Where will Happy go?

It has long been known that Kevin Harvick is very unhappy at RCR. Why is he unhappy? There are several factors that I see: the frustration of a long winless streak, the bad luck he's had since the fall race at Talladega last season, where he had the car to beat but got caught up in Carl Edwards' boneheaded strategy (Edwards tried to bump-draft his teammate Greg Biffle in the corner but ended up causing a 12-car wreck that affected half of the Chasers, including Harvick.), the crew swap earlier in the year, to name a few factors. I will break these down as best I can.

THE WINLESS STREAK

Coming into the 2007 Daytona 500, Harvick was coming off the best year of his career: he won a total of 14 races between the Busch (now Nationwide) Series and the Nextel (now Sprint) Cup Series. He blew away the field all season long in the Busch Series, winning the title by OVER 900 points. In fact, he clinched the title at Charlotte. He won nine races in the Busch Series, and in fact completed all but ONE lap. For the whole season. Ironically, Charlotte was where he finished a lap down for the only time that year. On the Cup side, he scored his first win of the season in the spring race at Phoenix. While he was running well between his first two wins, he didn't win again until the Glen, when Kurt Busch committed into the pits just before the final caution came out. He stole that win BIG TIME. He should have wore a ski mask underneath that helmet! A few weeks later, he would post consecutive wins for the first (and only) time in his career, winning at Richmond and Loudon (to start the Chase). His final win would come at Phoenix, narrowly holding off a hard-charging Jimmie Johnson. Harvick would be the first driver to sweep Phoenix (since duplicated last year by Johnson).

During the 500, Harvick didn't have the best car, but his crew did a great job adjusting to the changing conditions, getting the car better as the race wore on. He had a solid car, one I thought would be a top 10 car. But as the laps wound down, he kept moving up. The final lap, particularly coming out of Turn 4, was epic. It was a drag race between Harvick and Mark Martin. Martin lost his drafting partner when Kyle Busch got in an accident, triggering the Big One behind Harvick and Martin. In the melee, Matt Kenseth gave Harvick a big enough push to give Harvick the win by 0.020 seconds, the closest finish in Daytona 500 history. Who would have thought that race would be Harvick's most recent win?

While Harvick has been winless since as far as points races go, he did make the Chase both in 2007 and 2008. He won the All-Star race in 2007 and the Bud Shootout in early February. But after Atlanta, when he finished fourth, his luck went south in a hurry. He wouldn't have another top 10 finish until the Brickyard 400, where he finished sixth.

THE CREW SWAP

Going into the season, Harvick had Todd Berrier as his crew chief. Berrier as crew chief led Harvick to the 2001 Busch Series title. But it wasn't until late in the 2005 season that Harvick and Berrier would be reunited. Immediately they clicked again. Harvick finished 2005 strong, with high hopes for 2006. With Berrier on the pit box, Harvick made the Chase three consecutive years from 2006 to 2008. In 2006, Harvick was one of four drivers that still had a chance to win the Cup championship at Homestead. But as the years wore on, it is my opinion that the #29 team stagnated while many of the other teams got better. This culminated in a crew swap with the #07 crew. Happy, he wasn't. He lost his confidante, his "security blanket", so to speak. IMO, Childress panicked. He wasn't used to seeing Harvick run this poorly. But it wasn't the crew. It was the engine builders that gave him crappy engines. It was the car chief that poorly executed a game plan on race day. And it was also not-so-Happy.

BAD LUCK

Where do I start? Do I start with Sam Hornish Jr (TWICE)? David Stremme? Cut tires? Blown engines? Bad pit stops? I'll pick on Stremme. He drove recklessly in the esses at the Glen, wrecking Harvick and causing significant damage to the A-frame of the #29 car. A top ten car went down the drain. Understandably, Harvick was pissed off. He basically said that Stremme needs to work on a new skill set. (My words added here: because the road courses are beyond his ability as a driver.)

CONCLUSION

Which brings me to this: where will Happy go next year? It's possible he's not going anywhere, as Childress will have Happy honor the final year of his contract. In the offseason, Happy and RC need to sit down and have a powwow. Tony Stewart has stated he's not immediately expanding to three teams. There's no room at the Hendrick Inn. Red Bull is staying with Toyota. Logically, Happy stays at RCR but doesn't sign an extension. If they don't make the Chase next year, he's released from the #29 early and perhaps Stephen Leicht finishes the season driving the #29 on an interim basis. But stranger things have happened.