Kevin Harvick dominated the first half of a NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway, leading 92 laps of the 161-lap FireKeepers 400 on Saturday on his way to his fifth win of the season. The win was his second-straight at MIS and his third at the track in the last four races there. Overall, Saturday’s win was Harvick’s fourth-career Michigan victory.
“We are a week to week team,” Harvick said. “We talked about this years ago. We want to go to the track and worry about one week at a time. We want to be competitive and win as many races as we can and see where it falls in the end. These guys are awesome, and when we come to Michigan, to ride a car like that is unbelievable.”
Saturday’s win was Harvick’s 54-career Cup Series win, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Lee Petty on the series all-time wins list.
“I am honored,” Harvick said. “I have been very fortunate to work with some good teams and have some good race cars. When you start talking about names like Lee Petty and Rusty Wallace and Junior Johnson and all the names that are around us on that list is just an honor to be around them. I know that comes with a lot of responsibilities for our sport, and I ask myself all the time if I have done enough or am doing enough to help make this sport go forward. It is an honor to be around those names.”
Brad Keselowski finished second, 0.284 seconds behind Harvick, after challenging the eventual winner in a two-lap sprint to the finish following an overtime restart that extended the race from its 156-lap scheduled distance.
“He is just super fast in the corners and the straightaway,” Keselowski said of Harvick. “He was definitely the best car out here today. We put a good effort to kind of maximize our day, and that is what we did, finished second. Proud of everyone on the Discount Tire Ford Mustang team. We will go back to work on it and, hopefully, find a little bit more for the race tomorrow.”
Martin Truex Jr. finished third after going a lap down with an unscheduled pit stop for a flat tire in the first 25 laps of the race. The tire problem was the result of contact with Tyler Reddick. Reddick also had to make an unscheduled stop for a flat tire because of the contact.
“Just proud of the guys for sticking with it,” Truex said. “I, obviously, made a bonehead move, there, early on, and it was weird. I barely felt like I rubbed the 8 [Reddick] car, there, and flattened both of our tires. It was definitely an odd situation, and I feel bad for screwing up his day, because he got a lap down, as well. All in all, special Auto Owner’s Camry today with 1900 names on the hood. They’re such great partners of ours, and I really wanted to give them a strong run at their home track. We had a top-three or four car all day. I felt like, at one point, we were really, really fast. Just fought track position with coming from the back and then those restarts at the end, you always hope you pick the right lane. A few times we did the right one, and a few times we didn’t. All in all, just a solid day.”
Ryan Blaney finished fourth, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
The first two stages ran incident-free, but the yellow flag waved six times after lap 90, the first three cautions resulting from John Hunter Nemechek incidents. Busch, along with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones and Truex, got to the front with fuel-only pit stops during Nemechek’s second caution on lap 106. Busch’s lead was brief, with Harvick retaking the lead on lap 112, but Busch retook the lead on a restart following a lap-143 caution for Ryan Preece. Harvick retook the lead on lap after close-quarters racing with Busch on lap 148.
“Definitely got loose,” Busch said. “Don’t know whether it was contact or just air. Definitely got loose and had to chase it and catch it. Thankfully, kept it out of the fence. We were able to salvage a fifth. Felt like we had a good second-place car today. The M&M’s Fudge Brownie Toyota Camry was fast. Just nowhere near his [Harvick] level of fast. The 4 [Harvick] car was just driving away, and I was running wide open and couldn’t even draft with him down the straightaways. We definitely didn’t have the speed we needed, but had a good balanced car, good driving car, and hopefully, we can work on it a little bit tonight and get it better for tomorrow. Just need to be better in traffic and be able to maneuver and be able to pass just a bit more.”
After taking the lead from Busch, Harvick led the rest of the way.
“The restarts were, obviously, a handful, but our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang was really fast today, and we held on for the long run and would really go on the short run and did everything we needed it to do,” Harvick said. “I have to thank everyone from Busch Light Apple, Mobil 1, Hunt Brothers, Jimmy Johns, Haas Automation and everyone from Ford. I know they love to win here, and we are glad to bring that trophy to them.”
Harvick’s dominant performance also included two stage wins at lap 40 and lap 85. After Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin combined to lead the first 22 laps, Harvick took his first lead by passing Hamlin on lap 23 for his first stage win.
Hamlin and Ryan Blaney led early in the second stage before Harvick took his second stage-winning lead from Blaney on lap 77.
Hamlin finished sixth, Elliott was seventh, Logano eighth, Darrell Wallace Jr. ninth, and Kurt Busch finished 10th.
