Sunday, August 14th, 2022
Richmond Raceway, Richmond, VA
Last Sunday at Michigan, Kevin Harvick broke a 65-race drought.
Now the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford has a two-race winning streak.
Chased by runner-up Christopher Bell and third-place finisher Chris Buescher over the closing laps, Harvick threaded his way through traffic to win Sunday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway by .441 seconds.
The NASCAR Cup Series victory was Harvick’s fourth at the .75-mile short track—his first there since 2013—and the 60th of his career, tying him with Kyle Busch for most among active drivers and ninth all-time.
Harvick led twice for 55 laps, passing eventual sixth-place finisher Joey Logano for the lead on Lap 334 and regaining it from Denny Hamlin on Lap 353 at the end of a cycle of green-flag pit stops.
“It’s like I said last week, the cars have been running good week-in and week-out,” Harvick said, “and you see that we have a lot better understanding of what’s going on with how we adjusted on the car after the first run and were able to get our car handling a lot better.
“I think as it got dark, the race track really came to our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang.”
By pitting one circuit earlier than Logano on Lap 340, Buescher leap-frogged the Team Penske driver and began to chase Harvick, who led the final 48 laps. Buescher got to Harvick’s bumper in traffic but couldn’t make a run for the lead.
The driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford lost his chance for a serendipitous victory when Harvick lapped Bubba Wallace and Buescher stayed trapped behind Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota and fell two seconds behind.
“Just burned the rear tires up,” said Buescher, who needs a victory to qualify for the Cup Playoffs. “Ultimately that’s on me. Lapped traffic didn’t do us any favors, either, but ultimately just got to keep the rears under us a little bit better so we can have a little bit better shot there to get after him for the win.”
On 12-lap fresher tires, Bell charged forward, slipped past Buescher on Lap 396 of 400 and closed on Harvick before running out of time.
“Well, I knew he was coming, but I forgot to shift down the front straightaway the last time,” Harvick said. “I was not paying attention, and he got closer than he should have. I made a mistake there a couple laps doing the same thing. I wasn’t shifting on the back, and I was shifting on the front. There was a lot going on, and made a couple mistakes, let him get too close.”
Bell, who already has a victory to his credit this season, seemed pleased with the runner-up result.
“Really, really proud of (crew chief) Adam Stevens, this entire 20 group,” Bell said. “The Rheem Camry didn’t feel very good at the beginning, and we had our fair share of troubles (including a spin on Lap 250), and the pit crew really came through at the end there with some blazing stops and allowed us to get in front of the 11 (Hamlin), who was on the same strategy as us and get up there and contend.”
In the battle for the last position in the Playoffs, Ryan Blaney widened his advantage over Martin Truex Jr. despite finishing 10th to Truex’s seventh. The difference was in stage points. Blaney scored 11 to none for Truex and now leads the 2017 series champion by 26 with two races left in the regular season.
Hamlin came home fourth, followed by Chase Elliott. Logano led a race-high 222 laps, but his No. 22 Ford wasn’t as strong in the twilight as it had been earlier in the race.
“Yeah, I think just as the sun went down and the track cooled off, (we) lost some turn on our car,” Logano said. “Kevin and some others got a lot better the last couple of runs in the race. When it was hot and slick, that was probably our strength with the Shell Pennzoil Mustang.”
The Cup Series heads for Watkins Glen next Sunday for the 25th regular-season race.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Smithfield | Stewart-Haas Racing | Drew Blickensderfer |
2 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | RoushParts.com | RFK Racing | Matt McCall |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | FedEx Freight | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
4 | 15 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Ford | Unsponsored | Rick Ware Racing | Kevyn Rebolledo |
5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Shell Pennzoil | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | Mobil 1 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | M&M's | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | Chicago Pneumatic Compressors | Front Row Motorsports | Chris Yerges |
10 | 77 | Landon Cassill | Cedar Rapids, IA | Jul 7, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | Voyager: Crypto for All | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Huk Performance Fishing | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | Kroger/ Richmond | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
15 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | BodyArmor | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler |
16 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Built.com | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
17 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Feb 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Allegiant | Petty GMS Motorsports | Jerame Donley |
18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
19 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Fastenal | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
20 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | FOCUSfactor | Petty GMS Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
21 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | Blaster | Live Fast Motorsports | Lee Leslie |
22 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | CommScope | TrackHouse Racing | Travis Mack |
23 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Ford | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
24 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | Moose Fraternity | TrackHouse Racing | Phil Surgen |
25 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | leidos | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker |
26 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Liberty University | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
27 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Jacob Construction | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
28 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | 3CHI | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
29 | 31 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Trent Owens |
30 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | Rheem | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
31 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Columbus, OH | Sep 2, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Menards\Duracell | Team Penske | Grant Hutchens |
32 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | HighPoint.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
33 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Huntersville, NC | Oct 9, 2000 | 24 | Ford | Menards \ Dutch Boy | Wood Brothers Racing | Brian Wilson |
34 | 16 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Chevy Accessories | Kaulig Racing | Matt Swiderski |
35 | 45 | Ty Gibbs | Charlotte, NC | Oct 4, 2002 | 22 | Toyota | Jordan Brand | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott |
36 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Sherrills Ford, NC | May 15, 2000 | 24 | Ford | The Pete Store | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour |