Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick may be the fiercest of competitors on the race track but they have a lot of respect beyond the track.
Considered to be the two major contenders to take home the 2020 Championships, this season has been blessed with a number of battles for wins between Harvick and Hamlin.
These two drivers combined for 13 wins in the 26 regular-season races in the 2020 season. Harvick had the most with seven wins and Hamiln six.
Hamlin spoke of the respect that his team has for his championship rivals.
“I don’t think so simply because the championship is won in the final race where I think if this was a 10-week playoff where the champion was crowned after his 10-race performance then yeah, maybe there’s an opportunity there for head games or whatever it might be,” Hamlin said. “Even though I think we’re pretty much old and too old for that. We have a lot of respect between each other, our teams do as well, and we’re going to battle each other at some point in these playoffs.”
Meanwhile, Harvick is not narrowing down on just one team and rather focusing on his own team to improve his performances in the playoffs.
“I think everybody is aware of where everybody is and who is doing good and who is doing bad,” Harvick said. “Yeah, it’s definitely not something that we’ve been calling each other up and saying, ‘Hey, what do you think?’ It’s the distance understanding of what each other is doing and who is doing what and just trying to do the best you can for your team.”
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