Kevin Harvick’s winning streak ends in early crash at Fontana

Contact with Kyle Larson caused Kevin Harvick to crash during the early laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway.

Kevin Harvick’s bid to win four consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races ended in a crash on Lap 37 of Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Harvick and Kyle Larson were racing for the third position when contact between them sent Harvick careening into the outside backstretch wall, heavily damaging Harvick’s No. 4 car. His Stewart-Haas Racing team was able to make repairs, but Harvick fell two laps behind. By the completion of Stage 1, Harvick had dropped another lap to the leaders.

Replays of the accident showed Harvick coming down on Larson, who was positioned to his inside, initiating the contact. Harvick radioed to his team that he was at fault for the crash, a sentiment Larson and his Chip Ganassi Racing team agreed with.

“He’s a [expletive] idiot for racing you that hard that early in the race,” said Chad Johnston, Larson’s crew chief.

Said Larson: “He’s going to be mad, but I did nothing wrong.”

Harvick was attempting to become the ninth driver in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) to win four Cup Series races in a row. Jimmie Johnson last accomplished the feat in 2007. The others: Cale Yarborough (1976), Darrell Waltrip (1981), Dale Earnhardt (1987), Harry Gant (1991), Bill Elliott (1992), Mark Martin (1993), and Jeff Gordon (1998).