Kevin Harvick Wins to Earn Spot in Second Round

By ESPN

Kevin Harvick has thrived as NASCAR's version of a Game 7 master, steeling his nerves and flourishing in those win-or-else races that kept a championship push alive.

His Chase off to a rocky start, Harvick injected the Chase again with a rousing finish that eliminated a must-win race for him and parked him in the next playoff round.

Harvick won Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to earn a spot in the second round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, pulling away on a restart a year after a late loss at the track.

"It's kind of like an addiction," Harvick said. "You just love the rush of being able to be behind and be able to perform and make that happen."

Harvick finished 20th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship opener, which stuck him 15th in the standings. With another weak finish at New Hampshire, Harvick would have faced yet another race at Dover he may have had to win to advance.

His lap times in the No. 4 Chevrolet only got faster deeper into the race, and he was soon nipping at Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth at the front of the field. Kenseth dominated the second half of the race and seemed poised to win the New Hampshire race for the third straight time.

Harvick, the 2014 Sprint Cup champion, had enough juice in the Chevy to zip past Kenseth with five laps left and join Truex as the drivers locked in the next round. Truex won the Chase opener at Chicagoland, and he led a race-high 141 laps at New Hampshire.