Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.
Or is it Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick?
They’ve won four of the last six Cup races, including the past two, and came within a late caution flag of being the last two Brickyard 400 winners at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s race (4 p.m. ET on NBC).
MORE: Indianapolis weekend schedule
MORE: Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick 1-2 in Power Rankings
“For the most part, when we have had chances to win races, we have won them,” Harvick said. “I think Sunday (at Pocono) was probably the only one that I could point to and say that we had the car to win the race and didn’t win the race. I think for the majority of the races that we have had chances to win we have capitalized on those situations.”
That Pocono race Sunday? Harvick finished second to Hamlin, who has won two of the last four races.
“I would say specifically the last 10 to 11 (races) we’ve been exceptional, really since coming back from the break that we had,” Hamlin said. “I thought we’ve been really good.
“My team is really strong. They’re doing a lot of really good work at the race shop preparing our cars to be set up, optimized right from the first run of the day.
“Where we’re really struggling is not getting stage points. I think we’d be winning the regular season if we could get some. The way the races have played out, we’ve kind of made our bed to try to win the race because we’ve had race‑winning cars. I’ll definitely take race wins over stage wins, especially knowing that a race win counts for five (playoff points).”
Harvick enters Sunday’s race at Indy as the defending winner. He led 118 of 160 laps in last year’s race, winning by more than six seconds.
In 2018, Hamlin led at Indy when a caution with six laps to go took away his advantage. Brad Keselowski passed Hamlin coming to the white flag and won.
If not Harvick or Hamlin this weekend, Keselowski could be one to watch.
“My confidence level right now is very, very high that we can be a contender for the entire season and continue to build and get stronger,” said Keselowski, who has two wins and eight top-10 finishes since the season resumed in May. “Very, very pleased to see how the team has come together. … Now we’re starting to show a lot of speed. I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential.”
Even with Keselowski’s success, Harvick and Hamlin have been stout. This is how dominant Harvick and Hamlin have been all season and since May:
Most wins this year (15 races)
- Denny Hamlin (4 wins)
- Kevin Harvick (3 wins)
- Joey Logano (2 wins)
- Brad Keselowski (2 wins)
Most wins since season resumed (11 races)
- Denny Hamlin (3 wins)
- Kevin Harvick (3 wins)
- Brad Keselowski (2 wins)
Most top-five finishes this year (15 races)
- Denny Hamlin (9 top 5s)
- Kevin Harvick (8 tops 5s)
- Chase Elliott (7 top 5s)
- Ryan Blaney (7 top 5s)
- Kyle Busch (7 top 5s)
Most top-five finishes since season resumed (11 races)
- Denny Hamlin (8 top 5s)
- Kevin Harvick (7 top 5s)
- Chase Elliott (6 top 5s)
- Ryan Blaney (6 top 5s)
Most top 10 finishes this season (15 races)
- Kevin Harvick (12 top 10s)
- Denny Hamlin (10 top 10s)
- Brad Keselowski (10 top 10s)
Most top 10 finishes since season resumed (11 races)
- Kevin Harvick (8 top 10s)
- Denny Hamlin (8 top 10s)
- Brad Keselowski (8 top 10s)
- Martin Truex Jr. (8 top 10s)