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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

Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Lesley Ann Miller / Motorsport Images

Race winner Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Clint Bowyer, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Clint Bowyer, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

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#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeLaps Led
1 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 110 2:46'57 24
2 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 110 8.036  
3 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 110 8.844 17
4 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 110 9.707 11
5 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 110 23.004 3
6 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet 110 25.344  
7 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 110 29.535  
8 24 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 110 35.380  
9 21 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 110 36.014  
10 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 110 37.232 1
11 27 united_states Paul Menard  Chevrolet 110 37.911  
12 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 110 41.615  
13 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 110 46.885 12
14 95 united_states Michael McDowell  Chevrolet 110 47.890  
15 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 110 49.790  
16 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 110 50.986  
17 10 united_states Danica Patrick  Ford 110 52.338  
18 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 110 53.904  
19 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 110 55.306 4
20 20 united_states Matt Kenseth  Toyota 110 65.962  
21 72 united_states Cole Whitt  Chevrolet 110 72.144  
22 43 united_states Billy Johnson  Ford 110 83.920  
23 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 110 87.386  
24 5 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 109 1 lap  
25 77 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 109 1 lap  
26 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 109 1 lap 9
27 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 109 1 lap  
28 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 109 1 lap  
29 33 united_states Boris Said  Chevrolet 109 1 lap  
30 34 united_states Landon Cassill  Ford 109 1 lap  
31 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 109 1 lap  
32 23 israel Day Alon  Toyota 108 2 laps  
33 15 united_states Kevin O'Connell  Chevrolet 108 2 laps  
34 55 united_states Tommy Regan  Chevrolet 106 4 laps  
35 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 104 6 laps 4
36 51 united_states Josh Bilicki  Chevrolet 100 9 laps  
37 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 86 24 laps 25
38 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 30 80 laps  

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