Harvick Continues Atlanta Dominance with Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick was dominant on Sunday, and led 151 laps on his way to his second win of the season.  After struggling with his car’s handling at the midpoint of the race, Harvick was able to take the lead at the start of the race’s final stage and was able to pull away from Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. over the final run.

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Harvick said his team was able to get the car dialed-in at the end of the race.

“They had a great pit stop, and we had a restart on the bottom and they got my car to take off so I was able to get track position,” Harvick said.  “I could get in a rhythm and really start hitting my marks.  By about lap 25…I could drive away.”

Harvick celebrated by driving around the track backwards while holding three fingers out the window, a call back to his very first Cup Series win in 2001 after taking over for Dale Earnhardt.

Harvick said coming to Atlanta reminds him to celebrate everything Earnhardt did for the sport.

“You always come back and have those memories, and now you want to celebrate everything that Dale Earnhardt did for this sport,” Harvick said.  “To do that with wins and go to victory lane is pretty special.”

Busch finished second after running up front for most of the day and passing teammate Truex in the final 30 laps.

Busch said his team put together a strong car that could hang with Harvick.

“We ended up not too far behind the 4 [of Harvick], who’s the best here,” Busch said.  “It’s hard to beat him when you come to his ‘home turf,’ if you will.  Hopefully we can keep building on this momentum and keep rolling.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kurt Busch

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Chase Elliott

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Joey Logano

11. Austin Dillon

12. Alex Bowman

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Ryan Newman

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Tyler Reddick

17. Aric Almirola

18. Christopher Bell

19. Cole Custer

20. Clint Bowyer

21. Bubba Wallace

22. Chris Buescher

23. John Hunter Nemechek

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Ryan Preece

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Erik Jones

29. Ty Dillon

30. Brennan Poole

31. Daniel Suarez

32. Quin Houff

33. William Byron

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Garrett Smithley

36. JJ Yeley

37. Reed Sorenson

38. Joey Gase

39. Timmy Hill

40. BJ McLeod

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