For third time, Harvick takes title at Atlanta
HAMPTON, Ga. — Kevin Harvick turned in another dominating run at Atlanta Motor Speedway, cruising to victory over Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in the NASCAR Cup’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday.
Competing again in front of empty grandstands, Harvick won for the second time since NASCAR returned from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, adding to his emotional victory May 17 at Darlington in the first race back.
Harvick came into the day having led 1,138 laps on the 1.54mile Atlanta trioval, far more than any other driver in the 40car field.
This one was more of the same. Harvick has three victories at Atlanta, following up his triumphs in 2001 and 2018.
“It’s one of my favorite tracks, for sure,” Harvick said. “I love to win here.”
On a reverse victory lap, Harvick held three fingers outside his car, a tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt.
Harvick was the driver who replaced Earnhardt after the seventime champion was killed in a crash at Daytona in 2001. A few weeks later, Harvick earned his first Cup victory in Atlanta.
He now has 51 wins, breaking a tie with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for the 12th spot on the career list.
“To be able to celebrate how much Dale Earnhardt meant to me at a track where I got my first win because he wasn’t in the car was pretty special,” Harvick said.
Seventime Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, in what might have been his final Atlanta appearance, was given the honor of delivering the “start your engines” command to his fellow drivers. The speedway also renamed a towering grandstand in honor of Johnson, who is retiring as a fulltime competitor at the end of the year.
A fivetime winner at Atlanta, Johnson had another strong run Sunday, but his seventhplace showing extended a winless streak of more than three years.
NASCAR returned to Atlanta to make up a race that initially was scheduled for March 15. It became the first race to be postponed as U.S. sports largely shut down to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
This time, it was the spot where NASCAR acknowledged the social unrest in the country and vowed to do a better job of addressing racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police last month in Minneapolis.
Bubba Wallace, the only African American in the toplevel series, donned a black Tshirt with the words “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Wallace finished 21st and appeared to faint after climbing from his car. He said he was OK and did a portion of a television interview, but then wasn’t able to speak. He was taken by ambulance to the infield care center, where he appeared to be sitting up as he was taken inside.
The 40 cars pulled to a stop in front of the grandstands during the warmup laps, shutting off their engines so NASCAR President Steve Phelps could deliver a message over their radio sets.
“Our country is in pain and people are justifiably angry, demanding to be heard,“Phelps said. “The black community and all people of color have suffered in our country, and it has taken far too long for us to hear their demands for change. Our sport must do better. Our country must do better.”
After Phelps spoke, the drivers observed a 30second moment of silence. Then, as the cars refired their engines and slowly pulled away for the green flag, the Fox telecast cut to a video made by a number of Cup drivers, including Wallace and Johnson.
Several drivers also posted the video on their Twitter accounts, vowing to “listen and learn” from the protests that have rocked the nation. They vowed to “no longer be silent” and pledged to “work together to make real change.”