He's at 5 wins in 12 starts this season. It already matches his previous career high for race wins in a single season. Harvick has 24 races left to improve on that number. Jeff Gordon's unbelievable 1998 season (13 race wins) might be in reach.
Hmmm.... Possible, but i doubt it. 13 wins in a single season is just insane. Plus, in 98 Gordon didn't really have a lot of competition, compared to the level of parity with the best teams/drivers nowadays.
Its kinda similar to comparing Richard Petty's best season (I think it was in the 60's, and it was 26 or 27 wins) with modern drivers, it was a different time. Petty got all those wins that year because he raced in more races than his closest competitors.
Back in the 60's and 70's, NASCAR was a lot more regional. Not many drivers could afford to travel to every race. Petty, being one of the few drivers with factory backing back then, did have the budget available to travel to other races that are further away.
Obviously the change between the days of Petty and Pearson to the modern era in the 80's was more drastic than the changes we've seen since the 90's, but the competition level is definitely higher now than in the 90's (for the top teams that is). With all the rule changes (no longer racing back to the yellow, stage racing, the chase/playoffs etc.) its a lot harder for a driver to just runaway with it.
Still, it'll be cool to see how many wins Harvick can get this year, even if I'm not really a fan of his