Kevin Harvick preps for duel in the desert — and dangerous obstacles

Kevin Harvick is scary good at Phoenix International Raceway. His secret? A little Disney magic.

“I went to Disney World one time and I found this magic wand,” he said, laughing, “and I wave it here.”

Harvick didn’t show off his mystical prize that presumably has given him the push to win five of the last six races here, and six of the last eight. But he did dove-tail it into more plausible specifics involving teamwork, engineering and his crew.

“I think they are very open to changing things to get them how I like them,” he said. “I have a specific way that I like to let off the brake and get back to the throttle. I want the car to feel here. So it seems like we are always changing a lot of things, migrating back to a lot of things, and have the balance of the car different from time to time. We are usually searching for something that I like that they are good to try and adapt to.”

All the forces of nature, magical or otherwise, will need to be in play for Harvick during Sunday’s Can-Am 500. Harvick needs a victory here to advance to the Chase Final Four in Homestead next weekend to try to win his second championship in three years.

Win and he’s in the following Sunday. Lose and it’s time to move onto the 2017 in a few months.

“Anything can happen and we just have to control the things that we can control and try to put ourselves in position to where we usually do and see where it all falls,” Harvick said. “That is what makes all this here exciting and really what I like about it is the sense of the unknown, the competition, the effort and the thought and everything that goes into that is intriguing for me.”

Harvick may have to worry about some other unknowns in play, specifically the presence of Austin Dillon in the lineup. Harvick dumped Dillon at Texas last weekend, prompting the threat of retaliatory payback.

“He didn’t like it that the silver-spoon kid was out-running him tonight. ... There are two more weeks [for possibly payback],” Dillon said after the incident.

Dillon was more composed this Friday while addressing reporters.

“I don’t really have no comment,” he said. “I’m here to race and win this race.”

Isn’t everybody?

The problem is that of the 40 drivers, just six — Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Joe Logano — have a shot to secure the two available Chase spots. Desperate men will do desperate things. Kyle Busch already has said he would “absolutely” take out anyone if it meant a victory, including any of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.

Harvick has never been a shy guy either, and his documented run-ins with his own family; that being Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch, who also happens to be in a must-win situation.

“Lots of math can be thrown into it,” Busch said. “There’s lot of variables. Teammates that are in. Teammates that are out. In all honesty, it comes to raw speed. It comes down to execution and being able to have the perfect type of race. That’s what this format demands.”

No pressure. And good times all around, kids, especially with the x-factor of a rival who may not want to play nice.

“He is mad and he should be mad,” Harvick said of Dillon. “They are just starting to perform like they need to perform and he wants to win and he is a competitor and I can’t blame him for that. So yeah, I reached out to him and he didn’t reach back. So it is what it is.”

What it is is high drama in the desert, with or without a little Disney magic.

gdiaz@orlandosentinel.com