Harvick Finishes Second at Pocono

By:
On:
In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, overcame a pit-road speeding penalty and a wreck to lead the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway by finishing second in the GoBowling.com 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The second-place finish also secured the No. 4 team’s berth in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Harvick started sixth and consistently ran in the top-10 for much of the race. On lap 96 of the 160-lap event, Harvick brought his Mobil 1 Chevrolet to pit road as the leader under green-flag conditions for a scheduled four-tire pit stop. As he left his pit stall, NASCAR determined he was too fast exiting pit road and forced the No. 4 Chevrolet to serve a pass-through penalty.

Harvick dropped to 28th as a result of the penalty, but the team kept calm and went to work making their way back through the field.

On lap 117, Harvick lined up 19th for a restart but was caught up in a 14-car wreck. The No. 4 car suffered mostly cosmetic damage but required three trips to pit road for repairs. The incident worked in Harvick’s favor as several of the leaders came to pit road late for fuel while the No. 4 was able to stay out and gain track position.

A late-race caution on lap 154 gave Harvick one last chance at the win. Harvick restarted in the second position on lap 157 and chased down leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap, but he was unable to make the pass for the win.

“This hasn’t been one of my best tracks, but I just have to thank all my guys on this Mobil 1 Chevrolet for putting us in position to at least pull some strategy there,” Harvick said. “I made a lot of mistakes today, and they made up for it with a fast race car.”

Harvick led twice for five laps en route to his sixth top-five this season and his sixth top-five in 28 career Sprint Cup starts at Pocono. It was also his 106th top-five in 487 career Sprint Cup starts.

TSC PR

Speedway Digest Staff
Follow Me
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)
Post Views: 58