Kevin Harvick qualifies for his final race at Sonoma (Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
SONOMA, Calif.- Kevin Harvick will make his final start at Sonoma Raceway Sunday afternoon for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after 23 years in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Bakersfield, California native will begin Sunday’s race from the 21st position after putting down a qualifying time of 78.650 seconds on Saturday afternoon, 0.961 seconds slower than the polesitter, Denny Hamlin.
Qualifying may not have gone exactly as desired, however, the race will still be special for Harvick and his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang team because it will be his last time racing in the Cup Series in his home state.
Having grown up around Sonoma Raceway, Harvick had some of his first and most formative races at the track. Naturally, he grew to like the infamous road course early in his career and spent a notable amount of time at the track.
“For me, Sonoma is one of the places that I’ve raced at for so long and really spent a lot of time up there in my West Coast days with the Southwest Tour car and all the different things that I’ve been fortunate to race there,” the 2014 Cup Series champion said.
The 47-year-old veteran also reflected on his success at the track as well as the fans from his home state.
“We’ve won a few races there and I think going up there and seeing all of the California fans of the last time is obviously something you’ve got to stop and pay attention to. I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “I know the track has a lot of exciting things planned that week, along with the West Coast Hall of Fame and everything happening there. It’ll be a big week to take it all in.”
Although Harvick has a long history at Sonoma, he has had varying results. Last year, Harvick finished fourth. In the 2021 Sonoma race, Harvick finished 22nd and logged a sixth-place finish for the 2019 race. Overall, Harvick has seven top fives and 11 top 1os at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile circuit. He won the 2017 edition of the race with his only other road course victory coming at Watkins Glen International Speedway in 2006.
Harvick, currently, stands in third place in the standings for the regular season championship, 22 points behind leader Ryan Blaney and nine behind William Byron in second place. He’ll look to cut into that deficit and snag his first win of the season on Sunday.
Harvick and the rest of the Cup Series drivers will take the green flag at 3:30 ET on FOX. Daniel Suarez is the defending winner.
