Kevin Harvick appeared to have picked up where he left off at Dover International Speedway last September during Sunday’s AAA 400.

The 2014 Sprint Cup Series champion started on pole after qualifying was rained out, and once the green flag flew, he didn’t look back. The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was in his own zip code during the first green flag stretch of the race, leading by as much as seven seconds.

Unfortunately for Harvick, his speed on the track didn’t carry over to pit road.

During the first round of pit stops, Harvick exited pit road second behind Carl Edwards. Harvick wasted little time getting back to the lead, however, passing Edwards one lap after restarting on Lap 46.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver continued to appear untouchable, leaving just 24 cars on the lead lap by the time the next yellow flag came out at lap 120. That’s when Harvick’s reign of dominance came to a screeching halt.

.@KevinHarvick hasn’t been happy with the team’s pit road performance today. Track position is too important to get shuffled back — Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 15, 2016

After the second round of pit stops, Harvick found himself in third place behind Edwards and Matt Kenseth. The Bakersfield, California native expressed frustration with his team on the radio, telling his team that “track position means a lot,” especially at the front of the field.

“We just keep getting further and further back,” says @KevinHarvick #NASCAR — Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) May 15, 2016

From that point on, Harvick found himself mired in traffic and never regained the lead. On Lap 204, Reed Sorenson appeared to lose an engine. Jimmie Johnson and Harvick were involved in the incident, with the 4 coming to a complete stop to avoid slamming into Sorenson.

Harvick then went to work, slicing through the field before climbing as high as fourth by Lap 343. On the ensuing restart, Harvick’s chances of victory were totally squashed when he was caught up in an 18-car pileup.

He came home in 15th, one lap behind race winner Kenseth.

If Sunday’s problems seemed familiar, they should. At Kansas, Harvick repeatedly had to pass the same cars after slow pit stops. The end result was yet another runner-up finish in a car capable of winning.

Pit road was also the bane of Harvick’s efforts at Bristol and Martinsville, keeping him in the undesired lane on restarts.

I don't have much nice to say other than we had a great car. I look fwd to being home the next 2 weeks. — Rodney Childers (@RodneyChilders4) May 15, 2016

Rodney Childers and Harvick have the speed to not only contend, but to win a championship. But until they get it together on pit road, they’ll be chasing Joe Gibbs Racing all the way to Homestead.

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