Harvick races to 3rd straight win
Kevin Harvick raced to his third straight NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, holding off Kyle Busch for his recordextending ninth win at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.
Harvick patted the back window of the No. 4 StewartHaas Racing Ford in celebration, a nod to penalties in part fueled by social-media photos last week of his buckled rear window after his victory in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been mad as all get out because this team does a great job,” Harvick said. “This organization does a great job and we’ve got fast race cars. And to take that away from those guys just really (ticked) me off last week.
“To come here to a race track that is so good for us is a lot of fun and everyone was just determined this week, and we just wanted to just go stomp them. We didn’t stomp them, but we won. That’s all that really matters. Just proud of this team. Put a fire in our belly.”
Also the winner in Atlanta after crashing and finishing 31st in the season-opening Daytona 500, Harvick is the first driver to win three straight Cup races since Joey Logano in 2015.
Harvick got in front of Busch on the last series of pit stops on the mile oval. Busch’s team dropped the jack and had trouble with the right rear tire on his stop with 53 laps left, allowing Harvick — who pitted three laps earlier — to slip ahead en route to his 40th Cup victory.
Harvick took the lead with 22 laps left when Ryan Newman made his last stop on the sunny afternoon after morning rain. Busch finished 0.774 of a second back.
Chase Elliott was third, followed by Denny Hamlin, polesitter Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Eric Jones and Kurt Busch.
Kyle Busch won the first 75-lap stage, and brother Kurt Busch took the second in a one-lap shootout after a caution period.
IndyCar Series: Sebastien Bourdais wept as he crossed the finish line for his second consecutive victory at the seasonopening race at St. Petersburg, Fla.
The win was a milestone for him in his recovery from serious injuries suffered in a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Across the paddock, Robert Wickens fumed at the disastrous turn of events that had cost him a victory in his IndyCar debut. He dominated the event and had the win in his grip until contact with Northern Californian Alexander Rossi on a restart took him out of contention.
Bourdais, meanwhile, slid by both cars from third for the victory. He acknowledged that his tears came at the realization of how far he has come since May, when he suffered several fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip when he crashed during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
“This one is emotional because we had to overcome a few bumps and a ball of fire and a few broken bones to come back to this victory circle,” Bourdais said.
It was the 37th career victory for the Frenchman, who ranks sixth on IndyCar’s all-time list. Bourdais trails Al Unser by two wins for fifth on the list.