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Kevin Harvick wants to ‘give grief’ to Eddie Gossage with first Texas win

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500

FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 08: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, leads the field during pace laps prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 8, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)

Chris Graythen

A pair of six-shooters is missing from Kevin Harvick’s trophy case.

This isn’t any pair of six-shooters. They’re given to the winner of Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway.

They’re missing because Harvick has never won them.

Harvick has won 92 times in NASCAR’s three national series. Six of those victories came at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth - five coming in the Xfinity Series and one in the Camping World Truck Series, where he has three more as an owner.

But in his 26 career starts in the Cup series, Harvick has been left watching someone else point their guns up into the Texas sky in celebration.

“That is kind of the running joke with (TMS president) Eddie Gossage,” Harvick said in a team release. “Victory lane is open after Sprint Cup races, too?”

Harvick has been close in recent years, finishing in the top three in the last three visits and leading 109 laps. But the front running is a new development for Harvick.

Before 2015, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver had led only eight laps at Texas in Cup races. He finished in the top five just once between 2006-14.

“Any time you can give grief back to Eddie, you’re doing good,” Harvick said. “I think when you look at everything that happened last year, I mean, it’s just a matter of putting the day together and having it all go your way.”

Putting it all together has been a struggle at times for Harvick’s team since he joined Stewart-Haas Racing, despite winning the 2014 championship.

Harvick has finished second 20 times since 2014 and failed to win after leading the most laps 16 times.

Should he gain admittance to TMS’ victory lane Saturday night and give grief to Gossage, it would leave just three active tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit he hasn’t earned a win at. They are Kentucky Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and Pocono Raceway.

Harvick led 96 laps in last year’s edition of the Duck Commander 500 before losing the lead on Lap 311 under caution. He would spend that last green-flag run trying to chase down race winner Jimmie Johnson.

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