page_title: Kevin Harvick
section_title: 2015
hierarchical_section_title: Kevin Harvick / NASCAR career / 2015
caption_attribution_description: English: Kevin Harvick riding in the back of a Toyota Tundra during driver introductions.
context_page_description: Kevin Michael Harvick, nicknamed "The Closer" and "Happy Harvick," is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick is the former owner of Kevin Harvick Incorporated, a race team that fielded cars in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series between 2004 and 2011. He is the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and a two-time Xfinity Series champion. Harvick holds the all-time record for Cup Series wins at Phoenix Raceway with nine wins. Harvick is also the third winningest driver in Xfinity Series history with 47 wins. Harvick's 117 combined national series wins currently rank him third all-time in NASCAR history, behind Richard Petty and Kyle Busch respectively.
  Harvick, who began his NASCAR career in 1995, is the third of only five drivers that have won a championship in both the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series, and the fifth of only thirty-three drivers to win a race in each of NASCAR's three national series with over 100 race wins across three national divisions. Harvick also won the 1998 Winston West Series title with five wins that season.
context_section_description: On January 25, 2015, it was reported that Harvick, along with Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Danica Patrick, would serve as a rotating analyst for Xfinity Series races with NASCAR on Fox. Harvick was the first of the four to commentate, starting at Daytona; he also worked at Las Vegas, Dover, and the Truck Series race at Talladega.
  In the Sprint Unlimited, Harvick scored an 11th-place finish despite receiving minor damage to his car from a wreck early in the race.
  Harvick started the season by finishing second in the Daytona 500. At Atlanta, he led 116 laps but finished second to Jimmie Johnson. At Las Vegas, Harvick held off Martin Truex, Jr. to win his first race of the season. It was also his first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Harvick won again the very next week for his fourth straight win at Phoenix and a record seventh win at the track overall. At Auto Club, Harvick managed to finish second, this time to Brad Keselowski. This brought his streak of Top 2 finishes to eight races overall. It appeared Harvick was on track to tie Richard Petty for most straight Top 2 finishes, but this streak came to an end with an eighth-place finish at Martinsville.
  At Texas, Harvick battled Johnson for the win numerous times during the race but was unable to catch him as he narrowly beat Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to the line, resulting in another second-place finish. He led 63 laps in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan but suffered a flat tire. Trying to recover, Harvick's day was cut short due to the race being called on lap 138 out of the 200 scheduled, due to torrential rain. Harvick's teammate, Kurt Busch, who was in a backup car, won the race. Harvick finished 29th. In the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, he went on to finish fourth.
  Harvick then went on to collect four straight Top 10 finishes at Daytona, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Indianapolis. Upon returning to Pocono, his day ended quickly as he blew an engine just 20 laps into the race. He ended up in the 42nd position. It was his first DNF since the previous year's Duck Commander 500 at Texas. He nearly won the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen, but ran out of gas on the last corner. This allowed Joey Logano, who was second at the time, to win the race. Harvick was able to cross the finish line, scoring a third-place finish. He then went on to finish second in the Pure Michigan 400 the following week, and at the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol as well. During Labor Day Weekend at Darlington in the Bojangles' Southern 500, he finished fifth after leading 44 laps. The first race of the Chase took place at Chicagoland. Harvick finished 42nd after getting a flat tire and spinning into the wall due to contact with Jimmie Johnson a few laps earlier on a restart. A confrontation did take place after Harvick met with Johnson and punched him in the chest. Harvick dominated next week at Loudon, leading 216 of 300 laps. However, he ran out of gas, allowing Matt Kenseth to win. Harvick finished 21st, putting him in danger of being eliminated from the Chase. The following week at Dover International Speedway, Harvick dominated a majority of the race to earn third win of the season, leading 351 of 400 laps in the process. That win allowed Harvick to clinch a spot into the next round of the Chase, after narrowly avoiding being eliminated.
  In the final race of the Contender Round at Talladega, Harvick was again in a tough situation. During a green-white-checker restart, Harvick's car was unable to accelerate, which triggered a multi-car wreck. Due to the caution being displayed quickly after the leaders crossed the line, the race was considered official, and Joey Logano was declared the winner. Denny Hamlin, who was competing with Harvick for a spot in the next round, was caught up in the wreck and was eliminated from the Chase. Harvick managed to avoid the wreck, and finished 15th, advancing him to the next round in the Chase. Trevor Bayne, who was hit in the quarter panel by Harvick which triggered the wreck, accused him of intentionally spinning him out in order to secure a spot in the ne
caption: Harvick at Daytona in 2015
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