Stewart-Haas Racing announced a pit crew shakeup for the No. 4 team. Will this be the difference that brings Kevin Harvick back to victory lane?
After a 22-second pit stop dropped Kevin Harvick from third to seventh on the final round of pit stops at Sonoma Raceway, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that Harvick’s pit crew will have a new front tire changer and jackman. The new crew members previously worked on the No. 14 team with driver Chase Briscoe.
It’s been a frustrating season for Harvick; his winless streak is now up to 59 races, and he is currently seven points below the playoff cutline despite being 12th in points. Harvick has also struggled to run up front, as he has led just 13 laps in the first 16 races of the season.
Nevertheless, a pit crew change may be just what Harvick needs to turn his season around. The Sonoma gaffe garnered the most attention, but it’s not the first time that Harvick has been saddled with poor pit stops this season. Despite a third-place finish after late-race chaos in the Coca-Cola 600, Harvick consistently lost spots on pit road all night and had to continuously drive from the back of the field.
The changes come at the right time because Sonoma was Harvick’s best full-race performance since a runner-up finish at Richmond Raceway in April. Even more impressive is that one of his best performances of the season came at Sonoma: Harvick only has two career road course wins and has struggled on them since 2020.
If Harvick can continue showing the speed he had at Sonoma, things will be looking up if the pit crew can begin firing on all cylinders. This weekend’s race is at Nashville Superspeedway, a place where he finished fifth last year. And just a few weeks down the road is New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a race where he led the most laps in 2021. Harvick will most likely need a win to make the playoffs come September, so it will be up to him and his team to make the most of their opportunities going forward.
Chicago Street Course or Chicagoland?
NASCAR left the United States’ third-largest media market when the pandemic began, as Chicagoland Speedway has sat idle since hosting its final NASCAR weekend in 2019.
But the lure of Chicago is too big for NASCAR to ignore, and it appears that the top three series will be back in the city in some capacity for the 2023 season. Just one question remains: What track will it be?
A race through the streets of downtown Chicago has been rumored ever since Chicagoland…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Frontstretch…