Harvick is "Happy" After Sonoma Cup Win

Sarah Crabil/Getty Images

View Image Gallery

SONOMA, CA – RIS – They often say you can’t go home again, but nothing was farther from the truth at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday.  Bakersfield, California native Kevin Harvick turned in a late-race dominating run that led to a double digit second lead that couldn’t be headed.  Clint Bowyer finished second, giving Stewart-Haas Racing a 1-2 finish.  Brad Keselowski finished third, giving Ford the top three spots.

The 2014 Cup Champion hadn’t won this season, though he’d come close several times, overtaken by the youth movement in the sport that seems to get most of the attention.  At a track that needed experience and ability, Harvick led a group of veterans to top finishes.

It was the first win on the  wine country road course in 17 tries for the driver with the nickname of “Happy.” Sonoma was one of just four active tracks where Harvick had never scored a Cup victory.

“To finally check this one off the list …. being so close to home and having raced here so much, this was one that was on the top of the list,” Harvick said.

Harvick was on cruise control and conserving fuel in the race that ended under caution after Kasey Kahne had a hard accident on the final lap. Harvick had a cozy 9 plus-second lead over teammate Bowyer before the caution. Bowyer, who replaced 2016 winner Tony Stewart after his retirement. 

The win was the second victory since Stewart-Haas Racing switched to Ford this season. Harvick had spent 16 years in a Chevrolet. It was Ford’s seventh victory of the season. Ford won eight Cup races last season, and seven came exclusively from Team Penske drivers. This year, the manufacturer has wins from Penske, Roush-Fenway Racing, The Wood Brothers and SHR.

“Getting our first win with Ford, this has been a great journey for us as an organization and team,” Harvick said.

 Martin Truex Jr. led 25 laps, one more lap than Harvick’s 24, but suffered an engine failure and finished 37th. Truex won the first stage of the race, his series-leading 11th stage victory. Jimmie Johnson won the second stage, his first stage victory of the season, but finished 13th overall. Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray started on the pole for Chip Ganassi Racing and hoped to give the owner a sweep of Sunday after Scott Dixon won the IndyCar race at Road America in Wisconsin, but Larson, the points leader, was never a factor and finished 26th after an early banging of body parts.

McMurray was 10th. Most of the top 10 was comprised of veterans. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were fourth and fifth in Toyota, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sixth and the highest-finishing Chevrolet. Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch was seventh. Then came Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who along with Larson are part of the newest faces of NASCAR.

Bowyer couldn’t catch teammate Harvick for the win, but Bowyer still finished a season-best second. He was content with that. He also understood that Harvick was eventually going to get a win.

“Let’s face it, you’re not going to keep that team that’s won a championship, won all these races in the last five years, you’re not going to keep them out of winning,” Bowyer said.

The race had only six cautions, for 12 laps, with two of the cautions coming at the end of the first and second stages.  There were 13 lead changes among 10 drivers.

Unofficial Race Results for the 29Th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Sonoma Raceway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 12, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 110, , , 2, 24, 5, 40, Running
2) 13, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Cars 3 Ford, 110, 10, , , , , 36, Running
3) 23, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Freightliner Elite Support Ford, 110, , 2, 1, 17, , 43, Running
4) 14, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 110, 5, 4, 2, 11, , 46, Running
5) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Caramel Toyota, 110, , , 1, 3, , 32, Running
6) 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 110, , 6, , , , 36, Running
7) 17, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, 110, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 8, Chase Elliott, No. 24 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 110, , 9, , , , 31, Running
9) 7, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 110, 4, 7, , , , 39, Running
10) 2, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 110, , , 1, 1, , 27, Running
11) 15, Paul Menard, No. 27 Tarkett/Menards Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 18, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 110, 6, 5, , , , 36, Running
13) 24, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 110, , 1, 1, 12, 1, 34, Running
14) 16, Michael McDowell, No. 95 K-Love Radio Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 20, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 110, , 10, , , , 23, Running
16) 11, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Stanley Toyota, 110, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 6, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 110, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 19, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Coating Materials Chevrolet, 110, 8, 8, , , , 25, Running
19) 9, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kingsford Chevrolet, 110, , , 1, 4, , 18, Running
20) 38, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 DeWalt Flexvolt Toyota, 110, , 3, , , , 25, Running
21) 29, Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 26, Billy Johnson, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 110, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa Ford, 110, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 21, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Microsoft Windows 10 Chevrolet, 109, 9, , , , , 15, Accident
25) 30, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota, 109, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 109, 3, , 1, 9, , 19, Running
27) 25, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 109, 7, , , , , 14, Running
28) 35, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 109, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 34, Boris Said, No. 33  Chevrolet, 109, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 109, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 28, David Ragan, No. 38 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ford, 109, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 32, Alon Day, No. 23 earthwater Toyota, 108, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 36, Kevin O'Connell, No. 15 SBC Contractors Inc. Chevrolet, 108, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 37, Tommy Regan, No. 55 OscaroParts/Capri Tools Chevrolet, 107, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 5, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 104, 2, , 1, 4, , 11, Running
36) 33, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 51 Marriott Drywall Materials Chevrolet, 100, , , , , , 0, Running
37) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, 86, 1, , 3, 25, 1, 11, Engine
38) 22, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 30, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) Non-charter team Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 46 Mins, 52 Secs.

Average Speed: 78.710 MPH
Race Comments: Kevin Harvick wins the Toyota - Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, his 36th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Before the start of the event, the following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 20 (engine change) and 23 (missing driver intros). 
Caution Flags: 6 for 12 laps: Laps: 16-17 (No. 88, 10 Incident Turn 11 [None]); 27-29 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]); 32-33 (No. 88, 10, 17 Incident Turn 4 [None]); 40-40 (Debris Turn 11 [None]); 52-54 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 110-110 (No. 5 Incident Frontstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 10 drivers: K. Larson 1-9; M. Truex Jr. 10-14; C. Buescher 15-18; A. Allmendinger 19-22; M. Truex Jr. 23-38; D. Hamlin 39; J. Johnson 40-51; D. Hamlin 52-61; Kyle Busch 62-64; K. Harvick 65-66; M. Truex Jr. 67-70; J. McMurray 71; B. Keselowski 72-88; K. Harvick 89-110.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Jamie McMurray, No. 1 
Coors Light Pole Award: Kyle Larson, No. 42 95.295 mph
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Engines, No. 4 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kurt Busch, No. 41 1.084 sec
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Jamie McMurray, No. 1
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Daniel Suarez, No. 19