Kevin Harvick Makes a Statement with Win in Kansas

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

  

 Kevin Harvick won the Hollywood Casinos 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday to lock himself into the next round of the Chase.

Harvick came into the race needing a good run following a poor finish at Charlotte.  Harvick said his team didn’t prepare for this race any differently than they normally would.

Chris Trotman (Getty Images)

“The best thing is that we prepare the same for every race,” Harvick said.  “These races are hard to win and these guys are just so good at the details.  You put their backs against the wall and they get better.”

Harvick’s win continued an impressive streak: he is the only driver who has never been eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Harvick said it’s a testament to the team that has been built over the past few years.

“It’s hard to keep yourself motivated and perform at a high level, and to be able to do this for three years now…I think that says a lot about the character of this team and the things that they do.”

Harvick had to hold off Carl Edwards on a late restart, but once he cleared the No. 19, he pulled away to get to victory lane.

“I just got two good restarts against the 19…I knew I just needed to go for it, and that’s really the mindset that I had.”

Edwards said his car was better than Harvick’s, but that they just ran out of time at the end of the race.

“I felt like we had the race under control if it had kept going green,” Edwards said.  “We really had something fast there.”

“I got racing with Kyle [Busch], and that really let Kevin get out ahead.”

Next weekend, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway with Chase elimination on the line.  Heading into Talladega, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon are tied for the final spot in the next round, with Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski within seven points of the final spot. Chase Elliott sits 25 points out of 12th following bad luck in both Round 2 races, and will most likely need a win at Talladega to move on.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Carl Edwards

3. Joey Logano

4. Jimmie Johnson

5. Kyle Busch

6. Austin Dillon

7. Alex Bowman

8. AJ Allmendinger

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Kasey Kahne

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Ryan Newman

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ryan Blaney

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Tony Stewart

17. Trevor Bayne

18. Danica Patrick

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Paul Menard

21. Chris Buescher

22. Michael McDowell

23. Casey Mears

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Greg Biffle

26. Clint Bowyer

27. Landon Cassill

28. Brian Scott

29. Regan Smith

30. Kyle Larson

31. Chase Elliott

32. Michael Annett

33. Cole Whitt

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Joey Gase

36. David Ragan

37. Jamie McMurray

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Josh Wise

40. Aric Almirola

Brian Lawdermilk (Getty Images)