Kevin Harvick feels he is close to elusive victory at Texas Motor Speedway

For Kevin Harvick, NASCAR’s version of Merle Haggard’s outlaw character, Texas Motor Speedway has been a journey of Misery and Gin.

A winner at Daytona and the Brickyard 400, plus a Sprint Cup series title in 2014, Harvick has mastered just about every obstacle of NASCAR’s top series. But triumph at TMS has remained elusive for the man who took over Dale Earnhardt’s ride upon the Terminator’s death in 2001.

In 26 Sprint Cup races in Fort Worth, Harvick has never made the trip to Victory Lane, which here resembles a typical Saturday night in old Hell’s Half Acre: cowboy hats, six-shooters and something out of the still.

“I think over the last couple of years those were the first couple of years we’ve been competitive enough to win races,” said Harvick, who has flourished since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. “Hopefully that trend continues and we can stay competitive.

“Eventually, we’ll check that box. It’s been a good racetrack and hopefully this week is no different.”

The Duck Commander 500 goes green at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at TMS.

To date, his most significant accomplishment at the finish line was what he started with the infamous Brad Keselowski-Jeff Gordon melee in November 2014. Gordon confronted Keselowski about a dust-up on the track, and Harvick — who had no part in the dispute — pushed Keselowski from behind, setting off temporary mayhem.

Harvick, who has a victory and three top fives this season in his No. 4 Chevrolet, is, after all, one of Sprint Cup’s best-known agitators in a game of agitators, skilled in inflaming the emotions of the crowd or his competitors.

“That’s just the atmosphere we live in,” said Harvick, who has said he will stay with Stewart-Haas despite the company going to Fords next year. “It’s a competitive environment and you’ll get mad at people at some point because it is so competitive. I don’t hold grudges very long because it’s too much work.”

Looking back, it’s that mentality that made his appointment as Earnhardt’s replacement by Richard Childress in 2001 seem a natural.

Harvick, who made a publicity stop at the Fort Worth Club on Thursday, was to compete full time that season on the second-tier circuit (now called the Xfinity Series) until Earnhardt died in an accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

In only his third Cup race, Harvick seized the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and he also won at Chicagoland while becoming the first driver in history to win the Cup rookie of the year and the Xfinity title, a campaign that included the first of his five victories at TMS on that circuit.

Taking over and discovering success as Earnhardt’s heir was a completely different type of being thrown into the fire.

He admitted to being somewhat uncomfortable, not just by replacing a legend in his sport, but also having no role to that point in part of building the team. Everything was in place, including the “immediate popularity of Earnhardt fans that you never really earned or knew about.”

In fact, Harvick said, he didn’t know much about anything, as it turned out.

“You inherited the biggest situation and had to learn as you went,” Harvick said. “We learned a lot about the sport. Learned a lot about how to manage things. It probably took six or seven years to figure it all out. It was a very difficult time.”

He was 25 then, but returns this week a 40-year-old seeking to slay the Texas demon. Harvick has taken a sniff of victory with three of his six top-five finishes coming in successive races. His TMS credentials also include 14 top 10s and 115 laps led.

He said he figures to begin evaluating retirement in the next few years, though he’s committed to driving at least five more years.

Harvick is hoping that’s enough time to check that one box, but for now, Sprint Cup glory in Texas, in the words of Merle Haggard, is a matter of always wanting you, but never having you.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Kevin Harvick feels he is close to elusive victory at Texas Motor Speedway."