Kevin Harvick wins at Michigan for his second victory of 2019
Kevin Harvick has his second win of the season.
Harvick ran down Joey Logano in the final laps of Sunday’s race at Michigan and drove away from Logano and the rest of the field to get his second straight August win at Michigan and establish himself as a championship contender.
Though let’s be real. He didn’t need to establish that title contender thing. He already was one before winning on Sunday. But with the five additional playoff points that come with a second win, Harvick now has 14 playoff points, just five fewer than Brad Keselowski, the driver with the third-most bonus points for the postseason.
Harvick had the fastest car over the final run of the last stage. And he also had the most fuel. While Logano and other drivers who restarted near the front of the field had to pit for fuel, Harvick didn’t and easily beat Denny Hamlin to the finish line.
“Takes a lot of people to make these cars go around, and winning races is what it's all about,” Harvick said. “Just can't do it without all you guys. I mean, to come here to Michigan and win for Ford, and I know how much Mobil 1 likes to beat that Shell car [driven by Joey Logano], so that was cool.”
[Playoff watch: Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson have bad days]
Harvick was seventh when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun with 51 laps to go. He entered and exited the pits in seventh on that pit stop sequence and, most importantly, got enough fuel since the final 48 laps of the race were run under green.
Keselowski’s team didn’t get the car full of fuel. Neither did Ryan Blaney’s. Logano, obviously, was in the same position.
Harvick was not, even though his team didn’t change tires on that final stop. He worked his way through traffic and was able to drive away from Logano and others with no worries with 15 laps to go because he could make it to the finish line without another pit stop as there was a mad dash behind him for spots in the top 10 among the drivers that didn’t have to make a last-gasp pit stop.
“The fastest car won the race, speed-wise,” Hamlin said.
Kyle Larson finished third and was followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Suarez. Truex won the first stage of the race after starting 30th because of a pre-race inspection failure. He charged through the field in the early laps of the race passing far slower cars and used some no-tire pit strategy to get the stage win.
But Truex and his teammate Kyle Busch, who finished sixth, got trapped in traffic over the final stage. Yes, clean air was once again a big deal at Michigan. Cars that handled well out front didn’t necessarily handle well in traffic.
Full Results
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Larson
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Daniel Suarez
6. Kyle Busch
7. Ryan Preece
8. William Byron
9. Chase Elliott
10. Alex Bowman
11. Ty Dillon
12. Ryan Newman
13. Austin Dillon
14. Chris Buescher
15. Paul Menard
16. David Ragan
17. Joey Logano
18. Erik Jones
19. Brad Keselowski
20. Matt DiBenedetto
21. Corey LaJoie
22. Michael McDowell
23. Kurt Busch
24. Ryan Blaney
25. Matt Tifft
26. Daniel Hemric
27. Bubba Wallace
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. Ross Chastain
30. Landon Cassill
31. Quin Houff
32. Austin Theriault
33. Aric Almirola
34. Jimmie Johnson
35. Garrett Smithley
36. Cody Ware
37. Clint Bowyer
38. Spencer Boyd
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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