Harvick Feeling No Pressure... Until Next Week

With a win in hand and a transfer spot assured to the Eliminator Round of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Kevin Harvick is a man without worries.

The Budweiser Chevrolet driver said today at Talladega Superspeedway that he will sleep well tonight, in advance of the season’s most unpredictable race.

“It takes a lot of pressure off by not having to worry about a strategy,” said Harvick today. “You just go race. These guys have worked hard on the cars to make them as good as they can (and) we owe it to them and the fans to race as hard as we can and take the same approach as we have all year. (We will) try to run well in practice, qualify well, lead laps and win a race.

“If it works out, it works out. That’s the thing that comes out of last week. If it works out, fine and if doesn’t, fine. Just race hard.

Harvick admitted, however, that there are still concerns associated with racing at Talladega.

“There are obviously still a lot of things to worry about coming to Talladega,” he said. “No matter if you’re on the good side, the bad side, or in between. Hopefully, (we’re) getting to a refined point that is where you need to be to race for a championship. Last week was kind of the beginning of that and hopefully we can close out the last several weeks at the same level. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Harvick said last week’s win actually makes him more likely to wind up in Victory Lane again soon.

“The mindset went to completely aggressive after the win last weekend,” he said. “Everyone is relaxed and it really doesn’t matter what the outcome is, unless you win. It’s very important to win, just (to) keep someone else from winning. Obviously, there are some people who are in a pretty vulnerable spot unless they win. Being aggressive, trying to lead laps, taking those points away, winning the race and not allow that automatic bid going forward is really (our) main goal.”

He also pulled no punches about his desire to see title contenders Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., fall by the wayside Sunday, saying, “Anytime you see people in a vulnerable position where they could not advance to the next round, you want to do everything you can do to try and keep an upper hand.

“In the end, you want the best scenario for your team to win a championship from a pure greed standpoint. That’s what we’re here to do -- win the championship -- and you want the best scenario for your team. It will be an interesting weekend regardless of how it all shakes out and who wins the race. There are just so many variables in what could happen. I’m excited for the sport and looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out.”