Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano mend fences as Ford teammates
Big-time auto racing is a world of ever-shifting and sometimes downright unusual alliances. Take Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, for example.
In 2010, the two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers famously tangled at Pocono, with then 20-year-old Logano saying that Harvick’s wife, DeLana “wears the firesuit in the family.”
The bad blood lingered for quite some time between Harvick and Logano, but things have taken a different turn now that the team Harvick drives for, Stewart-Haas Racing, has switched to Fords for 2017.
In Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway, Harvick worked with Logano and Logano’s Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, with the end result being a Logano victory in the race.
During Wednesday’s Daytona 500 Media Day, Harvick laughed when he was asked if he ever thought Logano would refer to him as “his friend.”
“Well, look, I always tell people you’d much rather have me on your side than against you,” said Harvick. “As you look at Ford, it’s been pretty straight forward as to what the expectations are, especially when we come to superspeedways. And try not to hinder each other.”
Clearly, there is strength in numbers, as Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing proved last year when they won the Daytona 500 and took four of the top five finishing spots.
So the Ford teams are trying to work closely together this time around.
“When you look at how this race has shaken out the past couple of years with the Toyotas just kind of lining up, your going to have to have some help to compete with that,” said Harvick.
“I think we have the fastest cars, as far as the Fords go, and the three of us (Harvick, Logano, and Keselowski) made some pretty quick ground together in the Clash,” said Harvick. “So I’m excited about it and love the speed in our car.”
