USA TODAY International Edition
Harvick captures Michigan race
Just like last summer, Stewart-Haas driver wins
It was deja vu for Kevin Harvick at Michigan.
Just as he did one year ago, Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway after topping Denny Hamlin on Sunday for his second win of the season. Harvick then picked up his son, Keelan, on pit road for a victory burnout in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford before coming to a stop on the start-finish line.
“Keelan asked me, ‘If you win today, I can get in the car today, right?’ ” Harvick told NBC Sports as Keelan ran over to collect the checkered flag and bring it back to his father. Keelan then got in on the interview action.
“It was kind of scary at first,” Keelan said about the burnout, “but then I liked it.”
Harvick passed Joey Logano for the lead with 17 laps remaining in the Consumers Energy 400 and built a big enough cushion to hold off hard-charging Hamlin as a number of cars had to hit pit road before the end of the race to add a splash of fuel. That included Logano as well as his Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. Kurt Busch was among a handful of drivers who ran out of fuel on the final lap.
“Winning races is what it’s all about,” said Harvick, who earned his 47th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win to pass Buck Baker for 16th place on the alltime list. “It takes a lot of people to build these race cars. We come here to Michigan to win these races for Ford.”
Kyle Larson, a three-time winner at Michigan, had another strong run to finish third, with Stage 1 winner Martin Truex Jr. coming home fourth and Daniel Suarez fifth. Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman rounded out the top 10.
Bowyer bounced: Clint Bowyer, who was having a much-needed strong points day to keep himself on the positive side of the playoff bubble, took a hard hit following the Stage 3 restart. Bowyer slammed into the wall on lap 137 of 200, incurring severe right-side damage on his No. 14 Ford. Bowyer, who came into the race sitting 15th in the standings, appeared to have been contacted by Paul Menard’s car before hitting the wall. Bowyer’s day ended with the crash.
“Somebody got in the back of me,” a dejected Bowyer said. “As soon as it happened, I was just along for the ride.
... You can talk about the bubble and worrying about points, but I am way more worried about getting established and running up front at these types of racetracks. If you make the playoffs and can’t compete in it, then what is the use?”
Stage 2: The second segment began with a two-lap shootout following a caution and ended with another yellow flag for a multi-car incident. Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Ford slid up the racetrack on the white-flag lap, making contact with the No. 8 Chevrolet of Daniel Hemric and the No. 3 Chevy of Austin Dillon. While Dillon slid through the grass, Almirola and Hemric took the brunt of the damage.
Kyle Busch earned his ninth stage win of the season after taking the lead on the restart. Truex finished second
and Kurt Busch third. Logano, who won at Michigan earlier this season, came home fourth, followed by Erik Jones, Elliott, Blaney, Byron, Bowyer and Menard.
Super save: Keselowski lost a tire in Turn 3 but made a huge save to keep his No. 2 Ford from hitting the wall. The Team Penske driver then spun down the track, landing in the grass and bringing out the caution with four laps remaining. Keselowski, a Michigan native, started on the pole and was aiming for his first Cup win on his home track.
Stage 1: Truex took no tires during a green-flag pit stop to put himself in the lead, then battled and held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin to win the opening segment and earn his third stage win of the season. Truex had started the race from the rear after failing post-qualifying inspection, but his No. 19 Toyota zoomed through the field, making up 15 spots in the first five laps before working his way into the top 10 and then top five.
Hamlin finished second, Keselowski third and Logano fourth. Byron finished fifth, followed by Harvick, Blaney, Bowman, Elliott and Almirola.
Rough ride: Jimmie Johnson careened into the Turn 2 wall on lap 15, damaging his right rear quarter panel and destroying his right rear tire. The seven-time series champion, who was tied for the 16th and final playoff spot entering the race, slowly brought his car to pit road so the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports crew could make repairs.
He returned to the track three laps down but lost more laps coming back down pit road to make additional repairs.