Harvick’s selective memory helps put last year’s brush with history in rearview mirror

FONTANA, Calif. — Kevin Harvick has a selective memory — and he’s happy about it.

When Harvick came to Auto Club Speedway last year, he was riding a three-race winning streak and trying to join the elite four-in-a-row club. But Harvick’s bid to win at the 2-mile track didn’t survive the first stage of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Harvick was racing for position against Kyle Larson on Lap 38 when the two cars collided near the exit from Turn 2.

After repairs, Harvick finished the race nine laps down in 35th place. But does the memory of that wreck and the lost chance for four straight victories bother him? Hardly.

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“I honestly had forgotten we wrecked until you brought it up,” Harvick told reporters during a question-and-answer session Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “I couldn’t care less. Sometimes I wreck. Sometimes I win. Honestly, I have grown so numb to what people think or the things I have done that I just love going to a race track with a fresh mind-set on a week-to-week basis.

“I’ve learned that what I did last week has no merit in what I need to do this week. I don’t know. I guess I have done this for so long that I just have a short memory. I can laugh those things off.”

This year, Harvick comes to Fontana third in the standings and seeking his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year. In the first four events of the season, his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing cars have been fast, but not dominant.

“For us, I feel like we have had top-five, top-three cars the last three weeks,” Harvick said. “They’re just not quite winning cars.”

Of course, that could change in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Harvick will start on the front row beside pole winner Austin Dillon.

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