Kevin Harvick required his method past Kyle Busch, then fended off home town threat Brad Keselowski.
It takes a lot to beat Harvick nowadays– particularly in Michigan.
Harvick raced to his 5th NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, outliving Keselowski in overtime Saturday in the opener of a weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick now has four success at Michigan, consisting of three in the last three years. Hes been a huge part of what is now a five-race winning streak for Ford at the Cup level at MIS.
” Just got challenged by a whole bunch of restarts at the end that made it type of crazy,” Harvick stated. “But in the end it was a terrific day for us. Everyone did a fantastic task, called a great race, and we profited from a fast vehicle and put it in Victory Lane.”
NASCAR MAKES CHOOSE RULE PERMANENT, HERES HOW IT WORKS
Keselowski saw the replay to see if he could have done anything in a different way, in hindsight.
Martin Truex Jr. ended up third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.
“I dont know whether he struck me or just air. It was close enough that it interrupted my car certainly and made me need to get out of it real bad,” he stated.
The race, generally a 200-lap, 400-mile affair, was set up for 156 laps this time. It went to overtime after Christopher Bell made contact with Austin Dillon to highlight the final care.
Beginning this weekend, NASCAR is integrating the “choose guideline” into the reboot treatment for all nationwide series races other than those held on road courses and superspeedways. As motorists approach a designated spot, they should devote to the within or outside lane for the reboot.
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Harvick raced to his 5th NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, outliving Keselowski in overtime Saturday in the opener of a weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway.” Just got challenged by a whole lot of restarts at the end that made it kind of crazy,” Harvick said. Harvick also won the races very first two phases.
” I believe it certainly gave some men a possibility that were kind of buried 8th or ninth,” Harvick said. I should have loaded a lot of air on his left back,” Harvick stated.
It was the eighth straight top-five finish for Harvick, who has now matched Hamlins series-leading total of 5 success on the season.
Harvick, the series points leader, won for the 54th time, pulling even with Lee Petty for 11th on the career list. Hes one success behind rusty Wallace and two behind Busch.
For a brief minute, Busch remained in front after among the late restarts, but Harvick showed up on the within him, and Buschs vehicle became loose and fell back. In the beginning, it appeared there might have been extremely small contact in between the vehicles, but Harvick stated that wasnt the case.
” I think it absolutely offered some men a chance that were type of buried 8th or ninth,” Harvick stated. “You can take a possibility and acquire some track position. So I believed it worked out and did exactly what everyone believed it would do.”
On the final reboot, both Harvick and Chase Elliott selected the outdoors, while Keselowski and Denny Hamlin went within. Harvick and Keselowski raced side by side for a bit, but Harvick had a clear lead out of Turn 4, then hung on for another lap to win.
I must have loaded a bunch of air on his left back,” Harvick said. You have to take the possibility when you have it and I needed that side draft down the front straightaway.
Busch handled to end up in the leading five in spite of that incident.
” I had like three ideas, and I saw the replay and none would have worked,” Keselowski stated. “At the moment, there was nothing I feel like I could have done in a different way other than simply be a little faster or have a bit more speed.”
It would have been a high order to conquer Harvicks dominant No. 4 vehicle on this day. Harvick also won the races first two stages.
” At no time did I believe us or anyone else was better than the 4,” Keselowski stated.
For the first 2 stages, the only yellow flags were for a competition caution and the phase endings. Then there were six warns in the last and even a quick red flag for track cleansing.
Busch remained winless on the year with 5 races left in the regular season.
