Kevin Harvick Wins Darlington as NASCAR Returns

Brynn Anderson - AP

RAINELLE, WV – RIS -  Today was a banner day.  NASCAR was the first major sport to go back live with an event since most which meant they were under the microscope.  Everyone wanted to see if the drivers had lost a step, and how safe would be.  Everyone from the NBA, MLB, NBA, and others were watching.  The stands were empty, drivers and crews wore masks, and so did reporters, as few as there were. A big audience of viewers saw a good race. 

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Brad Keselowski on lap 216 of the 293-lap race and easily outpaced Alex Bowman to the finish after a restart with less than 40 laps to go following a slide by Ryan Newman. Harvick led 159 laps, while Bowman led 41.  Brad Keselowski led 80 laps.

The win means Harvick has won at least one race in each of the last 11 seasons. His last winless campaign came in 2009 when he was driving for Richard Childress Racing and finished 19th in the standings. The 2014 champion has finished no worse than eighth in the standings since that season and Sunday’s victory is also the 50th of his career.

It was the first race for NASCAR since the March 8th race at Phoenix, Arizona.  NASCAR rules were everyone must wear a mask, social distancing was the rule of the day, and crews were warned that the rules must be followed, or suspensions and fines would be levied.  Everyone behaved, apparently. Maybe Harvick broke a rule.  While Harvick didn’t have a mask on during his post-race interview, the interview was conducted via a boom microphone to prevent the interviewer from being too close to Harvick.

Kurt Busch finished third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Denny Hamlin was fifth.

Darlington will host two more races before NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway starting next weekend. The second-tier Xfinity Series will race on Tuesday, while the Cup Series returns on Wednesday for a shorter race held in the evening.

Wednesday night’s Cup Series race will start based on the finishing order of Sunday’s race. The top-20 spots will be inverted from Sunday’s race, while the drivers who finished 21st through 40th will start in their finishing positions. That means Harvick will start 20th, while Bowman will start 19th. The front row for Wednesday’s race will include Ryan Preece (20th) and Ty Dillon (19th).

It wasn’t a banner day for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson.  Johnson seemed to have a competitive car and while leading the first stage, he admitted he made a mistake, clipped Chris Beucher and crashed out of the race.

It may not be NASCAR as we like it, but it was a live sporting event, something we needed after 69 days of silence.

Unofficial Results: NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 5, Darlington Raceway: Darlington, SC: 1.366: Mile Paved

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1, 6, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light #YOURFACEHERE Ford, 293, 4, 4, 2, 159, 5, 54, Running
2, 2, Alex Bowman, No. 88 ChevyGoods.com NOCO Chevrolet, 293, 3, 2, 3, 41, , 52, Running
3, 22, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 293, , 6, , , , 39, Running
4, 11, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 293, 10, , , , , 34, Running
5, 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Thank You Toyota, 293, 2, 9, , , , 43, Running
6, 15, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 293, , 3, , , , 39, Running
7, 29, Tyler Reddick #, No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 293, 8, , , , , 33, Running
8, 20, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Atomic Thank You Toyota, 293, , 10, , , , 30, Running
9, 34, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 38 SCAG Ford, 293, , , , , , 28, Running
10, 12, Matt Kenseth, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 293, , , , , , 27, Running
11, 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Symbicort Chevrolet, 293, , , , , , 26, Running
12, 5, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 293, 6, , , , , 30, Running
13, 1, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 293, 5, 1, 3, 80, 1, 40, Running
14, 3, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 293, , , , , , 23, Running
15, 21, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford, 293, 9, , , , , 24, Running
16, 7, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford, 293, , , , , , 21, Running
17, 13, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Trucking/Mobil 1 Ford, 293, 7, 5, , , , 30, Running
18, 9, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 293, , 8, , , , 22, Running
19, 33, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 293, , , , , , 18, Running
20, 25, Ryan Preece, No. 37 Cottonelle Chevrolet, 293, , 7, , , , 21, Running
21, 17, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 293, , , , , , 16, Running
22, 14, Cole Custer #, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 293, , , , , , 15, Running
23, 31, Michael McDowell, No. 34 CarParts.com Ford, 293, , , , , , 14, Running
24, 28, Christopher Bell #, No. 95 Rheem Toyota, 293, , , , , , 13, Running
25, 37, * Daniel Suarez, No. 96 Today.Tomorrow.Toyota Toyota, 292, , , , , , 12, Running
26, 4, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 292, , , , , , 11, Running
27, 35, Brennan Poole #, No. 15 SpartanGO Chevrolet, 292, , , , , , 10, Running
28, 30, JJ Yeley(i), No. 27 Jacob Construction Ford, 291, , , 1, 1, , 0, Running
29, 36, Reed Sorenson, No. 77 Bon Secours #TheRealHeroes Chevrolet, 291, , , , , , 8, Running
30, 32, Joey Gase(i), No. 51 Agri Supply Ford, 289, , , , , , 0, Running
31, 19, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Drydene Ford, 289, , , , , , 6, Running
32, 24, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 287, , , , , , 5, Running
33, 38, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 RoofClaim.com Toyota, 286, , , , , , 0, Running
34, 40, * Josh Bilicki(i), No. 7 Gravely Chevrolet, 286, , , , , , 0, Running
35, 18, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 279, 1, , 1, 3, 1, 12, Running
36, 27, Quin Houff #, No. 00 UNITS Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 1, Electrical
37, 26, Garrett Smithley #, No. 53 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet, 127, , , , , , 1, Power
38, 8, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 89, , , 1, 9, , 1, Accident
39, 39, * BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Chevrolet, 13, , , , , , 0, Engine
40, 23, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#)) Rookie

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 27 Mins, 21 Secs.
Race Length: 293 Laps: 400.238 Miles
Average Speed: 115.815 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.154 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 11, 88, 4, 2, 10, 14, 8, 6, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 2, 88, 19, 4, 14, 1, 37, 22, 11, 20

Race Comments: Kevin Harvick won The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway, his 50th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 18 (Multiple Inspection Failures).

Caution Flags: 10 for 57 laps;
Laps: 2-6 (No.47 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
32-39 (Competition Caution [27]);
91-97 (No.17, 48 Incident Turn 2 / Stage 1 Conclusion [96]);
111-115 (No.24 Incident Turn 3 [27]);
125-129 (No.96 Spin Turn 2 [15]);
156-160 (Debris [96]);
174-177 (No.95 Incident Turn 4 [15]);
187-192 (Stage 2 Conclusion [77]);
213-218 (No.17, 95 Incident Frontstretch [77]);
254-259 (No.6 Spin Turn 1 [96]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers;
B. Keselowski 1-44;
A. Bowman 45-80;
J. Johnson 81-89;
W. Byron 90-92;
A. Bowman 93;
K. Harvick 94-174;
J. Yeley(i) 175;
B. Keselowski 176-188;
A. Bowman 189-192;
B. Keselowski 193-215;
K. Harvick 216-293.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No.4

Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award: Tyler Reddick, No.8