Harvick Wins at Bristol in Round 1 Finale

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night for his ninth win of the season.

Harvick raced with Kyle Busch over the final 50 laps, and the two swapped the lead while getting around lapped traffic.

Busch was not able to get to Harvick’s back bumper in the closing laps, but Harvick said he almost gave away the victory while getting around the slower cars.

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“To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of put myself in a little bit of a ringer there,” Harvick said.  “I hit a lapped car and got a hole in my nose.”

“We just kept fighting; we’ve got nothing else to lose.  We were here to try and win a race.”

Busch, who is still winless in 2020, said Harvick’s speed throughout the race was just too much to overcome.

“Just didn’t have enough there at the end,” Busch said.  “Guys did a great job and gave me a really good piece tonight to contend and at least be up there to be close.”

“Lapped cars were definitely a problem, but it’s part of racing.  [Harvick] obviously had the better car.”

Bristol was the final race in the first round of NASCAR’s Playoffs, and four drivers were eliminated from Playoff contention.  Following the race on Saturday night, Cole Custer, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto saw their championship hopes come to an end.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Erik Jones

4. Tyler Reddick

5. Aric Almirola

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Chase Elliott

8. Chris Buescher

9. Ryan Preece

10. Michael McDowell

11. Joey Logano

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Kurt Busch

16. Alex Bowman

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Ty Dillon

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Denny Hamlin

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Cole Custer

24. Martin Truex Jr.

25. Ryan Newman

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Gray Gaulding

28. Christopher Bell

29. Quin Houff

30. JJ Yeley

31. Joey Gase

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Corey LaJoie

34. Brad Keselowski

35. James Davison

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Timmy Hill

38. William Byron

39. Josh Bilicki

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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