Harvick Finally Wins at the Tricky Triangle

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Pocono Organics 325 from Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon in the first race of NASCAR’s Pocono doubleheader.

Harvick used pit strategy to get to the front of the field, and he held off Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to pick up his first career victory at the Tricky Triangle.

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Harvick said his team worked hard to finally get to victory lane in Pocono.

“We weren’t where we needed to be to start the race,” Harvick said.  “Came back and made some great strategy calls and were able to get out front.  Great to finally check Pocono off the list.”

With his win, Harvick will now start 20th for Sunday’s race at Pocono due to an invert of the top 20 finishers.

Harvick said he wasn’t worried about coming from the back of the field again.

“Well we were back to 20th today, so I think in the end it’s going to come down to strategy and what you need to do,” Harvick said.

Hamlin was chasing down Harvick in the closing laps, but he wasn’t able to get around to pick up his sixth victory at Pocono.

Hamlin said a vibration at the end of the race affected the handling of his car.

“It’s like something loosened all the nuts in the car,” Hamlin said.  “It was unfortunate…just with about 15-20 to go the vibration just got really, really bad.”

“Our car was extremely, extremely fast and optimistic for tomorrow’s race, for sure.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Aric Almirola

4. Christopher Bell

5. Kyle Busch

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Michael McDowell

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Chris Buescher

11. Matt Kenseth

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. William Byron

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

18. Kurt Busch

19. Austin Dillon

20. Ryan Preece

21. Jimmie Johnson

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Corey LaJoie

24. John Hunter Nemechek

25. Chase Elliott

26. Ty Dillon

27. Alex Bowman

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Brennan Poole

30. Tyler Reddick

31. JJ Yeley

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Garrett Smithley

34. James Davison

35. Timmy Hill

36. Joey Logano

37. Joey Gase

38. Erik Jones

39. BJ McLeod

40. Quin Houff

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images