Kevin Harvick fantasy racing season preview

I want to start the driver preview series with the four drivers I think have the best chance to run for the championship in Homestead.  The first three are no surprise.  Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.  As you will see from the previews, these three were really a cut above the rest in 2017 and I expect them to remain there in 2018.  My fourth pick will be a bit of a surprise for some and I'll wait to reveal that in a few days.

Let's start with the #4 of Kevin Harvick.  While they did not win the championship, this team had an amazing 2017 season if you ask me.  While he continued with Stewart-Haas racing with Rodney Childers as his crew chief, the entire team made a massive switch from Chevrolet to Ford.  That transition might have had something to do with a bit of a slow start to the 2017 season.  In the first six races, Harvick finished 20th or worse three times.  Included in that was a 6th place finish from the 23rd starting spot at Phoenix -- a place where Harvick had dominated the field in prior years.  However, Harvick rebounded from that start, made the playoffs and was a threat to win the championship all the way to Homestead.  In contrast to the slow start to the season, in the last five races of the year, Harvick had a huge win at Texas and finished no worse than 8th.  He rattled off finishes of 8th - 5th - 1st - 5th - 4th to close out the year.  With a full year of racing and two off-seasons under their belt with Ford, I expect Harvick and Childers to come out of the gate at full speed in 2018 and to challenge for multiple wins and a championship once again.

Let's look at a few more statistics that show how good the #4 was in 2017.  They had the second best average finish at 11.08, behind only the champion Martin Truex.  Also the second most pole wins with 4.  And they were 4th in laps led at 850.  Harvick had 2 wins, 14 Top 5's, 23 Top 10's and 31 Top 20's -- which led the series.  

Harvick excels at many types of tracks.  He is generally a factor anywhere he can hook the bottom yellow line and he always seems to get a great ride out of the corners.  Historically, he has dominated at Phoenix and done very well at tracks like Atlanta, Kansas and Homestead.  I wouldn't recommend using him at Daytona, Talladega or the road courses, but I think he is in play virtually every other weekend.