Harvick emerges as big winner of TMS bedlam

The new format for Chase for the Sprint Cup seems to be designed for guys like Kevin Harvick, the provocateur who revels being in the middle of mayhem on and off the racetrack.

So it was no surprise to see him both at the center of a tight finish at the AAA Texas 500 and the spark plug who helped incite a post-race melee that included every feature of the Jerry Springer Show except Jerry Springer.

That’s the No. 4 NASCAR Nation has come to love and hate.

Harvick, though, might have also been the biggest winner of Sunday’s bedlam at Texas Motor Speedway.

Harvick, who entered with a seeming long shot for the Chase’s championship round, bounced in and out of contention throughout the 341-lap course, surpassing race villain Brad Keselowski for second at the end and moving only six points back of fourth in the series standings.

“I thought it was going to work out for us,” Harvick said. “We had a couple of cautions there at the end and weren’t able to make it work out.

“We got ourselves back in the championship running. Next week’s going to be pretty crazy.”

Much of that news might be hidden because of Harvick’s role in the post-race brawl between Keselowski and Jeff Gordon.

Harvick strode over and confronted Keselowski after the race, shoving him in the back while reportedly also telling him things you would never consider saying in front of your mother.

“I didn’t get in the middle of anything,” Harvick said. “I just turned him around and told him to fight his own fight. If you’re going to drive like that you better be willing to fight.

“It’s like I told him, ‘If you’re going to drive like a madman, you better be ready to take some punches.’ ”

Harvick knows the pain of being knocked out at a crucial point of a race.

Last week at Martinsville, Harvick’s title hopes took a dramatic hit when he was accidentally wrecked by an overly remorseful Matt Kenseth. Harvick implied that he would retaliate against Kenseth.

Harvick finished 33rd because of the wreck, but he helped himself Sunday and is now 18 points back of leader Joey Logano and six back of fourth, held by Gordon.

The top four will advance to the final round.

The No. 4 will still likely need help to advance to the championship round, though a win next week in Phoenix will get him in.

There were no episodes between Harvick and Kenseth, possibly the result of a kiss-and-makeup meeting between the two on Friday … possibly because Harvick’s position in the standings didn’t accommodate it.

He also believed he had a car fast enough to win.

Keselowski shot through a gap between eventual race champion Jimmie Johnson and Gordon, cutting Gordon’s left tire.

Harvick wasn’t willing to endorse that maneuver but said the Chase format encourages hard racing because of how crucial winning is now. “There are no rules,” he said.

“As it gets closer to the end, the intensity ratchets up,” Harvick said. “Everybody’s going for broke trying to win a race, get the best finish they can.

“It’s hard racing. It’s fun.”

And it also promotes the types of post-race confrontations Harvick seems to relish.

“I came here to race, not to fight,” Keselowski said. “Kevin likes to fight for some reason.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2014 at 9:12 PM.