Harvick has high hopes
Victory at Michigan fuels championship bid
Kevin Harvick’s win at Michigan boosts his championship aspirations.
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kevin Harvick is so confident in his talent and team he doesn’t get excited when he wins.
“It’s more of an expectation,” Harvick said.
He raced to the 47th NASCAR Cup victory of his career and his second in less than a month, pulling away from the pack Sunday to win at Michigan International Speedway for the second year in a row.
With just three races before the playoffs, the timing of his latest strong performance might help him win a second championship.
“Hopefully, we’re peaking at the right time,” he said.
Late in the race, the StewartHaas Racing driver created a cushion between his Ford and the competition and finished more than a second ahead of Denny Hamlin.
“Nothing I could really do,” said Hamlin, who drove a Toyotapowered car for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Didn’t have enough speed.”
Kyle Larson was third, more than 16 seconds behind Harvick. He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and pointsleader Kyle Busch.
Seven- time champion Jimmie Johnson will have to close the regular season strong to extend his streak of earning a spot in every postseason since the format was created 15 years ago. He started the race tied for the 16th and final spot in the playoffs and slipped to 18th. Johnson had an early setback, making contact with a wall on Lap 15 that damaged his right rear quarter panel and tire, and finished 34th.
Johnson was several laps back for much of the race, but got a break potentially in the playoff scenario when Clint Bowyer was knocked out of the race after Paul Menard appeared to bump him. Bowyer began the day 15th in the playoff standings and finished 37th, putting him in 16th in the standings for the final spot.