Harvick Continues to Dominate with Brickyard Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick battled with Denny Hamlin throughout the day as the two fastest cars.  After Hamlin’s tire went down with seven laps to go, Harvick was able to hold off Matt Kenseth during an overtime finish to win his third Brickyard 400.

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Harvick said winning at Indianapolis was a childhood dream when he was growing up.

“It’s the Brickyard man, this is what I grew up wanting to do as a kid,” Harvick said.  “To be able to come here, and have won for the third time, is something I could have never dreamed of.”

Throughout the race, Hamlin’s tire wear was worse than Harvick, and his crew chief told him to keep pressure on Hamlin over the final run. 

Harvick said he tried all he could to get Hamlin to overdrive his car.

“[Crew chief Rodney Childers] told me on the radio, ‘just make sure you keep the pressure on him,’ and that was all the pressure I could give,” Harvick said.  “We knew he was going to be really close on tires.”

Hamlin said he was disappointed his race ended early after having such a good car.

“It’s tough, I hate it for the FedEx team,” Hamlin said.  “We did what we needed to do; just didn’t work out.  Had a fast car, obviously.”

Kenseth finished second, and said he tried what he could to hang with Harvick on the final restart.

“The 4 [of Harvick], they were just really, really fast,” Kenseth said.  “I could run a little faster, but I could never get enough of a run to make the pass.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Aric Almirola

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Cole Custer

6. Kyle Busch

7. Michael McDowell

8. Tyler Reddick

9. Bubba Wallace

10. Joey Logano

11. Chase Elliott

12. Christopher Bell

13. Kurt Busch

14. Ty Dillon

15. John Hunter Nemechek

16. Clint Bowyer

17. Ross Chastain

18. Austin Dillon

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. Daniel Suarez

21. JJ Yeley

22. BJ McLeod

23. Quin Houff

24. Garrett Smithley

25. Josh Bilicki

26. Joey Gase

27. William Byron

28. Denny Hamlin

29. Timmy Hill

30. Alex Bowman

31. Chris Buescher

32. Ryan Blaney

33. Erik Jones

34. Ryan Newman

35. Brennan Poole

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

37. Justin Allgaier

38. Martin Truex Jr.

39. Corey LaJoie

40. Ryan Preece

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Kenseth Wins at Phoenix, Keselowski Clinches Final Playoff Spot

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Matt Kenseth won the Can-Am 500 from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Kenseth chased down Chase Elliott in the closing laps, and he was able to get around the young driver to pick up his 39th career victory.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Kenseth, who is stepping away from the sport following next weekend’s season finale, said he was glad he could go out with a victory.

“I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for this to move on…it’s been an incredible journey,” Kenseth said.  “There’s no way you could write it any better than this…what a storybook ending.”

Needing a victory, Elliott raced hard to get to the front of the field to get into the final round of the playoffs.  With Kenseth’s victory, Elliott was eliminated from playoff contention.

After finishing second on Sunday, Elliott said he was disappointed to miss the championship round of the playoffs by one spot.

“We fought really hard today, and gave ourselves a chance,” Elliott said.  “I was telling my guys that I’ll get it right sometime.  We’ve had so many good opportunities, we’ve just got to close.”

Elliott made contact with Denny Hamlin on his way to the front, and the contact caused Hamlin to cut a tire and hit the wall.  The wreck ended Hamlin’s championship hopes, and it was the second time in this round that the two drivers got together.

Hamlin wrecked Elliott while the two raced for the win at Martinsville two weeks ago, and Elliott said he raced Hamlin the same way Hamlin chose to race him at Martinsville.

“I’m going to race guys how they race me and keep a smile on my face regardless,” Elliott said.  “Happy to race guys how they choose to race me…that’s the way I see it.”

Elliott’s runner-up finish allowed Brad Keselowski to make the final round of the playoffs as the final driver to the round of four. 

