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KEVIN HARVICK – 2019 Fontana Race Report

Event:               Auto Club 400(Round 5 of 36)
Series:               Monster EnergyNASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California(2-mile oval)
Format:            200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish:      2nd/4th(Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing:3rd(213 points, 24 out of first) 

Race Winner:    Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner:Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner:Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

  • Started second, finished fourth and collected seven bonus points.
  • Harvick fell to seventh and said the car was loose.
  • On lap 25, Harvick was 11thand said the car was tight in turn two.
  • Harvick pitted on lap 28 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
  • On lap 57, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):

  • Started third, finished sixth and collected five bonus points.
  • Harvick, who was seventh, said his car was still tight in turn two.
  • On lap 91 Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. He was in seventh.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 120-200):

  • Started second, finished fourth.
  • On lap 123, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
  • The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang pitted on lap 161 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustment.
  • Harvick pitted again on lap 166 under caution for four tires and fuel.
  • The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang came home in the fourth position. 

Notes:

  • Harvick earned his third top-five and fourth top-10 of the season, and his seventh top-five and 12thtop-10 in 26 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway.
  • Harvick finished fourth in Stage 1 to earn seven bonus points and sixth in Stage 2 to earn an additional five bonus points.
  • Kyle Busch won the Auto Club 400 to score his 53rdcareer Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his fourth at Auto Club Speedway. His margin of victory over second-place Joey Logano was 2.354 seconds.
  • This was Busch’s milestone 200thvictory across the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (53 wins), Xfinity Series (94 wins) and Gander Outdoors Truck Series (53 wins).
  • There were four caution periods for a total of 22 laps.
  • Twenty-one of the 38 drivers in the Auto Club 400 finished on the lead lap.
  • Busch leaves Auto Club Speedway as the championship leader with a 15-point advantage over second-place Logano.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:                                                                       

“We raced well today. My guys did a great job on pit road. Our car was better than it was in practice. I didn’t have anything for the Penske cars or the 18 (Kyle Busch) car. They did a great job of racing hard all day, and we made a lot out of the West Coast swing with not very much. We have some work to do, but we know you still have to go race. Our Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang was okay today, and we got a decent finish.”                                                                                                                          

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Martinsville 500 on Sunday, March 24 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.