September 22, 2009
By Allen Madding
Imagine, if you will, that you are a big time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver that owns a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team and a NASCAR Nationwide Series team.
Your NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season has been miserable, and you did not make the Chase for the Cup. The fulltime driver you have competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is leading the points for a championship title.
You like to run in a handful of the Nationwide and Truck Series races when time allows, but you are not in the hunt for a championship.
So in this hypothetical situation, one would imagine that you would want to do as well as possible without compromising your full-time driver’s opportunity to win the championship in the series.
But sometimes reality is a little stranger than the hypothetical. This weekend Kevin Harvick put himself in this very position with his driver Ron Hornaday, Jr. who is trying to win Kevin Harvick Inc. a championship in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
In the closing laps of the Heluva Good! 250 at Loudon, New Hampshire, Kyle Busch was leading, Hornaday was second, and Harvick was third. Harvick decided that he had the fastest truck and sent word to Hornaday to move over and let him make a run for the lead via Harvick’s spotter to Hornaday’s spotter. Hornaday gave Harvick room to pass but did not roll over and play dead. Harvick had plenty of room to pass if he in fact had the fastest truck, but Hornaday did not get out of the throttle and wait for him to go by. But why would he or why should he? Hornaday simply continued to run consistent laps and gave his boss/team owner a clear path to go by.
Harvick could not make it happen. To those of us who have spent years behind the wheel of a short track car, that would indicate that Harvick did not have the fastest truck on the track as he got along side of Hornaday but could not pull off the pass. In post race interviews, Hornaday admitted to actually backing out of the throttle early multiple times and giving Harvick the bottom of the turns to complete the pass, but Harvick could never make the pass. During the final pit stops, Harvick was telling Hornaday to let him off pit road first.
Harvick threw a tantrum after the race demanding a team meeting of all drivers, crew chiefs and spotters. And he complained on the team radio and to the press after the race, that his orders were not clearly communicated and that the team's priorities were out of whack. He further stated that Hornaday’s team had given away the win to Busch.
Many would venture that Kevin Harvick’s priorities were out of focus, not his teams and employees. Does the possibility of Kevin Harvick, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, winning a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, trump Ron Hornaday, Jr. winning a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship?
If there was really any possibility of Harvick winning the event? What if Hornaday got out of the gas on the straightaway so Harvick could pass easily and waited until Harvick finally cleared him for the position before picking the throttle back up. And what if Hornaday lost an extra running position or two while trying to get back to his rhythm as a consequence? What if Hornaday then lost the series title due to the loss of points so that Harvick had his dream shot, to go after Kyle Busch and battle for a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event win?
Has the season been so bad in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that Kevin Harvick needs a win in the Truck Series this bad?
The question left in the minds of Ron Hornaday and everyone that watched the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Loudon, New Hampshire is this, “What exactly did Ron Hornaday do wrong?” Is Kevin Harvick paying Hornaday to take the No. 33 Chevrolet out to run the best that he can, finish as best as he can, and attempt to win the series title? Or is Hornaday’s job to do his best except when Harvick is on the track?
If Harvick had won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Heluva Good! 250 and Hornaday were to lose the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship titles, would Kevin Harvick Inc. be better off? Is a race win better than a championship title? Or, is it simply a situation that Harvick wanted to win, and since he writes the checks, everyone else should put their own priorities aside for what is good personally for Harvick?
Many of us are confused at what the priorities are at Kevin Harvick Inc. after Harvick’s post race comments.
Maybe we are missing something.
Is Chevrolet pressuring Harvick for a win in the Truck Series? Is a sponsor pressuring Harvick for a Truck Series win? Perhaps in the next few days, Harvick and his team media representatives could explain how the possibility of him winning a Truck Series race compares to the team winning a championship and explain the team's priorities, company mission and overall goals in the Truck Series.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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