Kevin Harvick’s chances for 4 straight wins demolished after contact with Kyle Larson

Kevin Harvick wasn’t knocked out of the Auto Club 400 in Stage 1, but his chances of a fourth straight win fell apart just like his No. 4 Ford after hard contact with Kyle Larson.

Everything was going according to plan for Kevin Harvick during Stage 1 of the Auto Club 400 as he and his No. 4 team sought their fourth straight NASCAR Cup Series victory. After starting 10th, he was moving up toward the front, making it through the first round of green flag pit stops without incident.

He was battling with Kyle Larson within the top five, and the FOX race broadcast was just about to go to commercial.

Then the unthinkable happened, at least by this season’s standards.

Expect there to be a ton of conversation and debate about this one. After dueling for several laps for position, Larson appeared to get Harvick loose. As the Fox Sports crew pointed out, it appeared that he might have come down on purpose to express his displeasure with how Larson was racing him, and as Darrell Waltrip noted, it didn’t work out.

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The 4 team’s side of the story is sure to be somewhat different. Even with significant damage to multiple areas of his Ford, Harvick wasn’t knocked out of the race due to the incident, with his crew able to get him back on the track within the six minutes permitted for repairs. However, there’s little doubt that his chances at a fourth straight Cup Series victory went by the wayside as soon as he went into the wall, the most surprising thing that could have happened early on Sunday afternoon.