIKE BRUDENELL

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Atlanta Motor Speedway will forever be imbedded in Kevin Harvick's psyche and racing resumé.

It's the place where Harvick won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race -- March 11, 2001. The victory came weeks after the death of Dale Earnhardt, whom he replaced at Richard Childress Racing following the Intimidator's fatal accident in the Daytona 500.

 
"The circumstances that we won the first race under ... we won't ever forget that moment just because of everything that went on," Harvick said. "When I start thinking about it, it brings those same chills back that I got at the particular time of winning my first race."

Harvick returns to Atlanta for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, the fourth Cup race of the year. He is sixth in series points and should be a factor in the finish at NASCAR's fastest track.

"We've won at Atlanta, so the performance is there," said Harvick, who drives the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. "Maybe we used our luck up in the beginning, but we've been good in past years, performance-wise. A few times I just got caught up in a wreck. It's just a matter of making the right moves and having a whole day come together."

In 12 Cup races at Atlanta, Harvick has one victory and two top-five finishes. His win there was by .006 second over Jeff Gordon, the third-closest margin of victory ever at Atlanta. Last season, Harvick qualified sixth in the March race and second in the October event, finishing 39th and 31st, respectively.

He likes Atlanta because it allows a driver to race practically anywhere, he said.

"Atlanta is fast, very fast," said Harvick, who won five Cup races in 2006 and placed fourth in points. "You can race all over the racetrack, from the white line to the wall, and still be competitive. You have to have the complete package to contend for the win there ... and horsepower is always important. It's a lot of fun to race on, but very fast."

Harvick picked up the pace for a spot in last year's Chase for the Championship after the first Atlanta race, finishing second at Bristol, seventh at Martinsville, fifth at Texas and first at Phoenix over the next four races.

This year, he enters Atlanta full of confidence after winning the Daytona 500.

"It really hasn't worn off because I really understood the magnitude of the Daytona 500. ... It's just not like anything else," Harvick said. "I thought the Brickyard win was a big deal, but it's not even in the same ballpark."

A second win at Atlanta on Sunday might come close, however.