'Happy Harvick' races to sweep in the desert

~ The driver won the Busch and Nextel Cup races in Phoenix.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- His nickname is "Happy Harvick," a moniker earned early in his career when things rarely went wrong.

But when the wins became fewer and far between at NASCAR's top level, the name seemed to be more of a sarcastic reference to Kevin Harvick's perpetual scowl.

Not anymore. Not even close.

With wins in his last three races, including Saturday night's Nextel Cup victory that gave him a weekend sweep at Phoenix International Raceway, Harvick is indeed happy again.

"Everything is good right now," he said. "From my personal life, to life on the race track."

Harvick snapped his 38-race winless streak in the Cup series by passing Greg Biffle with 10 laps to go in the desert. Up until the moment Harvick took the lead, he had been off the radar -- he hadn't led a lap, settling in for what appeared to be a non-eventful top-10 finish.

But when it was time to race hard, he pounced. Harvick blew past Biffle, then opened up such a wide lead he was practically able to coast his Chevrolet home.

Good thing, too. Harvick was worried he'd run out of gas -- it happened to him last year in Phoenix on the final lap when he was running fourth. Not this time, though. While he was conserving fuel, Biffle and Mark Martin (who combined to lead 262 of the 312 laps) both ran out of gas trying to chase Harvick down.

Crew chief Todd Berrier told Harvick about the troubles behind him, and assured him he had nothing to worry about.

"We always worry about running out of gas, but once we were able to get out in front and in clean air, and saw how far we were able to pull away," Harvick explained. "I am telling you, I let off ... and Todd told me it was all good by a half a lap."

And that was exactly what Harvick wanted to hear.

Harvick won last week's Busch Series race in Nashville, Tenn., then made it back-to-back Busch victories Friday night in Phoenix to open up a 289-point lead in the standings.

He carried that momentum into Saturday night and grabbed the second weekend sweep of his career. That moved him to eighth in the Cup standings, 174 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

After, Harvick said he's finally convinced that Childress is headed in the right direction and that his outspokenness just might be the reason.

"Sometimes I get frustrated because I don't like to lose and probably didn't approach things the correct way," Harvick said. "I think maybe that helped get us to this point. Sometimes you have to take a stance, so that is what I did."

In doing so, he has put himself in a no-lose situation.

He said Friday that he has informed Childress that his first choice is to stay at RCR, where he's confident he's on his way to becoming a championship contender. Leaving for another team, where he would start from scratch, could set him back years in that quest.

His hot streak is undoubtedly raising his price tag, too. Childress can either match it -- and there's no indication what he plans to do because he's currently on an African safari -- or watch the driver he's built everything around walk out the door.

Should Harvick leave, he'll generate a huge payday elsewhere. But that's not his goal. Money comes with winning, and winning is all Harvick wants to do.

"I don't need money, and I like to win," he said. "That is what I want to do -- I want to win races, I want to win a championship. I may have been a little outspoken as far as what it would take to get this organization there, and our team there and myself there.

"But that is what I want to do, so what ever it takes to do that, that is the goal I want to achieve."

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ubway Fresh 500 Results

Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.; Lap length: 1 mile

(Starting position in parentheses)

1. (15) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 312, $228,486.

2. (3) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 312, $211,536.

3. (4) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 312, $168,116.

4. (5) Carl Edwards, Ford, 312, $126,685.

5. (8) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 312, $122,325.

6. (22) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 312, $124,189.

7. (10) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 312, $127,111.

8. (21) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 312, $117,661.

9. (37) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 312, $108,870.

10. (19) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 312, $124,111.

11. (18) Mark Martin, Ford, 311, $98,425.

12. (16) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 311, $90,883.

13. (14) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 311, $80,275.

14. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 311, $112,750.

15. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 311, $102,350.

16. (27) Ken Schrader, Ford, 311, $95,389.

17. (36) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 311, $65,075.

18. (23) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 311, $91,808.

19. (17) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 311, $99,325.

20. (12) Casey Mears, Dodge, 311, $103,983.

21. (39) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 311, $80,958.

22. (9) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 311, $86,233.

23. (11) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 310, $102,291.

24. (7) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 310, $103,833.

25. (31) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 310, $63,075.

26. (28) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 310, $95,841.

27. (41) Dave Blaney, Dodge, 309, $75,172.

28. (30) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 309, $99,975.

29. (29) David Stremme, Dodge, 308, $73,175.

30. (33) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 307, $65,525.

31. (38) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 305, $72,400.

32. (43) Brent Sherman, Dodge, 305, $61,750.

33. (35) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 301, $62,575.

34. (6) Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet, 289, $61,500.

35. (32) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 283, $87,720.

36. (1) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 259, $84,425.

37. (20) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 247, $89,008.

38. (24) Scott Riggs, Dodge, 229, $60,975.

39. (13) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 221, accident, $106,258.

40. (34) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 206, $68,700.

41. (25) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 116, engine failure, $60,560.

42. (42) Michael Waltrip, Dodge, 98, accident, $60,435.

43. (40) Brandon Ash, Dodge, 98, transmission, $60,635.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 2 hours, 54 minutes, 51 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.774 seconds.

Winner's Average Speed: 107.063 mph.

Caution Flags: Seven for 29 laps.

Lead Changes: 20 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders: Kyle Busch 0; G.Biffle 1-26; B.Ash 27; G.Biffle 28-47; Kyle Busch 48-54; G.Biffle 55-65; M.Martin 66-88; G.Biffle 89; E.Sadler 90; G.Biffle 91-105; M.Martin 106-170; C.Bowyer 171-172; M.Kenseth 173; D.Blaney 174-175; J.Yeley 176; M.Martin 177-199; C.Bowyer 200-217; T.Stewart 218-223; C.Bowyer 224; G.Biffle 225-302; K.Harvick 303-312.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Greg Biffle, 6 times for 151 laps; Mark Martin, 3 times for 111 laps; Clint Bowyer, 3 times for 21 laps; Kevin Harvick, 1 time for 10 laps; Kyle Busch, 1 time for 7 laps; Tony Stewart, 1 time for 6 laps; Dave Blaney, 1 time for 2 laps; Brandon Ash, 1 time for 1 lap; Elliott Sadler, 1 time for 1 lap; Matt Kenseth, 1 time for 1 lap; J.J. Yeley, 1 time for 1 lap.

Point Standings

1. Matt Kenseth, 1,218. 2. Jimmie Johnson, 1,209. 3. Kasey Kahne, 1,167. 4. Mark Martin, 1,152. 5. Tony Stewart, 1,141. 6. Jeff Gordon, 1,045. 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1,045. 8. Kevin Harvick, 1,044. 9. Kyle Busch, 1,010. 10. Casey Mears, 948.