Harvick Holds off Dillon to Win Southern 500

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to win the first race of NASCAR’s Playoffs.

Harvick inherited the lead late in the race after the two front-runners made contact racing for the lead.  With the laps winding down, Chase Elliott was doing his best to hold off Martin Truex Jr.  When Truex drove hard into the corner, the two made contact and slammed into the wall.

Truex pitted with a flat tire as Elliott limped around trying to nurse the car to the finish, and Harvick was able to take the lead.

Harvick said he was excited to start off the Playoffs with a victory without having the fastest car.

“Wound up fighting all night long,” Harvick said.  “This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but leaders got tangled up there.  Next thing you know, we’re racing for the win.”

Harvick had to hold off a charge from Austin Dillon in the closing laps.  As Harvick’s car got tighter over the final 10 laps, Dillon was able to pull within a half-second but couldn’t make the pass.

Dillon drove the car hard into the final corner, but came up just short on getting to Harvick’s back bumper.

Dillon said he was trying everything he could do to win and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

“I was just trying all I could,” Dillon said.  “It’d have been nice to get that win and lock ourselves in the next round.  Heck of a finish for our whole Number 3 team.”

Dillon started the Playoffs as an underdog, and started the race below the cutoff line.  Leaving Darlington, Dillon now sits eighth in the standings, 10 points above the cutoff with two races remaining.

Dillon said his team has worked all season to perform when it mattered most.

“We showed up when it mattered,” Dillon said.  “A lot of people count you out, but I don’t count myself out or this team.  We’re just going to keep doing our thing.”

“We’ve just got to keep plugging.  Richmond’s next week and we’ve got another good short track car for them.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Austin Dillon

3. Joey Logano

4. Erik Jones

5. William Byron

6. Alex Bowman

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kurt Busch

9. Aric Almirola

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Cole Custer

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Ryan Newman

16. Michael McDowell

17. Ryan Preece

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Chase Elliott

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. Martin Truex Jr.

23. Tyler Reddick

24. Ryan Blaney

25. Daniel Suarez

26. Chris Buescher

27. Ty Dillon

28. Brennan Poole

29. Ross Chastain

30. JJ Yeley

31. Quin Houff

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Joey Gase

34. Christopher Bell

35. Timmy Hill

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Corey LaJoie

38. Bubba Wallace

39. James Davison

Photos courtesy Chris Keane and Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick Wins the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick locked up his spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a win in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Saturday night.

Harvick had the most dominant car on Saturday night, and showed it early and often.  He won the pole on Friday, and led 239 of 374 laps on Saturday night.

Photo courtesy NASCAR via Getty Images

The win was Harvick’s second of the season, effectively locking him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  That was good news for Harvick, who has struggled with mechanical problems in the past few weeks.

“We had to overcome a lot over the last several weeks,” Harvick said in victory lane.  “We’ve kept our heads down and kept doing what we had to do.”

When the green flag fell, Joey Logano jumped out to the lead after starting on the inside of Harvick.  Harvick quickly learned his lesson, however, and he restarted on the inside following the first caution on lap 41.  He took the lead away from Jeff Gordon, and held on to the top spot until the next caution came out on lap 59.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin used pit strategy to get up front, and they restarted on the front row following the caution.  It only took 10 laps for Harvick to chase down Kenseth for the lead, and he led over the next two caution periods, for a span of over 100 laps.

Kasey Kahne had to make an early pit stop during a long green-flag run, and he was able to gain a lot of time on the leaders with his fresh tires.  When the stops cycled around, Kahne led Harvick by over five seconds.  

Harvick took the lead back following another restart on lap 208.

After Aric Almirola spun to bring out the caution on lap 222, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman took two tires to get to the front of the field.  They were able to hold off Harvick on the following restart, and a caution 20 laps later reset the field again.

On the next restart, Harvick was able to drive around Vickers for the lead, and he held on until lap 358, when Logano got into the wall to bring out the caution.

Jimmie Johnson only took two tires during the caution period, and he led the field into Turn 1 on lap 363.  He was able to hold off the leaders until the caution came out for debris with just three laps to go.

On the next restart, Harvick pushed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the lead.  Earnhardt was headed into Turn 3 when the caution came out again for a spin by Kurt Busch.  Busch had made contact with Clint Bowyer, and showed his displeasure by glaring at the No. 15 as it drove by.

On the final restart, Earnhardt jumped out to the lead, but was caught by Harvick coming down the backstretch.  Harvick drove around Earnhardt coming out of Turn 4 and took the checkered flag for his 25th career victory.

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Greg Biffle

6. Kyle Busch

7. Jeff Gordon

8. Kyle Larson

9. Tony Stewart

10. Ryan Newman

11. Austin Dillon

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Carl Edwards

14. Marcos Ambrose

15. AJ Allmendinger

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Casey Mears

19. Denny Hamlin

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. Josh Wise

22. Danica Patrick

23. Just Allgaier

24. Aric Almirola

25. Landon Cassill

26. Brian Vickers

27. Martin Truex Jr.

28. David Gilliland

29. Alex Bowman

30. Parker Kligerman

31. Kurt Busch

32. David Ragan

33. Travis Kvapil

34. Joe Nemechek

35. Joey Logano

36. David Stremme

37. Kasey Kahne

38. Cole Whitt

39. Reed Sorenson

40. Ryan Truex

41. Paul Menard

42. Michael Annett

43. Dave Blaney

The Sprint Cup Series will return to action on April 26 for another Saturday night race under the lights.  The Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond International Raceway can be seen at 7:00 p.m., only on FOX.

Harvick celebrates in victory lane. (Photo courtesy NASCAR via Getty Images)