Harvick Finishes 15th in Busch Clash

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Race Recap:

●  Kevin Harvick started 17th and was racing against Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in the opening laps.

●  On just the third lap, Harvick spun at the exit of the Bus Stop (turns 9-10) after running through some dirt that had been kicked onto the racetrack. This dropped him to 21st.

●  “There’s so much dirt!” said Harvick on lap four after returning to the Bus Stop.

●  Some teams began making green-flag pit stops on lap seven, allowing Harvick to move up the leaderboard.

●  Caution on lap eight to clean the track. “The dirt’s just everywhere,” said Harvick while in 19th.

●  “I could use some lateral grip in both directions,” said Harvick during the caution.

●  Harvick pitted on lap nine for four tires and fuel with a track bar adjustment. Restarted in 15th on lap 11.

●  Harvick got spun in turn two on the restart, sending his Busch Light Ford off the track and back to 21st.

●  Pitted on lap 12 to clean grille.

●  Pitted again on lap 15 for four tires and fuel.

●  Competition caution on lap 16. Harvick pitted on the following lap for four tires and fuel.

●  The No. 4 Busch Light Mustang lined up 16th for the lap-19 restart.

●  Caution on lap 22. During break, Harvick mentions his car isn’t braking as well as it had at the beginning of the race.

●  Harvick pitted on lap 22 for four tires and fuel. Lined up 17th for lap-25 restart.

●  Caution on lap 27. “It’s like it won’t stop. I’ve got to push the pedal a long ways,” said Harvick about his car’s brakes while running 16th.

●  Pitted on lap 29 for four tires and fuel. Restarted 16th on lap 31.

●  Picked up 15th on final lap with pass of Ty Dillon.

 

Notes:

●  This was Harvick’s 17th career Busch Clash. He is a three-time winner of the race (2009, 2010 and 2013).

●  Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash to record his second win in the pre-season exhibition race.

●  There were four caution periods for a total of eight laps.

●  All but two of the 21 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  A random draw determined the starting positions for the race.

●  The 21-car field was comprised of Busch Pole winners from last season, past Busch Clash winners who competed fulltime in 2020, Daytona 500 winners who competed fulltime in 2020, former Daytona 500 Busch Pole winners who competed fulltime in 2020, as well as any NASCAR Cup Series drivers who made the playoffs in 2020, won a race in 2020 or won a stage in 2020.

●  This was the first Busch Clash on the 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course.

 

Next Up:

Daytona 500 qualifying takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 10 with live coverage on FS1. Only the top-two positions will be locked into the 63rd Daytona 500. The rest of the field will earn their respective starting positions in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile heat races that set the rest of the Daytona 500 field. The Duel gets underway at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11 with live coverage on FS1. Daytona Speedweek then culminates with the Daytona 500 at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14 with live coverage provided by FOX beginning at 2:30 p.m.

 

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