Harvick Wins Third Straight with Phoenix Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the TicketGuardian 500 from ISM Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick won his third race in a row on Sunday, and the victory was his ninth at the Phoenix raceway.  The win also tied his with Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin with 40 Cup Series victories.

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Harvick didn’t dominate the race like he had in the previous two races and he only led 38 laps on his way to victory lane.

Harvick said he and his team came into the weekend knowing they had a shot at the victory.

“Everyone was really determined this week,” Harvick said.  “We just wanted to go and stomp them; we didn’t stomp them, but we won.”

Following last weekend’s victory, Harvick’s car was found to be illegal.  The team was penalized and lost the seven playoff points the team had earned throughout the race.

Harvick said the penalty lit a fire in his team and motivated them to win on Sunday.

“I’ve been mad as all get out because this team does a great job,” Harvick said.  “And to take that away from those guys really [ticked] me off last week.”

Kyle Busch finished second to Harvick for the second week in a row.  Busch said he knew they wouldn’t have anything for Harvick’s team during the race.

“Before the race, I knew [Harvick] had the car to beat,” Busch said.  “We actually had a shot to race him and outrace him and try to beat him, but it just didn’t quite work out.”

“Proud to come home second, but now it’s starting to get frustrating.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Chase Elliott

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Aric Almirola

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Erik Jones

10. Kurt Busch

11. Ryan Newman

12. William Byron

13. Alex Bowman

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Ryan Blaney

17. Austin Dillon

18. Kyle Larson

19. Joey Logano

20. Trevor Bayne

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. David Ragan

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Jamie McMurray

27. Ross Chastain

28. Darrell Wallace Jr.

29. Chris Buescher

30. Ty Dillon

31. DJ Kennington

32. Michael McDowell

33. Timmy Hill

34. Gray Gaulding

35. Jeffrey Earnhardt

36. Paul Menard

37. Corey LaJoie

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