Harvick Finishes Disappointing 14th at Chicagoland

Race Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

● Kevin Harvick started second, finished seventh and earned four bonus points.

● No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang started second and was second when rain hit the racetrack and delayed the race for more than three hours.

● Harvick pitted on lap 14 for four tires and fuel. He restarted eighth but was up to first by lap 20.

● On lap 73 Harvick headed to pit road. He radioed to the team that he had a cut tire, so the team changed four tires, added fuel and made a tire pressure adjustment. There was no damage to Harvick’s car.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

● Started first, finished first and earned 10 bonus points and one playoff point.

● No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang was still sliding all over the place per Harvick on lap 98 while he was leading.

● On lap 99 William Byron passed Harvick for the lead.

● Harvick pitted on lap 105 under caution and took four tires and fuel along with a tire pressure adjustment.

● On the restart Harvick was second, but he took the lead in turn two on lap 110.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

● Started first, finished 14th.

● No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang pitted on lap 163 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment.

● On lap 172 Harvick got into the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall in turns one and two while running third.

● Harvick went to pit road on lap 173 for repairs. He took for four tires and fuel then restarted 21st, still on the lead lap.

● On lap 187, Harvick said the car was “just plowing.” He was in 16th place.

● Harvick pitted on lap 224 for four tires and fuel. He was in the lead, but due to other cars’ pit strategies he exited in 18th.

● He had worked his way up to 14th when the checkered flag flew.

 

Notes:

● Harvick earned his 14th top-15 of the season and his 13th top-15 in 19 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Chicagoland.

● Harvick finished seventh in Stage 1 to earn four bonus points and won Stage 2 to earn an additional 10 bonus points and one playoff point.

● Harvick led five times for 132 laps to increase his laps-led total at Chicagoland to 602.

● Alex Bowman won the Camping World 400 to score his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was .546 of a second.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 25 laps.

● Only 17 of the 38 drivers in the Camping World 400 finished on the lead lap.

● Joey Logano remains the championship leader after Chicagoland with an 18-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

 

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, July 6 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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