Harvick Wins Regular Season Finale at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick dominated the Big Machine Vodka 400 from the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to win the regular season finale.

Harvick led 118 of 160 laps after starting on the pole on Sunday, and the victory gives his team momentum going into the Playoffs.

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Harvick said the dominant victory was a testament to his team’s ability to put together a strong car that was fast over an entire run.

“Just can’t say enough about everybody on this Mobil 1 Ford Mustang,” Harvick said.  “These guys on this race team have built a heck of a racecar.  This is the same stuff we took to Michigan, and had a real good weekend there and went to victory lane.”

The win was Harvick’s second at Indianapolis, and it came 16 years after his first Brickyard win in 2003. 

Harvick said he was always in love with the history of one of the most famous tracks in the world.

“Winning here is awesome,” Harvick said.  “As a kid I watched Rick Mears win the Indy 500s and got to be around him; he was my hero.”

“We were able to keep control of the race and not make mistakes, and here we are in victory lane at one of the greatest places to race.”

The race concluded NASCAR’s 26-race regular season, and the final two spots in the playoff field were decided in the closing laps on Sunday. Following an eighth-place finish, Ryan Newman joined Clint Bowyer as the final two drivers to make it in on points, while Daniel Suarez came up four points short of a playoff bid.

Jimmie Johnson, the only other driver with a realistic chance of making the playoffs on points, crashed while running up front.  The wreck ended his playoff hopes, and it also ended the 7-time Champion’s streak of 15-straight playoff appearances.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Joey Logano

3. Bubba Wallace

4. William Byron

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Ryan Newman

9. Chase Elliott

10. Paul Menard

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ty Dillon

14. Aric Almirola

15. Chris Buescher

16. Ryan Preece

17. Michael McDowell

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Corey LaJoie

20. David Ragan

21. Alex Bowman

22. Ross Chastain

23. Reed Sorenson

24. Ryan Sieg

25. BJ McLeod

26. JJ Yeley

27. Martin Truex Jr.

28. Garrett Smithley

29. Josh Bilicki

30. Kurt Busch

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32. Matt Tifft

33. Kyle Larson

34. Daniel Hemric

35. Jimmie Johnson

36. Parker Kligerman

37. Kyle Busch

38. Brad Keselowski

39. Erik Jones

40. Landon Cassill

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