Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick is at his best when he makes life difficult for himself.

A lackluster 20th-place finish last Sunday at Martinsville left the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion sixth in the Chase standings, 16 points out of the final transfer position currently held by Kyle Busch.

Then again, Harvick always has Phoenix, where he has won five of the last six races and six of the last eight. But Phoenix, the final track in the Chase’s Round of 8, is two weeks away, and Harvick seems ready to make his move toward the Championship 4 in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway at 2 pm ET on NBC.

Harvick, nicknamed “The Closer” for his ability to excel under challenging circumstances, qualified third for Sunday’s race. And after three rounds of knockout time trials, Harvick felt he left something on the track, from a speed standpoint.

“I think the car was better than the decisions that the driver made,” Harvick said of his lap in the final round. “I went into Turn 1, and I didn’t get it all the way to the bottom and pointed in the right direction before the bump. I got greedy and tried to leave the throttle down, and then it hit the bump and then it got further out of the groove, so I had to wait longer.

“(But) that’s a lot better than the spring (when Harvick qualified 22nd).  We’ve worked hard on this particular race. … I feel like we’re in a good spot.  The car’s got good speed. If I could go back and do it again, I would do a lot better.”

Harvick hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race at Texas yet, but don’t be surprised to find him in Victory Lane on Sunday. That sort of reaction to pressure has become routine for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team, which has advanced to the Championship 4 finale in each of the first two years of the Chase’s elimination format.