Skip to content

KEVIN HARVICK – 2019 Bristol I Race Report

Event: Food City 500(Round 8 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: 13th/13th (Running, completed 500 of 500 laps)
Point Standing: 4th (301 points, 60 out of first)

Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Dillon of Germain Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-125):

Kevin Harvick started 13th and finished 31st.
● The No. 4 car had to go to the back of the field before the start and then serve a pit road pass-through penalty for failing prerace inspection three times.
● Harvick was in 32nd, one lap down, when the caution came out on lap 39. Harvick wanted to do the wave-around, but the lead-lap cars did not all come to pit road, so Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
On lap 60, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel after saying he had a loose wheel. When he exited pit road he was 35th, four laps down.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 126-250):

Harvick started 29th and finished 22nd.
● No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang was 23rd and three laps down on lap 214. Harvick said the car was tight, but his lap times were good.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 251-500):

Started 21st and finished 13th.
● No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang pitted on lap 256 for four tires, fuel and a chassis and tire pressure adjustment. Harvick said his car was still tight.
● On lap 370 Harvick got by the leader and was one lap down. Unfortunately, he made slight contact with the wall, brought out a caution and went back down two laps.
Harvick pitted on lap 379 for four tires, fuel and repairs to the damage from the wall contact. He restarted 21st, two laps down.
● On lap 435, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel. He was 20th, one lap down.
On lap 480, a caution came out and Harvick received the Lucky Dog to rejoin the lead lap. He pitted for four tires and fuel and restarted 17th.
● Under green for the final 14 laps, Harvick was able to gain four spots to finish 13th.

Notes:

● Kyle Busch won the Food City 500 to score his 54th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading third of the season and his eighth at Bristol. His margin of victory over second-place Kurt Busch was .722 of a second.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 77 laps.
● Only 16 of the 37 drivers in the Food City 500 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch leaves Bristol as the championship leader with a 27-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin.

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Richmond 400 on Saturday, April 13 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.