The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Emotional Elliott makes playoffs; Harvick’s dominant season stalls
MARTINSVILLE, VA.— Kevin Harvick’s nearly perfect season came to a spinning and sudden halt Sunday when he was bounced from the playoffs in a stunning upset at Martinsville Speedway.
Georgia driver Chase Elliott won the high- stakes race to earn his first berth in the championship four. It knocked Harvick, a nine- race winner and the regular season champion, from the title round after a stunning collapse to a season spent as the favorite to win the Cup crown.
“We won nine races and had a great year. Just came up short, “Harvick said.
An amazing fall to a StewartHaas Racing team that seemed to be on cruise control heading into next Sunday’s winner- take- all finale at Phoenix.
Harvick noted NASCAR’s 10- race championship format, now split into three series of three races each, is far different from the seasonlong points battles won seven times each by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
“They aren’t wont he same way that Earn hard ta nd Petty did. You have to put together a few weeks and we didn’ t put together these last fewweeks like we needed to,” Harvick said. “That’s the system that wework in and it’s obviously
skewed more towards entertainment than the whole year. It’s exciting to watch.“
Harvick was mediocre at Martinsville and fell a lap off the pace after a flat tire. He spent most of the race below the cutline, desperately chasing points at NASCAR’s oldest and smallest speedway. He was racing for the fourth and final slot in the field, trying to catch Denny Ham lin or Brad Keselowski, in a threerace push for one final spot.
Harvick was one point below the cut line when Elliott crossed the finish line. He
needed top ass one car ahead of him — Kyle Busch, Hamlin’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing — to grab that point and Busch wasn’t going to make it easy.
Harvick tried to knock Busch out of hisway in a desperate effort as they closed in on the finish line. Both cars spun and Harvick’s season was done.
“It was just a move I had to try knowing that I needed one point, “Harvick said.
Elliott, Keselowski and Ham lin will race Joey Log a no, who had already clinched his berth for Phoenix. It’s a matchup of two Fords from Team Penske against Hamlin’s Toyota and Elliott, the first Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet driver tomake the finale since Jimmie Johnson in 2016.
Hamlin, a seven- time winner this season who went race- for- race with Harvick, lamented not getting a shot at his rival in Phoenix.
“I feel bad for Kevin. I think they deserve to be in. They have nine wins. There’ s not a person on this planet that would say they aren’t a top- four team,“Hamlin said. “We wanted to create a Game 7 moment, so this iswhat you get.”
Along with Harvick, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were eliminated.
Elliott scored a must- win victory to make the finale after three previous failures to advance. It’s a hugeNA SC A R’ s most popular driver and gave the beloved Elliott family its first Martinsville trophy grandfather clock.
Bill Elliott was 0- for- 45 at Martinsville in his Hall of Famecareer, and Chasewon in his 11th try.
“It’s the biggest win ever for us,” said Elliott, who earned his 10th Cup victory and career- high fourth of the season. “I’ve never been in this position before and it’s exiting.”