AVONDALE, Ariz. — This season has played out as a battle between Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports. All the while, Kevin Harvick was holding his own with NASCAR’s heavyweights.

With his season on the line, it was Harvick who stepped up to earn the right to race for his first Sprint Cup title. He’ll do it with a Stewart-Haas Racing team that was in sync from the first time Harvick drove his new No. 4 Chevrolet in December and showed almost every week he could hang with the Hendrick and Penske drivers.

Harvick’s dominating victory Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway in a must-win race earned him one of the four berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He’ll race Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman next Sunday for the championship, and the highest finishing driver will claim the title.

“You can pretty much sum this whole year up as `Holy cow,”’ said Harvick. “It’s definitely the best position I’ve ever been in.”