Harvick Wins Texas and Punched His Ticket to the Final Four

Chris Gray/Getty Images

FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – The Closer closed.  Kevin Harvick, known as “The Closer” in NASCAR passed seemingly unbeatable Martin Truex, Jr. with mine laps to go, and drove away to a big victory in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.  The win guaranteed him a spot in the final four championship run in two weeks at Miami-Homestead Speedway.

"Damn it's good to be in victory lane here in Texas," said Harvick, the 2014 series champion. "I knew I had a really good Ford, and I knew I needed to do something different, and I started driving it into Turn 1 just a whole lot deeper. I saw (Kyle Larson) doing that earlier in the race, and I was just concerned that I didn't have the brakes to continue doing that all day, so I waited until the end and was able to get on the outside of Martin.

"I'm real proud of everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing."

Car owner Tony Stewart, a three-time champion himself, was proud of his driver and the No. 4 Ford team,

"We've been chasing that guy (Truex) all year, but even when Kevin was trying to get to him to get around him, there wasn't desperation in the way he was driving. He was calculated, and that's Kevin Harvick.

"Kevin doesn't . . . you really can't faze him. Kevin gets locked in and that's what I saw and that's what I'm most excited about, because when he gets locked in like that, he rises to the occasion."

Finishing behind Harvick were Truex in second, and Denny Hamlin in third place.  Rounding out the top five finishers were Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski.

Harvick won the first stage of the race.  He took the lead 16 laps from the finish and drove to that win, the first time on Sunday that he beat Truex.  The second stage belonged to Kyle Larson.  Larson, who started 11th and worked his way up to third by the end of the first stage, secured the second stage win at Lap 170. Larson led the final 10 laps of the stage, which included two caution flags that totaled 10 laps. Larson led the most laps (72) through the first two stages, but trouble later on would end his hopes for a win.

With 51 laps remaining, Kyle Larson spun and crashed hard into the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. The rear of Larson's No. 42 Chevrolet erupted in flames before the automatic exhaust system in the car put it out. For Larson, who was eliminated after the second round of the playoffs when he blew an engine at Kansas Speedway, it is the third consecutive DNF after crashing last weekend at Martinsville, but Larson wasn’t the only one with big trouble.

Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson qualified ninth on Friday and was 12th-fastest in the final practice on Saturday. Once the AAA Texas 500 started, however, he slowly began to drop farther back in the field. He went two laps down after making an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 68 because of a vibration. He was scored three laps down well before the midpoint of the race. Johnson enters the next race at Phoenix in eighth place, 51 points outs of the fourth and a final slot in the finals.

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,  had wheel hub issues and had to park his car with 90 laps left in the race.

Keselowski and Kyle Busch got together early in the race which resulted in right front fender damage to Busch’s Toyota and a flat tire on Keselowski’s Ford.  Keselowski went a lap down to fix his car and Busch went down two laps.  Keselowski finished in the top five and Busch finished in the 19th position.

