Thanks to his win in the Hollywood Casino 400, Harvick moved up a spot in the standings to third with six races remaining in the Chase. More importantly, he cut 14 points into his deficit as he now sits 25 points behind series leader Matt Kenseth.

"We are just having fun," Harvick said. "Everybody wrote us off at the beginning of the year, especially from a media standpoint. We are just going to go do our thing and hopefully keep doing it quietly and have fun at it."

The hard part is if he does things quietly, he won't win the championship. It is going to take wins and top-five finishes to capture the crown.

Kenseth has two wins in the first four Chase races to go along with seventh- and 11th-place finishes. Jimmie Johnson, who is second in the standings, has finished fifth, fourth, first and sixth.

Harvick had finishes of third, sixth and 20th coming into Kansas. More telling, he had led just 53 laps all season before Sunday, when he led 138.

But the series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Harvick won in May, this weekend.

"We've just got to keep doing what we did today to be a contender," said team owner Richard Childress. "I don't think top-10s will win a championship when you're racing Jimmie Johnson and the group of guys that's up there.

"We've been there before, and hopefully this time we can pull it off."

Childress has not won a title since Dale Earnhardt in 1994 -- 19 years ago.

If he wins one with Harvick, it will have to be this year as Harvick will leave after this season for Stewart-Haas Racing.

"It's business, but it's also you have a sense of pride, and your ego just has a hard time taking the fact that you did it like everybody else," Harvick said.

"That's what we talked about. You don't want to do it like everybody else. You want to go out with a sense of success and (that) everything has gone well."


STEWART HAS MORE SURGERY


Tony Stewart had a third surgery on his broken right leg Monday morning, which his team characterized as a "proactive measure" and will not impact his scheduled return for the start of the 2014 season.

The three-time Cup champion broke his leg Aug. 5 in a sprint-car crash at Southern Iowa Speedway. A torque tube, part of the driveshaft, pierced his right leg, breaking his tibia and fibula.

Stewart had surgery that night to stabilize and clean the wound and then another surgery Aug. 8 to insert a titanium road inside the tibia.

The surgery Monday was to examine and close a wound on his right shin.

Stewart said Sept. 3 that he had hoped not to have any additional surgeries.

Stewart, who has missed the past eight races and will miss the remainder of the season, expects to be recovered in time for the start of the 2014 season.


FRANCHITTI RECOVERING


Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will remain in Houston for the next few days as he recovers from a frightening crash on the last lap of the Houston grand prix over the weekend.

Franchitti's car went airborne into the fence during Sunday's race. He broke his right ankle, fractured two vertebrae in his spine and suffered a concussion. He had surgery on the ankle Sunday night and was hospitalized.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing said Monday that Franchitti "will remain in Houston for a few days" and then be taken to Indianapolis for further evaluation.

Franchitti thanked his fans for their support.

The wreck also injured and IndyCar official and 13 fans, including two who were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Franchitti, a four-time IndyCar champion, ran 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup and 18 Nationwide Series races in 2007-08 for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Franchitti's wife, actress Ashley Judd, rushed to Franchitti's side after the accident and thanked fans for their support. Judd was a fixture at NASCAR races while Franchitti was racing there, as she has been throughout his IndyCar career.


TWEETS OF THE DAY

What sports figures are cramming into 140 characters that you’ve got to hear.

"Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes. They mean a lot to me. I would also like to send my best to all the fans involved in the accident and hope that everyone is alright." -- IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, who was involved in a frightening crash in Houston on Sunday

"Don't forget @dariofranchitti #GetWellSoon" -- NASCAR's Mark Martin

"Always a good weekend when you wake up and the motor home still reeks of beer!!" -- Kevin Harvick, who won at Kansas on Sunday

Contributors: Bob Pockrass, Sporting News staff