NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney was reminded of a movie as he passed Kevin Harvick, dressed in a Hendrick Motorsports driver’s uniform, on pit road Friday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
“Do you remember the movie ‘The Butterfly Effect?’” Blaney said of the 2004 film in which a person goes back in time and changes the present. “It was like someone had moved something in the past and Kevin Harvick ended up there.”
Harvick, the 2014 Cup champion, was in Kyle Larson’s car on Friday while Larson remained in Indianapolis ahead of qualifying for the Indy 500 this weekend. Friday marked the first time Harvick drove a Cup car since he retired from full-time competition after last season and moved to the Fox Sports broadcast booth.
Fastest speeds in nearly 30 years in practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The car’s owner, Rick Hendrick, asked Harvick to drive the No. 5 car in All-Star Game practice and qualifying; Harvick is not eligible to drive the car in Saturday’s heat races because he is not a full-time driver. Larson will not return for his stock race, meaning he will start last in the 20-car All-Star race on Sunday night.
Harvick ran 90 laps in Larson’s car during practice on Friday. Harvick ranked 25th on the speed chart, but crew chief Cliff Daniels repeatedly praised Harvick for his lap times when he raced on optional tires that are designed to wear more the longer they are run.
Driving the No. 5 car also gave Harvick the opportunity to work with the Hendrick Motorsports team and be behind the scenes with the most successful organization in the sport.
So, what caught your attention the most about working with that organization?
“I heard from the owner twice in two weeks,” Harvick said, laughing. “So that’s different.
“It’s interesting to see the structure and workshop of the race and the way everyone does it differently. There are a million different ways to do things, but I think what stands out to me about Hendrick Motorsports in general is that it’s really run like a business that’s part of a real structure of how things flow and who you deal with. speaks. There’s just a depth on the business side and the racing side. It’s deep. I think that’s pretty telling just because of the structure of the whole thing. I like the structure. “That’s something that’s been good to see.”
Keynote USA Sports analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte also look ahead to the second half of the regular season.
When asked if that made their Cup wins more meaningful considering the type of organization Hendrick is, Harvick said:
“Our team, the (No.) 4 team itself, was very structured. We had a great group of people who communicated well and did a lot of little things well, but they also took on the burden of some things that probably weren’t as structured within the organization. Being able to do those things and still run well was a burden, right, for all the guys on the team.
“I had a very special group of people who were successful in a structure that was not as structured as what we have in this situation (at Hendrick). I had a lot of success at Stewart-Haas Racing and I’m very proud of all the things we did and I love the relationships we have, but they are different cultures, very different.”
Harvick also highlighted how Hendrick Motorsports allows Larson to compete in events outside of NASCAR.
“Kyle is very good in any race, but Cliff also has a very good understanding of the fact that he’s competing in other things and how they talk about things and when they go through things with Kyle it’s very interesting,” Harvick said. “…It seems like they’ve leaned toward letting Kyle be Kyle and that’s not always the case with all Cup drivers.”
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