Kevin Harvick: Even after success, the work doesn’t stop

Kevin Harvick already has enjoyed considerable success this season, his first with Stewart-Haas Racing.

Entering the weekend at Richmond International Raceway, he was the only driver to have won twice in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, a distinction he secured Apr. 19 at Darlington.

On Friday night, he dominated the ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at RIR, leading 202 of 250 laps.

Yet Harvick in essence says it’s best to take the approach of an also-ran, not a race winner, when devising plans and systems for upcoming races.

“Whether you win or lose on Sunday, or Saturday night in this case, you go back to the shop and analyze your race just as if you had run 20th,” Harvick said. “That’s what you have to do in order to come back, because everybody in this garage is going to do the same things.

“We have to keep building, and I think (competition director Greg) Zipadelli and everybody at SHR has done a great job with everything that they have taken on over the past few years. (Team co-owner) Gene (Haas) has given the resources from a financial standpoint to do the thing that we have done in a short amount of time.

“(There are) just a lot of things that need to get a little bit better, but they’ve done a great job of building a great foundation.”