Harvick Dominates Texas to be the Second Driver to Race for a Championship

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FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – Kevin Harvick maintained his domination at Texas Motor Speedway with an impressive victory in Sunday’s AAA 500.  Harvick won both stages and a final pass of fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney was a thing of beauty.  After that, he just drove away and won his eighth race of the season (a career high) and became the second driver that will race for the 2018 championship at Miami Homestead Speedway.

With Harvick’s victory today, only two sports remain for the final race.  Third and fourth in the point standings belong to Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr.

“Really, that’s what you race for, to get yourself in position to be in the playoffs and then position yourself to have a chance to at Homestead,” Harvick said after his season-high eighth victory.

“It’s not easy this time of year because everybody is throwing everything they have at it. To get victory lane, that’s our goal. That’s how you control your destiny the most, instead of counting fingers and toes what you need to do.”

Last November’s victory was Harvick’s first at this track. He finished second here in April after an unscheduled pit stop ruined another dominant run.

"We've loved it here since they repaved it," said Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers. "We had great race cars last year. The spring hurt us a little bit. We had such a great race car, and we were able to bring the same car back with some updates and do great again tonight. It's an awesome feeling."

Joey Logano, who finished third, secured his chance to compete for the championship at the Nov. 18 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a victory at Martinsville Speedway one week ago. The driver he spun out to win that race, Truex, was among the Round of 8 drivers who struggled with penalties.

“I’m telling you, God is testing us," Truex said. "There’s no question. Just a tough day. Overall, a good day. Luckily we were able to get up front and get some stage points in the first two stages.

Truex said the team is "in decent shape going to Phoenix."

Busch, who entered the race atop the playoff standings, was hit with a speeding violation on pit road and had to make an unscheduled pit stop before the midpoint of the race. He spent much of the rest of the race trying to get back on the lead lap while finishing 17th. 

Busch enters next Sunday's race second to only Harvick in the standings.

Clint Bowyer’s chances of making the Championship 4 dimmed when his car, which started on the front row, rode up the track and clipped Denny Hamlin on the first turn of the first lap, a collision that sent both to the pits. That led to an unscheduled pit stop to address the damage that collision caused along with a penalty later in the race because one of his crew members was caught sitting on the wall — a violation of pit lane rules.

Bowyer never recovered and finished 26th. That sets up a must-win situation for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver, who has led only 22 laps in 26 starts in Phoenix. His average finish is 18.4 with only two top-5 finishes, the last coming a decade ago.

Aric Almirola and Chase Elliott ­— two other drivers who made the Round of 8 — also almost certainly need a victory next Sunday at Phoenix to gain entry to the Championship 4.

Unofficial Race Results for the 14Th Annual Aaa Texas 500 - Sunday, November 4, 2018 - Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, , Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 337, 1, 1, 5, 177, 7, 60, Running
2) 1, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Accella/Carlisle Ford, 337, 4, 2, 3, 40, , 51, Running
3) 8, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford, 337, 6, 5, 4, 54, , 45, Running
4) 12, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 337, 3, 7, , , , 45, Running
5) 22, Kyle Larson, No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 337, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 16, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 337, 9, 10, , , , 34, Running
7) 7, Kurt Busch (P), No. 41 State Water Heaters Ford, 337, 2, 8, , , , 42, Running
8) 4, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfield Spirals Ford, 337, 10, 6, , , , 35, Running
9) 13, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, 337, 5, 3, , , , 42, Running
10) 26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow NORKOOL Chevrolet, 337, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 337, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 5, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wurth Ford, 337, , 4, 1, 50, , 32, Running
13) 11, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Cardell Ford, 337, 8, , , , , 27, Running
14) 18, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 337, , , 1, 3, , 23, Running
15) 23, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 337, , , 2, 11, , 22, Running
16) 9, William Byron #, No. 24 Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet, 337, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 10, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 337, 7, , , , , 24, Running
18) 14, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Next Gen Excavator Chevrolet, 335, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Sherwin-Williams Chevrolet, 335, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 25, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 335, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 15, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 335, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 24, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 335, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 21, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Clorox Chevrolet, 335, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 27, David Ragan, No. 38 Earthwater Ford, 335, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 30, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 NASCAR Racing Experience Chevrolet, 335, , , 1, 2, , 12, Running
26) 2, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford, 334, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 28, Regan Smith, No. 95 Procore Chevrolet, 332, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 19, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 332, , 9, , , , 11, Running
29) 29, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's/Luber Finer Ford, 331, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 6, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 331, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 34, * Parker Kligerman(i), No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota, 329, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 33, Ross Chastain, No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 326, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 38, * Reed Sorenson(i), No. 7 Sustainable Quarry Crypto Mining Chevrolet, 326, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 36, * Kyle Weatherman, No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 323, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 32, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 Brookshire's Chevrolet, 321, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 35, JJ Yeley(i), No. 23 maximum elevation off-road Toyota, 321, , , , , , 0, Running
37) 39, Joey Gase(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies/Donate Life Texas Ford, 317, , , , , , 0, Running
38) 31, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Wholey Ford, 300, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 40, * David Starr(i), No. 97 Toyota, 287, , , , , , 0, Running
40) 37, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 Gas Monkey Garage Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 1, RunningTime of Race: 3 Hrs, 21 Mins, 27 Secs.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non charter team

Total Race Length - 337 Laps - 505.5 Miles 
Average Speed: 150.558 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.447 Seconds

Race Comments: Kevin Harvick won the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 45th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 19, 37, 78 (engine change), 32 (transmission change), 24, 48 (failed pre-race inspection) and 10 (unapproved body modification).

Caution Flags: 8 for 37 laps: 
Laps: 32-36 (Competition Caution [38]);
87-92 (Stage 1 Conclusion [38]);
98-100 (No. 24, 48 Incident Turn 3 [43]);
172-176 (Stage 2 Conclusion [37]);
226-230 (No. 19 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
298-302 (No. 97 Incident Turn 2 [78]);
307-310 (No. 43, 37, 32 Incident Backstretch [17]);
332-335 (No. 19, 51, 47 Incident Turn 2 [18]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers: R. Blaney 1-32;
K. Harvick (P) 33-131;
J. Logano (P) 132-152;
A. Bowman 153-155;
B. Wallace # 156-157;
J. Johnson 158-159;
K. Harvick (P) 160-172;
J. Logano (P) 173-176;
B. Keselowski 177-226;
R. Blaney 227;
J. Logano (P) 228-253;
K. Harvick (P) 254-280;
J. Logano (P) 281-283;
J. Johnson 284-292;
K. Harvick (P) 293-310;
R. Blaney 311-317;
K. Harvick (P) 318-337.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Busch Pole Award: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 200.505 mph
Fastest Lap: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Roush-Yates Engines, No. 4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Larson, No. 42 crew chief Chad Johnston, 0.238 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

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 2018, Issue 11, Posted 9:01 PM, 11.04.2018