Kevin Harvick entered this weekend’s Brickyard 400 as the odds on favorite to win Sunday’s race. He has won three of the last 11 NASCAR Cup Series races including a top two effort in both races at the Pocono Raceway last weekend.

With Pocono operating a lot like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Harvick being the defending Brickyard champion, he’d have to be the one to beat, right?

Well, the luck, or lack thereof for qualifying, may have taken him out of that role.

Harvick, drew the 11th starting spot for Sunday’s race. How does that measure up?

Only twice since 2010 has someone won this race from a starting spot outside of the top 10. Paul Menard did it on fuel strategy in 2011 and Kasey Kahne won a demolition derby in 2017. That’s it.

• 

Two of the last four winners have come from the pole — including Harvick last year. Both of Harvick’s Indy wins came from the pole in fact.

Furthermore, four of the last seven Indy winners have had a front row starting position.

Harvick, rolls off from Row 6.

While you can say that Harvick finished second from starting 20th at Pocono last Sunday and Denny Hamlin won from one spot further up (19th), that race was an invert.

The faster cars were starting mid pack on back. This week, the faster cars are all starting up front. Harvick will have a harder time coming through the top 10 this Sunday than he did last.

Plus, other than last Sunday, 11 of the past 13 Pocono races were also won from a top 10 starting spot. The only two not was a fluke win by Chris Buescher in a rain shortened race in 2016 and Kyle Busch in 2018.

Harvick, is more than likely going to have to use strategy to find the lead now and that can be frustrating to have to race that way.

“We have talked about it before the race and during the race I typically just let them handle it because they have way more information,” Harvick said of a strategy race. “From a driver’s standpoint it is a little more stressful because you aren’t really around the cars all the time that you are racing. You know if you give up a little here and there, you don’t know how much they give up through lap traffic or coming back through the field or what strategy they are on.

“From a driver standpoint it is a little more stressful and you have to push every lap to make sure you get the most out of that lap to give up the least amount of time. It is just a different style of race, which is good, right?

“You have all these different elements that play in at different styles of race tracks that aren’t the same style and element that play at all the other race tracks. It is actually more stressful in my opinion because you can’t judge it off a car that is around you. It is somewhere else on the race track but it all cycles together.”

Harvick has not won any of his races this season from outside the top 10.