Harvick Wins and Moves On to the Field of Eight at Kansas

AP Photo

KANSAS CITY, KS – RIS – Kevin Harvick is known as “the closer,” and showed everyone why he gets that moniker at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.  Harvick passed eventual second-place finisher Carl Edwards with 30 laps to go and was never headed.  After passing Edwards, he drove out of a big lead that shrunk in the final laps.  His final margin of victory was 1.183 seconds.  Harvick led 74 of the 267 laps run.  Pole-winner Matt Kenseth lead a race high 116 laps and Edwards finished with 61 laps led.

“I think the last restart obviously was the key to getting into Victory Lane.” Harvick said.  “I think for me, looking in the mirror and knowing we were clear, we just needed to get out as far as we could because I felt like the car would drop off.  It didn’t because of track position.”

The top five consisted of Harvick, Edwards, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch.

Edwards made I clear the difference was the restarts—where Harvick seemed to have an advantage.

“That bottom line, he (Harvick) got a good run and got in front of me,” Edwards said.  “Then I got choked up and raced with Kyle (Busch) for a long time and that set us back.  He also got a great push from Jimmie Johnson on the start.”

Harvick joins Jimmie Johnson as automatic qualifiers in the semifinals. The third and final race of the postseason’s second round is next week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Harvick has advanced through each round of the playoffs in the two-plus year history of this version of the Chase.

Five drivers will head to Talladega in need of a victory or a strong performance to stave off elimination -- Logano and Austin Dillon (sixth Sunday) are tied for eighth in the standings and one point behind Martin Truex Jr. in seventh. Denny Hamlin (15th), Brad Keselowski (38th) and Chase Elliott (31st) ranking 10th through 12th.

Several Chase drivers ran into trouble at the Hollywood Casino 400, including Keselowski and Elliott.  Elliott has continual tire [problems all day including in the waning laps of the race. Keselowski was running well within the top 1o, but when passing Hamlin for position on the track, he misjudged the distance between the two cars.  Hamlin tapped him in the rear of his car, which sent Keselowski into the grass infield.  The run through the grass destroyed Keselowski’s hood and nose on his No. 2 Ford.  Keselowski now finds himself seven points out of the third round and nearly a must win situation at next week’s race at Talladega SuperSpeedway. 

Elliott finds himself 25 points from elimination, which makes the race in Alabama a certain must-win.  Elliott sits last in the 12th position after the race.

Unofficial Race Results: 16th Annual Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Lap, Pts, BPts, TLd, LLd, Status
1) 11, Kevin Harvick (C), No. 4 Outback Chevrolet, 267, 44, 4, 3, 74, Running
2) 3, Carl Edwards (C), No. 19 XFINITY Toyota, 267, 40, 1, 3, 61, Running
3) 6, Joey Logano (C), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 267, 39, 1, 2, 2, Running
4) 21, Jimmie Johnson (C), No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 267, 37, , , , Running
5) 2, Kyle Busch (C), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 267, 36, , , , Running
6) 12, Austin Dillon (C), No. 3 DOW Coating Materials Chevrolet, 267, 36, 1, 1, 2, Running
7) 5, Alex Bowman(i), No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 267, 0, , , , Running
8) 10, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Dillons Chevrolet, 267, 33, , , , Running
9) 1, Matt Kenseth (C), No. 20 DEWALT FLEXVOLT Toyota, 267, 34, 2, 3, 116, Running
10) 20, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, 267, 31, , , , Running
11) 4, Martin Truex Jr. (C), No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota, 267, 30, , , , Running
12) 9, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 267, 29, , , , Running
13) 15, Kurt Busch (C), No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, 267, 29, 1, 1, 1, Running
14) 17, * Ryan Blaney #, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 267, 27, , , , Running
15) 7, Denny Hamlin (C), No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 267, 27, 1, 1, 1, Running
16) 14, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 267, 25, , , , Running
17) 25, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 267, 24, , , , Running
18) 19, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Nature's Bakery Chevrolet, 267, 23, , , , Running
19) 18, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 267, 22, , , , Running
20) 16, Paul Menard, No. 27 FVP/Menards Chevrolet, 267, 21, , , , Running
21) 30, Chris Buescher #, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 267, 20, , , , Running
22) 33, Michael McDowell, No. 95 Thrivent Financial Chevrolet, 267, 19, , , , Running
23) 29, Casey Mears, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 267, 19, 1, 1, 5, Running
24) 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Scorpyd Toyota, 267, 17, , , , Running
25) 22, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford Pass Ford, 266, 16, , , , Running
26) 31, Clint Bowyer, No. 15 5-hour Energy Chevrolet, 266, 15, , , , Running
27) 34, Landon Cassill, No. 38 Snap Fitness Ford, 266, 14, , , , Running
28) 32, Brian Scott #, No. 44 GoBowling Ford, 265, 13, , , , Running
29) 26, Regan Smith, No. 7 Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet, 265, 12, , , , Running
30) 24, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 265, 11, , , , Running
31) 13, Chase Elliott # (C), No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, 264, 11, 1, 1, 4, Running
32) 37, Michael Annett, No. 46 Northland Oil Chevrolet, 264, 9, , , , Running
33) 36, * Cole Whitt, No. 55  Chevrolet, 262, 8, , , , Running
34) 39, * Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Harrahs North Kansas City Toyota, 261, 7, , , , Running
35) 38, Joey Gase(i), No. 32 Midwest Transplant Network Ford, 260, 0, , , , Running
36) 28, David Ragan, No. 23 Dr Pepper Toyota, 258, 5, , , , Running
37) 23, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 233, 4, , , , Running
38) 8, Brad Keselowski (C), No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 190, 4, 1, 1, 1, Accident
39) 40, * Josh Wise, No. 30 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 108, 2, , , , Accident
40) 35, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 36, 1, , , , Accident

(C) = Chase competitor
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
* = Franchise team
# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 00 Mins, 28 Secs.
Average Speed: 133.155 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.183 Seconds
Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 38 laps