Keselowski said he hopes to go to Homestead with a fast enough car to compete with the dominant Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

“I don’t know if we’re the favorite by any means, but we’re going to go there and give it our best,” Keselowski said.  “It’s a tough competition, but to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”

“Hopefully we can be as fast as we were at Texas, maybe a little bit more, and we’ll have a shot at it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Chase Elliott

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Erik Jones

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Kyle Busch

8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

9. Aric Almirola

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

11. Ty Dillon

12. Joey Logano

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Austin Dillon

15. Paul Menard

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Daniel Suarez

19. Kasey Kahne

20. Ryan Newman

21. Kurt Busch

22. Michael McDowell

23. AJ Allmendinger

24. Landon Cassill

25. Danica Patrick

26. DJ Kennington

27. Matt DiBenedetto

28. David Starr

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt

30. Joey Gase

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Derrike Cope

33. David Ragan

34. Kyle Weatherman

35. Denny Hamlin

36. Cole Whitt

37. Chris Buescher

38. Trevor Bayne

39. Jimmie Johnson

40. Kyle Larson

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Truex Saves Enough Fuel for Watkins Glen Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Martin Truex Jr. won the We Love New York 355 from Watkins Glen International on Sunday after saving enough fuel to hold off the field.

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Truex was the class of the field on Sunday, but a late caution set up a dramatic fuel-mileage finish where many of the frontrunners had to pit in the closing laps.  Truex stayed out and saved just enough fuel to hold off Matt Kenseth on the final lap to pick up his fourth victory of the season.

Truex let Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney pass him for the lead over the final run, but retook the lead when Blaney ran out of fuel with two laps to go.  Truex said giving up the lead was hard to deal with in the closing laps.

“It’s so stressful to let guys go by you for the lead, I’ve never had to do that before,” Truex said.  “You just got to listen to your crew chief; luckily I’ve got the best one in the business.  I just do what he says and it always just seems to work out.”

The victory at Watkins Glen was Truex’s first at the track.  After growing up in New Jersey, Truex said it was a dream to win there after watching his father race at the track in the 1990s.

“I’ve wanted to win here for so long, this is a special place,” Truex said.  “Coming here as a kid and spending time in the garage, just walking around and dreaming of someday to race here, let alone win.  This is a big one for our team.”

Matt Kenseth finished second on Sunday, and he was on Truex’s bumper as the two took the checkered flag.  Kenseth said he hoped Truex would run out of gas before the end of the race.

“He was managing his gaps well, and as soon as he knew I could go, he just went too,” Kenseth said.  “Hate to be that close and not get it, but it was a good finish.”

“I thought we were going to be better than the 78 on fuel, but we both probably have a little excess.”

Unofficial results:

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Daniel Suarez

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Ryan Blaney

9. AJ Allmendinger

10. Erik Jones

11. Chris Buescher

12. Michael McDowell

13. Chase Elliott

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Kasey Kahne

17. Kevin Harvick

18. Paul Menard

19. Ty Dillon

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Aric Almirola

22. Danica Patrick

23. Kyle Larson

24. Joey Logano

25. Ryan Newman

26. Austin Dillon

27. David Ragan

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Jimmie Johnson

30. Boris Said

31. Gray Klutt

32. Brett Moffitt

33. Corey LaJoie

34. Cole Whitt

35. Trevor Bayne

36. Landon Cassill

37. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Logano Wins at Phoenix, Will Fight for Sprint Cup Title

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Joey Logano won the Can-Am 500 from Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday afternoon to clinch his spot in the Championship Round next weekend at Homestead.

Logano came into the race needing a good finish to make the final round of the Chase, and the race was decided over two late restarts.  Logano took the lead on the final restart in overtime, and was able to get to victory lane.

 

Jonathan Ferrey (Getty Images)

Logano said the win was one of the biggest of his career.

“I’m speechless right now, I feel like I just won the Daytona 500 again,” Logano said.  “I never felt this good about a win before, and with so much on the line.”

Needing a finish no worse than second, Logano said his team stepped it up with the season on the line.

“Everyone brings their ‘A’ game when it comes to winning championships, and this team did it,” Logano said.  “We did exactly what we had to do; we get to go to Homestead to do the same thing.”

