Harvick 2020: The Most Robbed Championship in Motorsports History

Harvick should be a multiple-time champion. He’s statistically the best driver of the Gen 6 era, and no season shows that better than the terrible Gen’s 2nd-to-last season in 2020. As before COVID and after, he was the best driver, but was robbed of a chance to even fight for the title.

Harvick Before COVID

To start the 2020 season, he finished in the top 5, precisely at the 500, in 5th place. And as a preview of the consistency he’d show all year. He’d follow that up with an 8th and 9th in the next two races and then finish 2nd in Phoenix.

Harvick Starts NASCAR’s Comeback in Style

After a 2-month break, NASCAR returns on May 17th to race under COVID-19 conditions. While there was no crowd in sight, it didn’t bother Harvick, who went on to win his 1st race of the year. However, things would be spotty after this.

As in the next four races, he got 3 top tens and 2 top fives plus an 11th at Bristol, but things picked back up quickly for him. Winning at old Atlanta after CC Rodney Childers celebrated his birthday by making an adjustment that made the car go from struggling to dominant. But after two finishes outside the top 10, he’d dominate the rest of the year.

Harvick’s 2020 Dominance

Beginning with a 2nd place at Pocono to Hamlin, showing even the very best can’t beat Hamlin here. Harvick then made a superb double pass on the outside, showing the perfect balance between aggression and patience.

And Hamlin blew his right front tire from the lead. He held off a Kenseth in throwback form to take a Brickyard 400 crown. Showing off the mastery of his race craft over his, at this point, nearly 2 decades in Cup. And after this would be the streak of a lifetime, even for Harvick.

He earned 10 straight top fives in a row, and he capped it off in the best way possible. Winning two consecutive races, which were 2 of the four wins he got during this streak, 1 of which he got by blocking Hamlin for 10+ laps until he took the checkered flag. Hence why I don’t miss Gen 6.

Harvick’s Strange Inconsistency

After this generational streak, Harvick’s season takes a strange turn. Right as the playoffs started. In the 10 races from the Daytona RC to Talladega, he only earned 4 top fives and 7 top tens. But 3 of those 4 top fives were wins, including holding off Austin Dillon, who was having his caree- best race.

So while he was losing some of his fire, it wasn’t most of it. He was still winning and dominating races like when he held off Kyle Busch for 20+ laps to win Bristol; again, Harvick was the master of the Gen 6, making him the title favorite by far, even with the dip in form.

Harvick’s Final Round Nightmare

At first, it didn’t look like it’d be a nightmare, as he finished 2nd at Kansas to get things started. After Logano did the same aero blocking he did to Hamlin and KFB earlier that year. But a terrible shock was the run at Texas, where he finished 16th, his 4th-worst finish of the year to that point.

This wasn’t too much trouble for Harvick as long as someone who was already locked in would win, as he still had a 42-point gap. Trouble is, Chase Elliott, who wasn’t locked in, was leading in the final laps. And more importantly, Harvick was struggling, at one point 2 laps down after contact with Kenseth, which kept him from earning a single stage point.

He rallied back to be on the lead lap while Elliott led. As the checkered flag flew, Elliott took a dominant win, which only left two spots open. Hamlin was in on points, with the final spot being Keselowski and Harvick, only separated by a point, with Super Brad having that spot.

The Fight That Sealed It All

Harvick needed to pass Kyle Busch to clinch a spot in the final 4, so, out of turn 4, he spun his rival, who became his best friend. Only for Harvick to end up in the wall as the 18 crossed the line way ahead of him. Harvick officially eliminated.

9 wins, 20 top fives, he finished every race and had a 7.3 average finish, the best since Jeff Gordon in 2007. Like Gordon in 2007, however, he’d be robbed of winning the title despite being the best driver that season. Thanks a bunch for reading.