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KEVIN HARVICK – 2018 Bristol II Race Report

Date:                 Aug. 18, 2018
Event:               Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (Round 24 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Format:             500 laps, broken into three stages (125 laps/125 laps/250 laps)
Start/Finish:      6th/10th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing:  2nd (960 points, 43 out of first)

Race Winner:    Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125): 

  • Kevin Harvick started sixth, finished second, collecting nine bonus points.
  • The Jimmy John’s driver raced in the top-five until the competition caution on lap 60.
  • The No. 4 Ford came to pit road for four tires, fuel and a small adjustment on lap 64 and came out in fourth.
  • Harvick raced from fourth to second on the lap-66 restart and held the position the remainder of the stage.
  • Harvick challenged for the lead in the closing laps of the stage and finished .003 of a second behind stage winner Ryan Blaney.
  • He came to pit road for four tires and fuel at the conclusion of the stage and claimed the lead on pit road.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

  • Started first, finished 21st.
  • Harvick raced out front at the start of the stage before dropping back to third.
  • The Jimmy John’s Ford reported a tire issue on lap 185 and was forced to make an unscheduled four-tire pit stop. The stop resulted in Harvick losing two laps to the leaders.
  • Harvick narrowly avoided a wreck on lap 200 that brought out a caution. The No. 4 team took the wave-around to gain a lap back.
  • The Jimmy John’s Ford remained a lap down the remainder of the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 251-500):

  • Started 20th and finished 10th.
  • Harvick raced his way up to the 17th position while remaining one lap down until staying out under caution on lap 442 to return to the lead lap.
  • The No. 4 Ford restarted 15th on lap 445 and gained one position by the following caution on lap 472.
  • Harvick brought the Jimmy John’s Ford to pit road for the final time on lap 474 for four tires and fuel.
  • The team restarted 13th on lap 477 and battled through a series of late-race cautions to capture a top-10 finish.

Notes:

  • This was Harvick’s series-leading 20th top-10 finish of the season and his 19th top-10 finish in 36 career Cup Series starts at Bristol.
  • Harvick finished second in Stage 1 by .003 to Blaney to earn nine bonus points.
  • Harvick led twice for a total of eight laps to increase his laps-led total at Bristol to 884.
  • Busch’s margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was .367 of a second.
  • There were nine caution periods for a total of 70 laps.
  • Only 15 of the 40 drivers in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race finished on the lead lap.