Unofficial Race Results for the 13Th Annual AAA Texas 500 - Texas Motor Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, St2, Pts, Status
1) 3, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 334, 1, 5, 38, 6, 2, 59, Running
2) 7, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 334, 2, 4, 107, , 4, 51, Running
3) 2, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 334, 3, 3, 65, , 6, 47, Running
4) 35, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 XFINITY Team USA Toyota, 334, 7, 3, 29, , 8, 40, Running
5) 10, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Wurth Ford, 334, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 8, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 334, 8, , , , 3, 42, Running
7) 36, Joey Logano, No. 22 AAA Ford, 334, , 1, 1, , , 30, Running
8) 34, Chase Elliott (P), No. 24 Hooters Chevrolet, 334, , 1, 1, , 5, 35, Running
9) 1, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 334, 5, , , , 7, 38, Running
10) 4, Erik Jones #, No. 77 Sport Clips Toyota, 334, 6, , , , 9, 34, Running
11) 19, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips/Justice League Chevrolet, 334, , 1, 3, , , 26, Running
12) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 334, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 15, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Winter in PyeongChang Chevrolet, 334, 9, 1, 1, , 10, 27, Running
14) 6, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 334, 10, , , , , 24, Running
15) 18, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 334, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 16, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 334, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 14, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Aspen Dental $10M for Veterans Ford, 333, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 13, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 333, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 5, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 333, , 1, 7, , , 18, Running
20) 25, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 333, , 1, 1, , , 17, Running
21) 23, Michael McDowell, No. 95 Rohto Jolt Eyedrops Chevrolet, 333, , 1, 4, , , 16, Running
22) 26, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Chili Beans Chevrolet, 333, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 21, Paul Menard, No. 27 Atlas/Menards Chevrolet, 332, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 27, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 332, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa Ford, 332, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 22, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops/SpeedCo Ford, 331, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 9, Jimmie Johnson (P), No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 331, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 37, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 330, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 29, Cole Whitt, No. 72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet, 330, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 24, David Ragan, No. 38 TheHouse.com Ford, 329, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 38, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Low T Centers Chevrolet, 325, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 30, * Joey Gase(i), No. 7 DonateLifeTexas.org Chevrolet, 322, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 32, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 hulu Chevrolet, 322, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 31, * Ray Black II(i), No. 51 Scuba Life Chevrolet, 305, , , , , , 0, Running
35) 17, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide/Justice League Chevrolet, 304, , 1, 3, , , 2, Running
36) 20, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford, 303, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 11, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 282, 4, 4, 74, , 1, 18, Accident
38) 33, * David Starr(i), No. 66 Moore Freight Service Chevrolet, 237, , , , , , 0, Accident
39) 39, Corey LaJoie #, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 227, , , , , , 1, Engine
40) 40, * Gray Gaulding #, No. 83 Earthwater Toyota, 159, , , , , , 1, Engine

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team, (P) Playoffs
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 29 Mins, 52 Secs.
Average Speed: 143.234 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.580 Seconds
Race Comments: Kevin Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 37th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 33 (transmission change) and No. 27 (driver change). 
 Failed to Qualify: N/A
 Caution Flags: 8 for 40 laps: Laps: 87-91 (Stage 1 Conclusion [17]); 94-98 (No.5 and 19 Incident in Turn 2 [2]); 172-177 (Stage 2 Conclusion [88]); 181-185 (No.34 Spin in Turn 1 [18]); 234-238 (No.95 Spin in Turn 2 [17]); 242-245 (No.51 Incident in Turn 2 [5]); 270-274 (No.51 Spin in Turn 2 [41]); 284-288 (No.42 Incident in Turn 2 [Red: 10:29] [47]).
Lead Changes: 27 among 13 drivers:  0; D. Hamlin (P) 1-46; K. Larson 47-53; A. Dillon 54; C. Elliott (P) 55; M. McDowell 56-59; R. Newman 60; K. Larson 61-69; K. Harvick (P) 70-88; D. Hamlin (P) 89-91; K. Harvick (P) 92-97; K. Larson 98-143; M. Kenseth 144-154; D. Earnhardt Jr. 155-157; K. Kahne 158-160; K. Larson 161-172; K. Harvick (P) 173; M. Kenseth 174-184; M. Truex Jr. (P) 185-225; K. Harvick (P) 226-227; K. Busch (P) 228-234; J. Logano 235; M. Truex Jr. (P) 236-238; M. Kenseth 239-245; M. Truex Jr. (P) 246-271; D. Hamlin (P) 272-287; M. Truex Jr. (P) 288-324; K. Harvick (P) 325-334.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award:  Martin Truex Jr, No.78 
Coors Light Pole Award:  Kurt Busch, No.41 200.915 mph
Ingersoll Rand Power Move:  Kevin Harvick, No.4 2 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No.11 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Kevin Harvick, No.4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile:  Brad Keselowski, No.2 crew chief Paul Wolfe, 0.298 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap:  Denny Hamlin, No.11 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Erik Jones, No.77

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2017, Issue 11, Posted 9:13 PM, 11.05.2017