Harvick Takes Michigan Race and Takes Keelan for Another Ride

Paul Sancya - LA Times Photo

BROOKLYN, MI – RIS – The closer closed.  Kevin Harvick battled, had enough fuel to finish the race and defended his 2018 win at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race.  It was his second victory of 2019 and the 47th of his career.

Late in the race, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver pulled away from the competition in his Ford and finished more than a second ahead of Denny Hamlin.

"Nothing I could really do," said Hamlin, who drove a Toyota-powered car for Joe Gibbs Racing. "Didn't have enough speed."

With just three races before the playoffs, Harvick is hopeful the timing of his strong performance helps him win a championship.

"Hopefully, we're peaking at the right time," Harvick said.

Kyle Larson was third, more than 16 seconds behind Harvick. He was followed by Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and points-leader Kyle Busch.

Harvick’s win was a copycat of what he’s done in the past and one of the reasons why he is called “the closer.’  Although he ran in the top five and started from the pole, he took the lead in the final stage, blew by Joey Logano, and held on for the victory despite a closing Hamlin.  He then opened the lead up again in the final five laps.  Logano was short on fuel, a problem that Harvick’s crew notified wasn;t going to be a problem, and finished 17th.

“For me, I felt like the key to winning the race was getting around the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski). I felt like in clean air he was going to be the hardest one to pass. I felt like the No. 22 (Logano) fell off as the runs went. My car was still handling really well, top, bottom and middle.”

Like Logano, Keselowski ran out of fuel.

“Man, I want this one so bad,” Keselowski said. “We got that flat tire early on (Lap 115) and we recovered and got up to third there in the late stages and then we just ran out of gas. That is just the way it goes sometimes.”

The race to get into the 10-race playoffs continue.  Martin Truex, Jr. won the first stage.  On a restart with one lap left in Stage 2, Jones pushed Kyle Busch past Truex for the stage win while Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola and Daniel Hemric all collided, leaving Almirola’s No. 10 Ford badly damaged.

Truex pitted for tires and fuel after the second stage and came back in 19th place.  He never recovered.

Jimmie Johnson entered the day in a tie for 16th and final playoff spot with Ryan Newman. Johnson was four laps down and in last place by the end of Stage 1.  Newman finished 12th in his No. 6 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing and now sits 15th in points, jumping past Clint Bowyer, who finished 37th, and Johnson, who finished 34th. There are three races left before the 16-driver field is set for the playoff opener Sept. 15 at Las Vegas.

After the win, Harvick repeated what he did when he won this race in 2018.  He took son Keelan for a ride and later a burnout to celebrate.  After the win, he backed up on pit road, collected his son Keelan, told Keelan to plug his ears and "don't tell mom," and then Kevin helped Keelan into the car and the two went for a victory ride. Harvick then stopped on the start finish line to talk to the TV crews while Keelan ran and grabbed the checked flag and high-fived NASCAR officials. Kevin then helped Keelan back in the  car, the two enjoyed a burnout, and then went on to Victory Lane where Keelan was part of the "hat dance."

The drivers head for “Thunder Valley” – Bristol Motor Speedway, for the night race next Saturday night.

