The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
TEXAS WIN GIVES HARVICK BERTH IN SEASON FINAL
FORT WORTH — Kevin Harvick earned a shot at another NASCAR Cup championship, rocketing past pole sitter Ryan Blaney in overtime Sunday to win at Texas.
Another late caution led to a third restart in the final 35 laps, each time with Harvick leading. Harvick led 177 of the 337 laps.
After taking the inside on the first two restarts, and briefly losing the lead after the second one, Harvick opted to start from outside for the green-white-checkered finish. By time they got to the backstretch, Harvick pushed his No. 4 Ford in front and raced to his eighth win of this season.
It is the second year in a row that Harvick, the 2014 Cup champion, won the fall race at Texas to get into the final four. Harvick also won both stages at the 1½-mile Texas track, the fourth time this season he did that and went on to win the race.
With Joey Logano and Harvick locked in after winning the past two races, the series goes to Phoenix next weekend with only two spots up for grabs for the championship run at Homestead in two weeks. Kyle Busch, a seven-time winner this year, and defending Cup champion Martin Truex Jr. are among the other six title contenders. They are above the cut line, but Clint Boywer, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch or Chase Elliott could advance with a win.
Edwards misses racing, but not plotting comeback: Carl Edwards never did a celebratory backflip off his car after winning the Cup race at Texas two years ago.
When Edwards went to Victory Lane late that night after the rain-shortened race, earning a championship-contending spot in the season finale, nobody knew that less than two months later he would walk away from the last year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing without the chance for another of his trademark celebrations.
“Coach gave me an opportunity to step away when it was best for me, and that’s a gift that I can never say enough about,” Edwards said in a visit to Texas Motor Speedway over the weekend. “It was just unreal.”
There were only two more races that season, and soon after, Edwards made “a really simple decision” to focus on other things. Two years later, after a lot of world travel and plenty of time with family and friends, the 39-year-old Edwards said he has never wavered on his decision.
While he does miss driving, and the excitement and the people around racing, he doesn’t miss the constant grind that comes with being a full-time Cup driver. He doesn’t even follow NASCAR closely anymore.
“Because I’m so invested in it and it’s been so close to me, I don’t think I can follow without wanting to participate,” he said. “It would impossible for me. I try not to pay too much attention . ... If I’m going to follow it every week and do all of that, I might as well come, and then I might as well drive, and then you’re right back into it.”
Edwards earned 28 Cup wins in 445 starts from 200416, with top 10 finishes in nearly half those races (220).