Harvick earns 2nd win in row
Vegas victory is his 100th across three national series.
LAS VEGAS — Kevin Harvick raced to his second straight NASCAR Cup win with a dominant performance at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, earning his 100th career win across the three national series.
Harvick followed up his stellar performance last weekend in Atlanta with another lopsided victory in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. He led 209 of the 267 laps, won all three stages and even held off a late charge from local product Kyle Busch to win in Vegas for the second time in four years.
“These last two weeks, we’ve just hit on everything we needed to,” Harvick said. “My (team has) done their homework on a number of things. Just really proud of everybody.”
Busch got close to his second career victory in his hometown with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but couldn’t overcome the dominant leader. Kyle Larson finished third after winning the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, while defending champion Martin Truex Jr. was in fourth and pole-sitter Ryan Blaney in fifth.
Harvick has already matched his Cup win total from last season in three races — and he’s headed to Phoenix, where he has won five times since 2012.
Only Richard Petty, Kyle Busch and David Pearson have won more races across the three national circuits than Harvick, the 42-yearold Californian.
“Winning 100 races is something that I never thought I would do,” Harvick said. “They’re hard to win, and I’ve been fortunate to sit in a lot of good race cars.”
Not many wins are more emphatic than Harvick’s 100th.
Harvick led 144 of the first 160 laps and comfortably won the first two stages. He was fourth out of the endof-stage caution after Stage 2, with Joey Logano getting in front with an exceptional pit stop.
But Harvick reclaimed the lead off another restart with 73 laps to go after Kurt Busch wrecked along with Chase Elliott. Harvick emerged from his last pit stop with a three-second lead on Brad Keselowski, and Busch couldn’t catch up.
Harvick was even more dominant in Vegas than Truex last year. Truex led all three stages and 150 laps last year on his way to a victory that propelled him into his championship season.
Doing recon: For the first time, NASCAR is returning to Vegas in the fall for a second race, which will also be the playoff opener. Teams used this trip to gather data and information for the return trip in September, although the temperature could easily be 50 degrees higher than the balmy 53 degrees at Sunday’s race. “The adjustments we made today are going to help in the fall,” Kyle Busch said. “(Although) I think the track is going to be a lot slower with the heat.”
KuBu can’t do: Kurt Busch’s career-long victory drought in his hometown continues. Busch lost control and ran Elliott into the wall shortly after a restart early in the final stage. The crash necessitated a long caution for fluid cleanup. The 39-year-old Busch has never won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which was built while he grew up in town. Kurt Busch failed to win the Cup race in Vegas for the 17th time.
Saturday’s Games Sunday’s Games
(At) Hawks 113, Suns 112: Taurean Prince hit the goahead 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds remaining and finished with 22 points, helping Atlanta hold off Phoenix. Devin Booker’s potential winner for the Suns, a 15-foot shot from the right baseline, bounced off the rim with Tyler Dorsey defending as time expired. T.J. Warren scored 35 points, and Elfrid Payton had 11 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 14 assists for Phoenix. Booker finished with 20 points, ending a streak of four straight games in which he had at least 30.
Pacers 98, (at) Wizards 95: Victor Oladipo scored 33 points, Bojan Bogdoanovic added 20 and Indiana won to overtake the Wizards by a half-game in the crowded Eastern Conference standings. Bradley Beal scored 22 points and had a career-high 11 assists for Washington, which lost its third straight for the first time this season.
(At) Raptors 103, Hornets 98: DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Toronto earned its 11th win in 12 games. Serge Ibaka scored 17 points and Kyle Lowry had 14 as the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors completed their first season sweep of Charlotte since 2006-07.
Pelicans 126, (at) Mavericks 109: Jrue Holiday scored 30 points, Nikola Mirotic added 24 in a rare start and New Orleans won its eighth in a row. Anthony Davis had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans, scoring most of his points from inside 5 feet. Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 23 points for Dallas, passing Elvin Hayes for eighth all-time in field goals with 10,980.
(At) Bucks 118, 76ers 110: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points and seven assists, Eric Bledsoe added 22 points and seven assists, and Milwaukee held off Philadelphia. Dario Saric scored 25 points for the Sixers, and Ben Simmons added 12 points and 15 assists.
Knicks at Kings: Late
Nets at Clippers: Late
Today’s Games