Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Kevin Harvick finishes seventh at Michigan

Busch Light Driver Now Fourth in NASCAR Cup Points

Date: June 10, 2019
Event: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 15 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Note: Race extended three laps past its scheduled 200-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.
Start/Finish:        3rd/7th (Running, completed 203 of 203 laps)
Point standing:    4th (539 points, 75 out of first)

Race Winner:      Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner:  Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner:  Austin Dillion of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):
● Kevin Harvick started third, finished 33rd.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang fell to seventh at the start of the race but was up to second by lap seven.
● On lap 15, Harvick said he was a bit loose. He was running second.
● Harvick pitted on lap 22 for right-side tires and fuel. He came in second and went out in 10th.
● On lap 53, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel after complaining of possibly having a loose wheel.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):
● Harvick started 36th, finished second and earned nine bonus points.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 65 for four tires and fuel.
● On lap 66 Harvick pitted again to tighten the lug nuts. He pitted again on lap 73 to tighten the rear lug nuts and for fuel only. The No. 4 team could not figure out the cause of the vibration.
● By lap 87, Harvick was up to 12th and said the vibration was gone.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-203):
● Harvick started fourth, finished seventh.
● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 124 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment.
● Harvick started fourth and was in the lead by turn three.
● Joey Logano and Harvick traded the lead past the 130-lap mark.
● On lap 175, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel. He was running second.
● Several cars took only two tires, and even with a green-white-checkered restart, Harvick finished seventh.

Notes:
● Harvick earned his 10th top-10 of the season and his 18th top-10 in 37 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan.
● Harvick’s 18 top-10s at Michigan are the most among active drivers. Next best is Jimmie Johnson with 13 top-10s.
● This is Harvick’s third straight top-10 at Michigan.
● Harvick has finished outside the top-10 at Michigan just three times since joining SHR in 2014.
● This is Harvick’s fifth straight finish of 11th or better, a streak that began with a sixth-place drive in May at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
● Harvick finished second in Stage 2 to earn nine bonus points.
● He led three times for 15 laps to increase his laps-led total at Michigan to 495.
● Joey Logano won the FireKeepers Casino 400 to score his 23rd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Michigan. His margin of victory over second-place Kurt Busch was .147 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 35 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 36 drivers in the FireKeepers Casino 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Logano leaves Michigan as the new championship leader with a nine-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang:
“We had a really fast Busch Light Ford and just made a lot of mistakes today.”

Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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