Joey Logano beat Kevin Harvick on Saturday at Phoenix … which would be big news were it in a Sprint Cup race.
Instead, Logano was fastest qualifier for the Xfinity Series race, the Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200. Then he came back and won the race, too.
There are a lot of periods there. For provide an exclamation point, Logano must beat Harvick in Sunday's Campingworld.com 500. Green flag: 3:30 p.m. ET from Phoenix International Raceway.
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Logano has been really good this season, starting with his Daytona 500 victory. Remember who he beat in that race? Harvick.
But with his win at Las Vegas last week, Harvick marked himself as the hottest driver on the circuit. Not only is he coming off winning the Chase for the Sprint Cup last fall, he finished first or second in his past six races.
The guy is a machine. Right, Joey?
"He's human like everyone else so, I mean he's beatable, believe me," Logano said.
Well, OK then. Logano qualified in second place for Sunday's race (Harvick, of course, will be on the pole). And an Xfinity race isn't a Cup race.
Still, even Harvick admitted he is fallible.
"There's just so many circumstances you can't control," Harvick told media members after Friday's qualifying. "There's so many things that can go wrong. There's so many mistakes you can make. Make some bad decisions as we go through practice and miss the balance to start the race. There's just a lot of things that can go wrong."
Among those listening? Logano. And don't think he's just some snot-nosed whippersnapper who doesn't respect his elders. Logano knows the challenge he faces in chasing Harvick.
"He just knows what he needs in his race car. Whether he's figuring that out in practice and making his car good for the race that way or if it's a setup thing," Logano said. "I doubt it's a setup thing because he's been fast in both cars he has driven here. … I think it's something that he looks for and a feel that he's able to maintain his tires for that long run."
Logano has a fast Ford. Harvick has a fast Chevy. Both perform well at Phoenix, where it only seems Harvick has won every race. It's only the past three, and three of the past four. But who's counting?
Sunday, we get another Logano-Harvick duel, with 41 other cars ready, willing and able to affect the outcome.