Harvick Dominates in the Desert, Wins at Phoenix

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday after having the most dominant car all weekend.

Kevin Harvick celebrates his first victory with Stewart-Haas Racing after leading 224 of 312 laps (Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Harvick had the fastest car in both practices during the weekend, but qualified 13^th after the debut of NASCAR’s newest qualifying procedure.  He was able to work his way through the field, and passed Joey Logano for the lead on lap 73.

Logano never left the front of the field, and found himself in third during the final restarts.  He was able to give Harvick a run for his money in the final laps.

“The 22 [of Logano] was able to time the restarts there, and I tried the best I could,” Harvick told FOX Sports.

The win was also Harvick’s first with his new team.  Harvick left Richard Childress Racing for Stewart-Haas Racing during the offseason.  After leading 224 of 312 laps, the win reassured everyone that the change was a good one.

“This just solidifies so many things and so many decisions,” Harvick said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second to continue his momentum from the Daytona 500.  Earnhardt said he may have had something for Harvick if he hadn’t had a side-by-side battle with Brad Keselowski on the final restart.

Photo courtesy Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

“We thought we could run him down there, but he was just too far away,” Earnhardt said.  “We ended up where I thought we should have finished.”

Keselowski and Logano started on the front row, and Logano jumped out to an early lead.  Logano led until Harvick took the lead on lap 73 for the first time.  

Harvick led during the longest green-flag run at Phoenix, until the caution finally flew for debris on lap 161. 

Harvick continued to lead during the following caution periods.  The first came on lap 170 when Danica Patrick, Justin Allgaier and Travis Kvapil got together.  Patrick spun again after cutting down a left-rear tire on lap 186 to bring out another caution.

Harvick led through the next round of green-flag pit stops, and Ryan Newman led after pit stops had cycled around.

Newman led until the caution came out on lap 247 for debris, and Harvick returned to the top spot after Newman pitted.

Harvick held off the rest of the field during the final three restarts to win the race.  

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Joey Logano

5. Jeff Gordon

6. Jimmie Johnson

7. Ryan Newman

8. Carl Edwards

9. Kyle Busch

10. Jamie McMurray

11. Kasey Kahne

12. Matt Kenseth

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Casey Mears

15. Aric Almirola

16. Tony Stewart

17. Greg Biffle

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Denny Hamlin

20. Kyle Larson

21. Marcos Ambrose

22. Martin Truex Jr.

23. Paul Menard

24. Austin Dillon

25. Brian Vickers

26. AJ Allmendinger

27. Cole Whitt

28. David Ragan

29. David Gilliland

30. Justin Allgaier

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Brian Scott

33. Michael McDowell

34. Michael Annett

35. Ryan Truex

36. Danica Patrick

37. Blake Koch

38. Travis Kvapil

39. Kurt Busch

40. Joe Nemechek

41. Alex Bowman

42. Parker Kligerman

43. Morgan Shepherd

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series stays out west at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  The Kobalt 400 will be live next Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images