Unofficial Results: 50th Annual Consumers Energy 400 - August 11, 2019 - Michigan International Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 200, 6, , 2, 22, 5, 45, Running
2)
 14, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 200, 2, , 2, 6, , 44, Running
3)
 17, Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 34, Running
4)
 15, Martin Truex Jr, No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance/MTJ 500th Start Toyota, 200, 1, 2, 5, 43, 1, 52, Running
5)
 11, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 ARRIS Ford, 200, , , , , , 32, Running
6)
 22, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 200, , 1, 1, 3, 1, 41, Running
7)
 29, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 30, Running
8)
 3, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 200, 5, 8, , , , 38, Running
9)
 6, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, 200, 9, 6, , , , 35, Running
10)
 4, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 200, 8, , , , , 30, Running
11)
 21, Ty Dillon, No. 13 K&L Ready Mix Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 26, Running
12)
 20, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford, 200, , , , , , 25, Running
13)
 37, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 24, Running
14)
 25, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kroger Fast Start Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 23, Running
15)
 9, Paul Menard, No. 21 MasterTechs/QuickLaneTire&AutoCenter Ford, 200, , 10, , , , 23, Running
16)
 24, David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Transport Ford, 200, , , , , , 21, Running
17)
 8, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 200, 4, 4, 3, 52, , 34, Running
18)
 16, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 200, , 5, , , , 25, Running
19)
 1, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 200, 3, , 4, 66, , 26, Running
20)
 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota, 200, , , , , , 17, Running
21)
 31, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Schuler Systems Ford, 200, , , , , , 16, Running
22)
 23, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford, 200, , , , , , 15, Running
23)
 13, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 200, , 3, 2, 5, , 22, Running
24)
 7, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Moen Ford, 200, 7, 7, 1, 3, , 21, Running
25)
 19, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Meijer Ford, 199, , , , , , 12, Running
26)
 38, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 11, Running
27)
 26, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 10, Running
28)
 18, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 199, , , , , , 9, Running
29)
 30, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 0, Running
30)
 28, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 StarCom Fiber/Creek Enterprise Inc Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 0, Running
31)
 32, * Quin Houff, No. 27 Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 6, Running
32)
 33, Austin Theriault, No. 52 BANGOR BANK Ford, 194, , , , , , 5, Running
33)
 12, Aric Almirola, No. 10 3D Systems Ford, 193, 10, , , , , 5, Running
34)
 10, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 3, Running
35)
 35, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 77 VictoryLaneQuickOilChange/Kendall Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 0, Running
36)
 34, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 JACOB COMPANIES Ford, 191, , , , , , 0, Running
37)
 5, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 One Cure Ford, 139, , 9, , , , 3, Accident
38)
 36, * Spencer Boyd(i), No. 53 CHELLE CORPORATION Ford, 123, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) 
Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 40 Mins, 59 Secs.
Total Race Length:
 200 Laps, 400. Miles
Average Speed: 149.084 MPH
Margin of Victory: 
1.054 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 11, 2, 22, 24, 4, 12, 88, 9, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 
18, 19, 1, 22, 20, 9, 12, 24, 14, 21

Race Comments: Kevin Harvick won the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. His 47th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 3, 8 (qualifying time disallowed), No. 19 (multiple inspection failures), Nos. 32, 36 (transmission change), No. 77 (driver change).

Caution Flags: 6 for 24 laps;
Laps: 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]);
117-119 (No. 2 Spin Turn 4 [36]);
122-127 (No. 3, 8, 10 Incident Frontstretch / Stage 2 Conclusion [2]);
134-136 (No. 53 Incident Turn 4 [34]);
138-141 (No. 21, 14 Incident Turn 3 [32]);
150-152 (No. 17 Spin Turn 4 [38]).

Lead Changes: 19 among 8 drivers;
B. Keselowski 1-39;
D. Hamlin 40-44;
M. Truex Jr 45-55;
D. Hamlin 56;
M. Truex Jr 57-63;
B. Keselowski 64-81;
M. Truex Jr 82;
B. Keselowski 83-90;
M. Truex Jr 91-108;
B. Keselowski 109;
K. Harvick 110-113;
M. Truex Jr 114-119;
K. Busch 120-122;
K. Busch 123-126;
J. Logano 127-141;
K. Busch 142;
J. Logano 143-150;
R. Blaney 151-153;
J. Logano 154-182;
K. Harvick 183-200.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Joey Logano, No. 22

Fastest Lap: Joey Logano, No. 22

Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Larson, No. 42 crew chief Chad Johnston, 5.082 seconds

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Ryan Preece, No. 47

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 2019, Issue 8, Posted 11:37 PM, 08.11.2019