Harvick Passes Truex on the Final Lap to Win Kansas MENC Race

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KANSAS CITY. KS – RIS – Kevin Harvick lived up to his nickname, “The Closer,” by doing just that. After a horrible crash involving several drivers while he was leading, Harvick pitted for new tires and started sixth with nine laps to go.  He took the outside lane and passed then-leader Martin Truex, Jr. with one lap to go.

“I think as you look at the last couple of laps it wasn’t working for me on the bottom and I was able to make up some ground on the top and really I thought if it came down to it I could pass him on the bottom because my car went through one and two on the bottom or I could drive through the middle of three and four, but I just had to pick which lane,” Harvick said  “He wasn’t gonna choose and he never chose the high lane and we were able to drive right by.”

Truex wound up second after winning both races at the track last season. Joey Logano was third, Kyle Larson rallied from a late crash to finish fourth, and Denny Hamlin was fifth.

Logano had a basic explanation for the race and the winner.

“The 4 was the fastest car and he won,” Logano said.  “He’s the most deserving winner.  We were faster than the 78 and we got beat by him, so that part is a little frustrating to me.”

The race was free of wrecks until the last 30 laps, when Alex Bowman and Daniel Suarez got into each other. But things really shook up a few laps later, when Harvick passed Larson on the restart to assume control, and the No. 42 car began bumping with Ryan Blaney down the front stretch.

Those two got together, sending Blaney into the wall and Larson into the pits.

"I'm definitely to blame on that," said Blaney, who won the first stage before Larson had charged to the front to capture the second. "Just trying to side-drift too hard."

The race had barely returned to green when William Byron triggered a heavy wreck in front of the main grandstand. Local favorites Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray were among a half-dozen cars involved.

"That one hurt really bad, but I'm fine," Byron said. "We took two tires and just couldn't get it turned on the bottom. We were trying to kind of push some things there and it didn't work out."

The red flag set up one last sprint to the finish.

Truex used some pit strategy to restart in the lead, and quickly built a buffer. But the No. 4 car swept past Logano and Hamlin on the outside to put Truex in his sights, then closed down the lead until finally overtaking the reigning series champion with a lap to go.

Matt Kenseth had a forgettable return to the Cup Series. The former series champ's first race as part of a timeshare with Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing was spent lamenting a lack of speed, and ended when Byron triggered the hard wreck with 15 laps to go.

Truex Jr., aiming for his third consecutive Kansas win, finished second. Logano, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.

At the end of the race, a little action could be seen between Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

“It was nothing,” Elliott said. “Yeah, just scratching and clawing to run mediocre.  We have a lot of work to do.”

It was the third career win at the track for Harvick.

Ford has dominated the season and that was what happened tonight.  The top 10 included five Fords, four Toyotas and Larson, the lone Chevrolet.

The Monster Energy Series now heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for its annual two-week spring showdown. The Monster Energy Open and Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race take place May 19, with the longest race in NASCAR, the Coca-Cola 600, following on May 27.

Unofficial Race Results for the 8Th Annual Kc Masterpiece 400 - Saturday, May 12, 2018
Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 267 2 2 58 Running 5 79 5
2 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota 267 10 36 Running 1 13
3 9 22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford 267 4 5 47 Running 2 6
4 22 42 Kyle Larson Clover/First Data Chevrolet 267 5 1 49 Running 2 101 1
5 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 267 7 36 Running
6 11 21 Paul Menard Menards/Atlas Ford 267 31 Running
7 12 20 Erik Jones Reser's Toyota 267 9 32 Running
8 8 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Ford 267 9 7 35 Running
9 4 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Prime Ford 267 6 6 38 Running
10 3 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Caramel Toyota 267 8 4 37 Running
11 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SunnyD Ford 267 26 Running 1 10
12 17 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 267 25 Running
13 20 38 David Ragan MDS Trucking Ford 267 24 Running
14 5 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 267 3 31 Running
15 33 14 Clint Bowyer Haas 30 Years of the VF1 Ford 267 10 8 26 Running
16 18 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 266 21 Running
17 25 3 Austin Dillon Symbicort Chevrolet 266 20 Running 1 4
18 19 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 266 19 Running
19 23 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 265 18 Running
20 36 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 265 17 Running
21 34 95 Kasey Kahne Tommy Williams Drywall Chevrolet 264 16 Running
22 37 32 Matt DiBenedetto Can-Am/Wholey Ford 263 15 Running
23 21 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. # World Wide Technology Chevrolet 262 14 Running
24 27 72 Corey LaJoie Schluter-Systems Chevrolet 262 13 Running
25 31 00 Landon Cassill VNH Electric Chevrolet 260 12 Running
26 28 15 Ross Chastain(i) LowT Center Chevrolet 259 0 Running
27 30 55 * Reed Sorenson Harrah's North Kansas City Chevrolet 259 10 Running
28 14 19 Daniel Suarez STANLEY Toyota 258 9 Running
29 29 23 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 257 8 Running
30 15 31 Ryan Newman Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet 253 7 Accident
31 24 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 253 6 Accident
32 38 66 * Timmy Hill(i) CrashClaimsR.us Toyota 253 0 Running
33 13 24 William Byron # Liberty University Chevrolet 252 4 Accident
34 10 37 Chris Buescher Breyers 2 in 1 Chevrolet 252 3 Accident
35 32 51 BJ McLeod(i) PREFUND CAPITAL Chevrolet 251 0 Running
36 35 6 Matt Kenseth Wyndham Rewards Ford 250 1 Accident
37 2 12 Ryan Blaney REV Group Ford 247 1 3 19 Accident 2 54 1
38 26 13 Ty Dillon Twisted Tea Chevrolet 247 1 Accident
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 53 Mins, 38 Secs. Average Speed: 128.395 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.390 Seconds.
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Caution Flags: 6 for 31 laps: Laps: 32-35 (Competition Caution [6]); 82-88 (End of Stage 1 [47]); 162-167 (End of Stage 2 [17]); 238-242 (No. 88, 19 Incident Backstretch [31]); 249-252 (No. 12, 42 Incident Turn 1 [38]); 254-258 (No. 24, 14, 31, 1, 6, 37, 13 Incident Frontstretch [Red Flag 13:13] [2]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers: K. Harvick 1-32; R. Blaney 33-84; K. Harvick 85-123; R. Blaney 124-125; A. Dillon 126-129; K. Harvick 130; K. Larson 131-213; J. Logano 214-215; R. Stenhouse Jr. 216-225; K. Larson 226-243; K. Harvick 244-248; J. Logano 249-252; M. Truex Jr. 253-265; K. Harvick 266-267.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award : Kevin Harvick, #4 Busch Pole Award : Kevin Harvick, #4 188.811 mph
Fastest Lap : Kevin Harvick, #4 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Roush-Yates Engines, #4
Moog Go the Extra Mile : Kyle Larson, #42 crew chief Chad Johnston, 0.009 seconds Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Darrell Wallace Jr, #43
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series