Genuine Article: Harvick wins Michigan, clinches Chase berth
Kevin Harvick has maintained a stranglehold on the top spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings since early in the season, but that lead could go away in three weeks when the field is reset and the Chase for the Championship begins. In the meantime, Harvick is doing his best to catch Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in the win department by notching his third victory of the season with a convincing win in the Carfax 400 from Michigan International Speedway.
Harvick led 60 of 200 laps, and outran Hamlin and Tony Stewart over the event’s final 28 circuits to earn the win.
As is common on Michigan’s 2-mile layout, the finish came down to fuel and pit strategy. A caution brought out by debris with 33 laps remaining forced drivers and crew chiefs to decide whether or not to pit for one last set of tires or stay on track and gain position. Stewart, who led at the time, stayed out, along with Harvick, who ran fourth. Hamlin, Regan Smith, Scott Speed and Reed Sorenson also remained on track. The rest of the field, including Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, came in for two or four tires.
On the lap 172 restart, Stewart, Harvick and Hamlin sprinted away in clean air, while a fierce battled ensued behind them. Hamlin got by Stewart with 23 laps remaining and Harvick worked his way to the point as he and Hamlin crossed the start/finish line with 10 to go.
From there, Harvick pulled away and cruised to a 1.731-second win, his first in Cup competition at Michigan.
“You know, today it was a combination of a great engine [and] a great car,” Harvick said. “When you run the top [groove] like that, you're able to make it work, it looks like you have a hundred more horsepower. We probably do have as much horsepower as anybody, and today it looked like we had a bunch more because we were able to run the top.”
The win was also Harvick’s first at a non-plate track since November 2006 at Phoenix.
“I think it's good to get it out of the way,” Harvick said of winning on an intermediate track. “Like I say, there were opportunities to do that. You just can't force it. I think that's more coincidence than anything. We won the All-Star Race in '07 on a mile-and-a-half racetrack in Charlotte. We've been in contention to win a bunch of 'em this year.
“You just go racing. If they [wins] come at Daytona, I'm happy. If they come at Talladega, whatever. If they come at Martinsville, fine too. I'm glad to win here today. But wherever they are, I'm happy in this deal.”
Harvick’s three wins would place him third in the standings once the points are reset after Richmond. NASCAR seeds the Chase drivers based on wins, awarding a 10-point bonus for each victory at the conclusion of the regular season. Johnson and Hamlin each have five. But the way Harvick and his No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team are running, it’s possible they could catch the leaders.
“I think it's to do the same thing we did today,” Harvick said of his strategy for the final three races. “It's fun. I mean, right now we're in a fortunate position to be doing what we're doing. I've been in that 12th-, 13th-place battle and it sucks to be honest with you. You can't sleep at night, you can't do anything to get your mind off of that.
“We're going to enjoy it. We're going to go and race hard. We're going to try to gain 30 more bonus points. Hopefully we can have a couple things that we can try. For sure now, whether it's engines, parts, pieces, over the next three weeks, try to get a little bit better.
“We're going to enjoy it and we're going to hopefully be ready for the last 10 weeks.”
Hamlin held on for second, while Roush Fenway teammates Edwards, Biffle — who led a race-high 66 laps — and Kenseth charged back after the final stop to finish third through fifth. Stewart slipped to sixth in the final rundown, while Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.
Harvick increased his points lead to 293 over Gordon in the standings. Gordon ran up front throughout the day, but suffered a cut tire with 48 laps remaining and never recovered. He finished 27th. Hamlin advanced three positions to third with his runner-up showing, while Stewart sits fourth and Johnson fifth.
