Kevin Harvick wins rain-delayed Sprint Cup race at Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Here’s a look at all the action and results from Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway:
WINNER: Kevin Harvick picked up his second win of the season, holding off a charging Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win the rescheduled Bristol night race. Harvick dominated the later portions of the race after Kyle Busch, who led 256 laps, had a part failure and crashed. The win was Harvick’s first since going to victory lane at Phoenix in March and the first for his team Stewart-Haas Racing at Bristol. And when the race concluded Harvick asked co-owner and teammate Tony Stewart to take a victory lap with him. Stewart, who is racing for the last time at Bristol before retiring from Sprint Cup Series racing at the end of the season, instead joined Harvick for victory burnouts on the finish line.
"I wanted him to go on a victory lap with so he could say goodbye to all the fans here at Bristol but that was pretty cool doing some burnouts with him," Harvick said in victory lane.
"This is a hard place to win with so many things that can go wrong," Stewart said. "It was cool sharing that moment with him. I'm really proud of him.
This place is so much. I told myself the last 10 laps just enjoy these 10 and savor the moment."
LEADERS WRECK: On a restart with 219 laps to go, race leader Kurt Busch appeared to lose control of his car and started to spin. He made slight contact with second-place Joey Logano, but third-place Brad Keselowski pounded Busch’s No. 41 car. Behind them, Chase Elliott turned Matt Kenseth, who was hard on the brakes, and Ryan Blaney ended up drilling Kenseth. Kyle Larson also some damage in the wreck after being nailed by Brian Scott. Jimmie Johnson and Paul Menard also got a piece of the wreck. "Drove the car at 101%, got loose, and it got away from me,” Busch said. Keselowski said Busch got loose, and "by the time I saw it, I was already making contact with him. Kinda one of them Bristol things."
Busch brothers crash out at Bristol; Kyle lashes out
CHANCES GO SOUTH: Kyle Busch had a dominant day and led the most laps, but he broke something in the rear end of his car with roughly 150 laps to go. Busch tried to nurse it for awhile and had just decided to go behind the wall for repairs when he spun out, lost control and was hit by Justin Allgaier (driving in place of Michael Annett) after he had already stopped. Allgaier then went up the track and hit Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson, who is battling for a Chase spot. A frustrated Busch then tossed his helmet into his car and told CNBC that Allgaier was a “moron” for hitting him.
SPEEDING TICKET: Denny Hamlin was penalized for his series-leading eighth speeding penalty with just under 200 laps to go in Sunday’s race.
Gluck: Chase berths narrow with Chris Buescher's Bristol finish
FINALLY GREEN: The postponed race was supposed to resume at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, but heavy rains made that an impossibility. After a cold front moved through, drivers finally took the green flag again at 4:42 p.m. ET.
POSTPONED: The race was originally scheduled to run on Saturday night – and it did, but only for a brief time. After starting 40 minutes late, a rain shower hit the track that caused a 90-minute delay. Just when NASCAR had dried the track and was getting ready for the cars to go green again, a heavier storm washed through the area and caused officials to postpone the race.
Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
Sunday's results from the .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway (starting position in parentheses):
1. (24) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500 laps, 0 rating, 44 points.
2. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 500, 0, 39.
3. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 0, 39.
4. (13) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 37.
5. (12) Chris Buescher, Ford, 500, 0, 36.
6. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500, 0, 36.
7. (16) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 34.
8. (28) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 33.
9. (8) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 32.
10. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, 0, 32.
11. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 30.
12. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 500, 0, 29.
13. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 28.
14. (17) Aric Almirola, Ford, 500, 0, 27.
15. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 27.
16. (34) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 0, 25.
17. (18) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 500, 0, 24.
18. (30) Brian Scott, Ford, 499, 0, 24.
19. (26) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 499, 0, 22.
20. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 497, 0, 21.
21. (37) David Ragan, Toyota, 497, 0, 20.
22. (29) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 496, 0, 19.
23. (7) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 496, 0, 18.
24. (23) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 495, 0, 17.
25. (21) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 495, 0, 16.
26. (33) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 491, 0, 15.
27. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 489, 0, 14.
28. (15) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 487, 0, 14.
29. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 479, 0, 12.
30. (27) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 471, 0, 11.
31. (31) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 470, 0, 10.
32. (20) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 458, 0, 9.
33. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 458, 0, 8.
34. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 442, 0, 7.
35. (4) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 437, 0, 6.
36. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 416, 0, 5.
37. (5) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, accident, 373, 0, 4.
38. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, accident, 372, 0, 3.
39. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 357, 0, 4.
40. (39) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, accident, 354, 0, 0.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.973 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 25 minutes, 5 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.933 seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 106 laps.
Lead Changes: 20 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C.Edwards 0; D.Hamlin 1-8; C.Elliott 9-22; Ky.Busch 23-87; B.Scott 88-92; R.Newman 93-101; Ky.Busch 102-160; C.Edwards 161-189; Ky.Busch 190-226; C.Edwards 227; Ky.Busch 228-250; C.Edwards 251; Ky.Busch 252-285; K.Harvick 286-309; Ky.Busch 310-347; K.Harvick 348-366; J.Logano 367-403; K.Harvick 404-417; J.Logano 418; D.Hamlin 419-429; K.Harvick 430-500
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): Ky.Busch, 6 times for 250 laps; K.Harvick, 4 times for 124 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 36 laps; C.Edwards, 4 times for 28 laps; D.Hamlin, 2 times for 17 laps; C.Elliott, 1 time for 13 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 8 laps; B.Scott, 1 time for 4 laps.
Wins: Ky.Busch, 4; B.Keselowski, 4; C.Edwards, 2; D.Hamlin, 2; K.Harvick, 2; J.Johnson, 2; M.Kenseth, 2; C.Buescher, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; J.Logano, 1; T.Stewart, 1; M.Truex, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 762; 2. B.Keselowski, 735; 3. Ku.Busch, 692; 4. C.Edwards, 689; 5. J.Logano, 684; 6. Ky.Busch, 674; 7. D.Hamlin, 659; 8. M.Truex, 630; 9. J.Johnson, 612; 10. M.Kenseth, 604; 11. A.Dillon, 596; 12. C.Elliott, 588; 13. J.McMurray, 583; 14. R.Newman, 576; 15. T.Bayne, 541; 16. K.Kahne, 537.