Mike Bugarewicz hasn't realized just yet that he's "Living The Dream".

"It's been really exciting, surreal and to tell you the truth it's an amazing feeling," the Lehighton native and chief engineer for NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick said four days after the latter won the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida to win "The Chase".Harvick entered the finale as one of four finalists to win the championship. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano were the other three.Bugarewicz said the final laps were really nerve-racking for him and crew chief Rodney Childers."All day long we seemed to run up front and Denny (Hamlin) always seemed to get out of the pits ahead of us," said Bugarewicz as he described the final race. Until a caution came out with 20 laps to go, it looked like it was Hamlin's race to win.The Joe Gibbs Racing Team decided to keep Hamlin out there moving him to the second spot on the restart. Richard Childress Racing had Newman come in for four fresh tires and Childers decided to have Harvick come in for four tires."Rodney and I talked prior to the caution and said if it goes yellow again, we're bringing him in for four tires," Bugarewicz said. "And then the jack doesn't come up and we lost six spots and had to start 12th with just 15 laps to go. We were angry to say the least."Then came another caution and we had life again. With four new tires, Kevin shot through the middle of the pack and moved into second."Harvick and Newman both passed Hamlin setting up a run to the finish. One more caution with three laps left saw Harvick get an incredible restart and the rest was history.Bugarewicz, who graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, got his start with Jack Roush Racing working his way up the ladder.The opportunity came to join the Stewart-Haas Racing Team last year when Harvick made the switch to join the team after racing for Richard Childress for 13 years.With an entire new crew and driver, Harvick was able to win his first championship."My first day at Stewart-Haas was December 3 last year," said Bugarewicz. "I could tell right from the start that this team was going to work well together."We won that early race at Phoenix (March 2) and went through some new team struggles," said Bugarewicz, asked when he had a feeling this team could win it all. "About 10 to 12 races in, we fine tuned our weaknesses and we just seemed to get better as the season went on."From Day 1 when I joined Stewart-Haas Racing, I was happier," said Bugarewicz, who is married and enjoying his young son Zac with his wife Kristen. "As a team we were all focused in the same direction, the atmosphere was great and it;s fun working for such a talented group. It was the best move thus far in my career."And with the most members signing a multi-year contract when they came together last December, they're chomping at the bit to shoot for that repeat in 2015.Earlier this week, they were all back in the shop cleaning up tool boxes and equipment so it could be sent out for a new paint job before Daytona roles around."It's still a blur," said Bugarewicz about the championship. "I guess it really won't sink in until the banquet on Dec. 5 out in Vegas."This meant a lot not only for me, but the entire team and my family because they know what kind of hours we put in."Life is good right now, for "Buga" as he's called around the shop. And there's no doubt about it, he's "Living The Dream".