Harvick Wins at Michigan
Mobil 1 Ford Mustang Driver Successfully Defends Consumers Energy 400 Victory
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| Kevin Harvick was 5/1 to win at Michigan. |
Date: Aug. 11, 2019
Event: Consumers Energy 400 (Round 23 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)
Start/Finish: 2nd/1st (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 3rd with 822 points, 70 out of first (locked into NASCAR Playoffs via two wins)
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):
● Kevin Harvick started second and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● The No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang driver was running second on lap 33 when he cut a right-front tire and was forced to pit. He took right-side tires and fuel and came out of the pits in 31st, one lap down to the leaders.
● When the leaders began pitting around lap 43, Harvick worked his way up to sixth as those ahead of him headed to pit road.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):
● Harvick started 12th and finished 18th.
● Harvick pitted his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang on lap 63 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Said his car was too tight through the track’s corners.
● Harvick was leading on lap 114 when he pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
● Harvick returned to pit road on lap 117 for left-side tires and fuel as he thought he had a loose wheel.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-200):
● Harvick started 12th and finished first.
● The No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang was seventh on lap 149 despite Harvick saying the car was too tight.
● On lap 150, Harvick pitted for fuel only. He lined up ninth for the lap-152 restart.
● Harvick passed Paul Menard for fourth on lap 156.
● On lap 173, Harvick passed Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney to rise to second.
● Passed Joey Logano for the lead on lap 183 and led the final 18 laps of the Consumers Energy 400 to take the victory for the second straight year.
Notes:
● Harvick’s victory in the Consumers Energy 400marked the 67th overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 53rd points-paying Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win, its second this season and fourth at Michigan.
● This was SHR’s 17th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. The team won its first race with Ford when Kurt Busch captured the 2017 Daytona 500.
● This was Ford’s 39th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at Michigan – the most at any track currently on the schedule.
● This was Ford’s fourth straight victory at Michigan. Joey Logano won in the series’ previous visit to the track last June. Clint Bowyer and Harvick swept the June and August races, respectively, in 2018 for Ford and SHR.
● This was Harvick’s 47th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win. He now stands alone at 16th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series win list.
● This was Harvick’s 24th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory since joining SHR in 2014. Harvick has now scored more than half of his career NASCAR Cup Series victories in six years with SHR than he had in his 13 previous Cup Series seasons (2001-2013).
● Harvick earned his second win of the season and his third victory in 38 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.054 seconds.
● This is Harvick’s fourth straight top-10 at Michigan. He finished seventh in the series’ previous visit to the track in June and came into the Consumers Energy 400 as the defending race winner.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has finished in the top-10 in all but three races at Michigan. He has finished in the top-two six times.
● Harvick now has 13 top-fives at Michigan, the most among active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers. No other driver has more than eight top-fives.
● Harvick now has 19 top-10s at Michigan, the most among active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Next best in this category is Logano with 15 top-10s.
● Harvick led twice for 22 laps to increase his laps-led total at Michigan to 517, third-most among active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers behind only Jimmie Johnson (700 laps led) and Logano (572 laps led).
Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang:
“We just had a really fast Mobil 1 Ford Mustang all weekend. Our car handled really well today and with the multiple lanes, we were able to run all three lanes pretty well and make our way through traffic. So, just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford and everybody back at the shop at Stewart‑Haas Racing who put together a really fast car on this racetrack where we were able to capitalize on it, and that’s always fun. Doug (Yates) and everybody at Roush Yates Engines does a great job, and obviously Ford puts a big circle around these two Michigan races to come up here and be the top manufacturer, and when you look at our engine program, I think that these particular racetracks really fit the style of our torque curves and the things that we do, and it was right in our wheelhouse. The evolution of these racecars is rapid, and when you talk about the engine shop, obviously Mobil 1 is a huge part of that in being able to develop new oils and today was no different. It was a good day and a lot of pieces coming together and, hopefully, when we get to Las Vegas, there will be a few more pieces that come together as well.”
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday, Aug. 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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