Harvick takes first win of 2017 in Sonoma Cup race
Kevin Harvick doubled down at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday.
Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images
After winning the K&N Pro Series West race on Saturday, Harvick earned his first career Cup victory on the 1.99-mile road course and his 35th Cup win of his career.
“It’s been a lot of work,” Harvick said. “A lot of guys have put in a lot of hours and it paid off. I feel like we have a lot of room to grow. For us, it’s been ok. We’ve been competitive. We just haven’t got to Victory Lane. We’ve had a couple opportunities to get there, but just came up a little short.
“This is worth the wait, to come to Sonoma for so many years and to win yesterday, coming back to the K&N Series and then come back here today, just proud of everybody."
Harvick qualified 12th but did not score points in the first two stages. He restarted the final segment in eighth and led 24 laps en route to his first win of 2017.
“Great frickin’ job, awesome job, unbelievable,” Harvick said.
Clint Bowyer finished behind eight-seconds Harvick as Kasey Kahne wrecked going into Turn 1 to put the race under caution at the checkers. Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 10.
Hamlin led the field to green on Lap 55 followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray.
The No. 18 was on a mission and gained four positions in the first four laps. Just before completing Lap 58, Kyle Busch passed Dillon for third. Kurt Busch, Harvick, McMurray, Newman, Larson and Truex rounded out the top 10.
Busch took the lead from Hamlin coming out of the hairpin on Lap 62. Harvick was third followed by Kurt Busch, Truex, Earnhardt, McMurray, Austin Dillon, Menard and Newman. Harvick passed Hamlin for second one lap later. At the line, Busch’s advantage was 0.699-seconds over the No. 4 Ford. Truex blew passed Hamlin and brought Kurt Busch with him.
Harvick passed Kyle Busch for the point on Lap 64. Truex moved up to second. Kurt Busch was fourth followed by Hamlin, McMurray, Earnhardt, Dillon, Menard and AJ Allmendinger. With 45 laps remaining, Alon Day pitted with his hood up over the windshield.
Truex pulled to the inside of Harvick entering Turn 11 on Lap 67 for the lead. Kyle Busch remained third followed by Kurt Busch, Hamlin, McMurray, Dillon, Menard and Earnhardt, who pit on the next lap along with Larson. Kyle Busch pit on Lap 69 along with Austin Dillon, Newman, Menard, Buescher and McDowell. Kenseth, Johnson, Suarez, Jones and Bowyer pit on Lap 70. Truex and Harvick, who were running first and second, came in on Lap 71.
Jamie McMurray took over the lead from Truex on Lap 71, then pitted and handed the point to Keselowski. Logano was second followed by Elliott, Patrick, Harvick, Truex, Billy Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon.
Allmendinger, who was running 16th, reported voltage issues. After leading 25 laps and cycling out to sixth after service, Truex reported he was down on power.
With 35 laps remaining, Keselowski held a 3.6-second lead over his teammate Logano. Elliott, Patrick, Harvick, Truex, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Hamlin rounded out the top 10.
Joey Logano pit from second on Lap 80 along with Danica Patrick. Logano received a speeding penalty — sections 2 and 5. Chase Elliott pit on Lap 81 — as did Logano, who served his penalty and dropped to 27th. Keselowski had an 11-second lead over Harvick before completing Lap 82. Truex, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Johnson, Dillon, Earnhardt and Menard rounded out the top 10.
Keselowski’s advantage dropped to 5.2-seconds over Harvick with 25 laps remaining. Truex ran third followed by Kyle Busch and Hamlin. After 85 laps, Truex came to pit road.
“It’s (freakin) bad now,” Truex said after his engine failed. “It’s very disappointing, I mean, sitting there running second on seven cylinders and stayed right with the leader. I mean this Toyota was so good today. Everyone at Furniture Row (Racing) did an awesome job with it. Everybody back in Denver, thank you for guys for just crazy fast cars. TRD (Toyota Racing Development) stuff has been really good for the past year and a half. You know sometimes these things happen, so appreciate all their effort out there at TRD. Make good power, it’s just this one wasn’t ready to go the whole distance today.”
He finished 36th.
“I felt like the 78 was the car to beat,” Harvick said of Truex. “When he had problems, we were in control. I feel like our car was good enough not to chase stage points, but go after the win.”
Hamlin moved up to third followed by Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Austin Dillon, Earnhardt, Bowyer and McMurray.
Harvick took the lead from Keselowski in Turn 4 on Lap 89. Hamlin ran third followed Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Earnhardt and McMurray.
With 20 laps remaining, Kurt Busch and Johnson moved passed Kyle Busch for fourth and fifth, respectively. Harvick held a three-second lead over Keselowski. Bowyer passed Busch for sixth on the next circuit.
Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne pit on Lap 92. Keselowski pitted from second one lap later. Kurt Busch, Menard, Jones and Kyle Busch also pitted on Lap 93. Earnhardt from 10th pitted with 15 laps remaining. Harvick’s lead was 7.6-seconds over Hamlin during the longest green-flag run of the race. Bowyer, Johnson and Austin Dillon completed the top five. McMurray, Elliott, Blaney, Newman and Keselowski rounded out the top 10.
As other drivers pitted, Keselowski moved back into the top 10 in three laps and to eighth by Lap 100. Over the final 20 laps, he gained five spots.
With 12 laps remaining, Kenseth cut off Billy Johnson and spun in the esses, but the race continued up green.
Harvick’s lead over Hamlin was 7.8-seconds on Lap 100. Bowyer, McMurray and Johnson completed the top five with 25 cars on the lead lap. Johnson was in fuel conservation mode and dropped to seventh with seven laps remaining. Coming through Turn 11, Austin Dillon spun and dropped to 11th on the next lap.
The race was slowed by six cautions. There were 13 lead changes among 10 drivers.
Click on the image to watch a recap of Harvick's win.
Also check out his victory burnout at Sonoma by clicking on image.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Laps Led |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 110 | 2:46'57 | 24 |
2 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 110 | 8.036 | |
3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 110 | 8.844 | 17 |
4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 110 | 9.707 | 11 |
5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 110 | 23.004 | 3 |
6 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 110 | 25.344 | |
7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 110 | 29.535 | |
8 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 110 | 35.380 | |
9 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 110 | 36.014 | |
10 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 110 | 37.232 | 1 |
11 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 110 | 37.911 | |
12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 110 | 41.615 | |
13 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 110 | 46.885 | 12 |
14 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 110 | 47.890 | |
15 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 110 | 49.790 | |
16 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 110 | 50.986 | |
17 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 110 | 52.338 | |
18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 110 | 53.904 | |
19 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 110 | 55.306 | 4 |
20 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 110 | 65.962 | |
21 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 110 | 72.144 | |
22 | 43 | Billy Johnson | Ford | 110 | 83.920 | |
23 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 110 | 87.386 | |
24 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 109 | 1 lap | |
25 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 109 | 1 lap | |
26 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 109 | 1 lap | 9 |
27 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 109 | 1 lap | |
28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 109 | 1 lap | |
29 | 33 | Boris Said | Chevrolet | 109 | 1 lap | |
30 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 109 | 1 lap | |
31 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 109 | 1 lap | |
32 | 23 | Day Alon | Toyota | 108 | 2 laps | |
33 | 15 | Kevin O'Connell | Chevrolet | 108 | 2 laps | |
34 | 55 | Tommy Regan | Chevrolet | 106 | 4 laps | |
35 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 104 | 6 laps | 4 |
36 | 51 | Josh Bilicki | Chevrolet | 100 | 9 laps | |
37 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 86 | 24 laps | 25 |
38 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 30 | 80 laps |
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