King Of The Mountain; Kevin Harvick

By Mark Young

Let me be one of the few writers (a term used loosely) to actually write a piece about the winner of the Daytona 500 and not who should have won or what should have happened.  After winning the Busch Series AND the Daytona 500, Kevin Harvick is King of the mountain this week and it cannot be denied.

All weekend I was prepared to be sitting here and writing about Tony Stewart as King for the week.  I actually contemplated making him King last week after winning the Bud Shootout but decided to make Jimmie Johnson the inaugural king instead.  Tony was dominant in his 150 mile qualifying race on Thursday and with the exception of his speeding penalty was equally dominant yesterday in the 500....until he and Kurt Busch collided.

The rest of the racing world is upset that Mark Martin should have won the race had NASCAR been consistent and thrown the caution flag, and I must admit I was rooting for Mark as well.  But Harvick made a great move and won the biggest race of the NASCAR season and the first race with his own identity.  This year Kevin and his RCR team are sponsored by Shell rather than GM Goodwrench, getting him out from under Dale Earnhardt's shadow.  How fitting is it that Kevin gets his first Daytona 500 victory on the anniversary of Dale's death?

I am anxious to hear who you think should be King of the Mountain this week.