For the second race in a row, Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team administered a one-sided beatdown upon the rest of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage.

Through at least three weeks, it appears as if the rest of the division is chasing the "Freaky Fast" Ford Fusion. But the two highest championship finishers say they aren’t feeling outclassed quite yet.

Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. finished second and fourth on Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both Toyota drivers weren’t bad, they just couldn’t keep the pace set by Harvick for the second week in a row.

Busch closed to within three seconds of Harvick in the final 20 laps but couldn’t navigate lapped traffic as well as Harvick managed to do.

"We were just so far back, by the time he’d get through traffic, I’d get the traffic and I’d get held up and he’d drive away," Busch said after the race. "We were kind of accordioning back and forth that last two runs of the race. Overall, a great M&M's Caramel Camry. The guys did a great job bringing a really great car.

"I wouldn’t say we were far off, it was just the tires from qualifying. We were really, really loose to start the race and we adjusted on it and got better and a lot closer as the day went."

Defending champion Truex finished fourth but had to battle for it after a two-tire strategy cost him track position in the early portion of the final stage.

"It was up and down for sure, it was a battle," Truex said. "We battled the car, battled track position a lot and had some trouble in the pits here and there. All in all, good solid day. We started fourth and finished fourth, it sounds easy, but there was a lot going on in between there that we had to overcome. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I’m proud of everybody. Still trying to figure it out and we’ll just keep working forward here."

But neither driver, one off-season removed from finishing 1-2 in the Championship Race, is feeling the pressure to match the two victories already tallied by Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers. Busch said it’s a long time until the playoffs begin.

"It’s early," Busch said. "This is only race three; we aren’t worried yet. Show me that race 26 through 36."

Truex feels the same way.

"I don’t know if they’ve picked it up quicker than we have or the rules have benefited their body style more than it did ours," Truex said. "We had to change some things from how we did them last year and it appears those guys are really quick right now. We have to hand it to them, they did their homework and they’re really fast and they’re doing a good job.

"I’m not going to be the one that sits here and says there’s an unfair advantage because I haven’t figured that out yet. We’re going to go back to work and we’ve got some things coming that we’ve been working on. We’re right there, we just can’t get the balance of our car where we need it. Just been struggling with getting it to turn good enough these last two weeks and when we get that figured out we’ll be right there with them."

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