Over the final run of the race, it looked as if Matt Kenseth was going to win to clinch a spot in the final round.  But after a caution sent the race into overtime, contact with Alex Bowman sent Kenseth into the wall and out of the Chase.

Kenseth said he was disappointed his team couldn’t get it done.

“We had that race in control, even that last restart, and ended up giving it away,” Kenseth said.  “[Bowman] was laying way back on that restart…and I got out at the start/finish and it looked okay.”

“I got turned and was headed towards the fence.  I really don’t know what happened.”

On that late restart, Bowman threw a block on Kyle Busch, which sent Bowman’s car into Turn 1 with more speed than it could handle.  Busch said he didn’t mean for the contact to take out his teammate, and that he didn’t think Bowman would block him when he had such a big run.

“I got a little bit better restart than [Bowman] did, and I felt like I got a run on him,” Busch said.  “I got enough to the inside of him that if he chopped me he was going to get hit and wrecked, and that’s what happened.”

“It carried on into the 20 [of Kenseth], so I guess I essentially wrecked a teammate.”

Next weekend at Homestead, the Championship 4 will fight for the Sprint Cup Championship.  Logano, Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards will fight for the championship, and the top finishing driver will be crowned the champion. 

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Kurt Busch

6. Alex Bowman

7. Denny Hamlin

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Chase Elliott

10. Paul Menard

11. Jamie McMurray

12. Ryan Newman

13. Kasey Kahne

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Tony Stewart

16. Greg Biffle

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Casey Mears

19. Carl Edwards

20. Landon Cassill

21. Matt Kenseth

22. Aric Almirola

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Clint Bowyer

25. Matt DiBenedetto

26. Michael Annett

27. Regan Smith

28. Trevor Bayne

29. Danica Patrick

30. Brian Scott

31. David Ragan

32. Chris Buescher

33. Jeffrey Earnhardt

34. Michael McDowell

35. DJ Kennington

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Gray Gaulding

38. Jimmie Johnson

39. Austin Dillon

40. Martin Truex Jr.

Robert Laberge (Getty Images)

Harvick Wins at New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the Bad Boy Off Road 300 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday after taking the lead on a late restart.

Harvick started deep in the field on Sunday, but he worked his way up to the front and took the lead at the end of the race.  He held off Matt Kenseth over the closing laps to pick up the victory.

 

Jonathan Ferrey (Getty Images)

“My team was pretty good on the restarts,” Harvick said.  “Once we got clean air there at the end, we wound up being pretty good out front.”

Harvick needed a good run to get into the next round of the Chase after a 20th-place finish last weekend at Chicagoland.  Harvick said his team came looking for a good run and got the victory instead.

“One of our main goals this year was to not stress ourselves out so bad, and I feel like the performance of the car and the things we’re doing are good enough to be competitive.  We just need to not make mistakes and go from here.”

Kenseth finished second after leading most of the final 100 laps.  Kenseth said his late-race battle with Martin Truex Jr. affected his chances of holding off Harvick.

“We were pretty good…we just didn’t get that last adjustment in,” Kenseth said.  “The 78 [of Truex] was a lot better than we were and we just burned the right rear off trying to hold him off.”

“Just went really late in the restart zone, and [Harvick] anticipated it just right and laid back, plus I spun the tires.  Got beat through 1 and 2 and then it was over.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Kyle Busch

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kurt Busch

6. Carl Edwards

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Kyle Larson

11. Joey Logano

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Chase Elliott

14. Alex Bowman

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Austin Dillon

17. Aric Almirola

18. Danica Patrick

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Ryan Newman

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Clint Bowyer

23. Tony Stewart

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Paul Menard

26. Michael McDowell

27. Casey Mears

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Landon Cassill

30. Chris Buescher

31. Brian Scott

32. David Ragan

33. Greg Biffle

34. Regan Smith

35. Cole Whitt

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. Trevor Bayne

39. Josh Wise

40. Michael Annett

Rainier Ehrhardt (Getty Images)