Kevin Harvick 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=kevin+harvick&iid=6617728″ src=”b/b/8/f/AAA_400_Practice_e431.jpg?adImageId=8660277&imageId=6617728″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Kevin Harvick

2009 Stats: Points finish 19th, 0 Wins, 5 Top fives, 9 Top tens, Average  finish 20.4, Average position 19.3, Laps led 103, Driver rating 74.2

2009 was a horrible year for Kevin Harvick, but 2010 looks more promising. In 2009 nothing seemed to go right for Harvick. RCR unfortunately built some bad cars for the organization and they were in a hole for basically the whole season. In the last third of the season things starting changing for Harvick and the 29 team. They started running better everywhere and for this reason Harvick fans should have nothing to dread heading into 2010.

Strengths- Harvick has always been a consistent driver. He normally doesn’t do anything flashy and saves his car for the duration of the race. Harvick is a short track and a flat track ace so if your in an allocation league look to use him at these tracks especially.

Weaknesses- 2009 was a bad year for Harvick. Even though I expect him to perform much better in 2010 its important to take note of this and proceed with caution. RCR for the most part is also always a tick behind the super teams on the intermediate tracks.

Intermediate Track Grade- B, Towards the end of 2009 the 29 team was one of the fastest teams in the garage area on this type of track. If it wasn’t for a late caution at Atlanta I believe Harvick would’ve won that race.

Flat Track Grade- A-, Harvick is as good as they come (when his car is set up right) on many of the flat tracks in the series. The only main flat track weakness of his is Pocono.

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B+, Where drivers finish doesn’t necessarily reflect how good they are on these tracks. Harvick is a skilled drafter and lets not forget he won the season opening Bud Shootout in 2009. Harvick is also a recent Daytona 500 champion. His best race in 2010 was the season opening Daytona 500 where he finished second to Matt Kenseth.

Short Track Grade- B+, Short tracks many times require aggression to succeed and Harvick has the perfect level of it. Martinsville is his weakest short track but the worst he finished there in 2009 was 11th.

Road Course Track Grade- B+, Harvick was dismal on these tracks in 2009. To me I personally view him as one of the best full time road course racers in NASCAR. He’s capable of winning at both of the road courses on the circuit.

How to use Kevin Harvick from a fantasy racing perspective in 2010?

Harvick is as talented as any driver in NASCAR. RCR just isn’t as competitive as the other teams at certain tracks. Forget about 2009 and remember how much the 29 team improved late in the season. Focus on using Harvick at the short tracks, flat tracks, road courses and restrictor plate tracks.

Click HERE for more Kevin Harvick stats

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