AVONDALE, ARIZ. – Kevin Harvick won his fourth consecutive race at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday with yet another rout of the field.
The 42 other drivers knew this was Harvick's race to win, and he made it look easy. The reigning series champion led more than 200 laps for the third consecutive time at Phoenix, where he has won five of the past six races and a record seven overall.
Overall, he has seven consecutive top-two finishes and has won four of the past seven races, which includes the final two of last year's championship season.
He opened this season with two runner-up finishes, then won last week at Las Vegas and now Phoenix. The last driver to open a season with four finishes of second or better? Hall of Famer Richard Petty in 1974.
"Man, these things are incredible and they are just fun to drive," Harvick said about his Rodney Childers-built No. 4 Chevrolet.
"It's scary how well we get along with each other. I don't want to talk about it sometimes so I don't jinx it."
Harvick now heads to California looking to sweep NASCAR's three-race West Coast swing. It's not out of the question. He won at Auto Club Speedway in 2011, and has been among the best drivers there since 2009.
Two late cautions forced Harvick to sweat a little bit, as he twice had to hold off Jamie McMurray on restarts. He cleared McMurray on the final restart with 12 laps remaining and beat the Chip Ganassi Racing driver by 1.154 seconds.