Harvick takes eighth second-place finish of 2015 in stride at Pocono

Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick pretty much owned the weekend at Pocono Raceway, but when the checkered flag flew at the end of Sunday's Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400, the defending Sprint Cup champion watched Martin Truex Jr. score the win.

Harvick's No. 4 Chevrolet was the class of the field during Friday and Saturday's practices and qualifying, leading every session with the exception of the final round of qualifying.

Heading into Sunday's 400-mile race, Harvick was certainly the talk of the garage and seen as one of the drivers to beat.

However, as the race went on, Harvick struggled to get up to speed in third gear on the restarts. Still, he was able to overcome the slight issue and remained a factor at the front of the field for the entirety of the event.

Despite having a fast race car and leading three times for a total of 39 laps, Harvick could only muster second place on the final run to the checkered flag.

"We just couldn't go on restarts," Harvick said. "We would lug really bad in third gear and just had to go into defense mode. We struggled in Turn 1 with the splitter on the ground. But, all in all, just a good job by my Budweiser team. Things aren't lining up to win races right now, but all in all everybody is doing a great job."

Harvick recorded wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway early in the season, and has finished in the top two in 10 out of the first 14 races.

While finishing second for the eighth time this season wasn't fun, watching the feel-good story of Truex finally getting back to Victory Lane eased Harvick's disappointment at Pocono.

"I'm really happy for Martin. I know he went through a lot," Harvick said. "And for him, and Sherry (Pollex, girlfriend). If you're going to lose to somebody today, that's a great person to lose to."