Kevin Harvick has been one of the dominant drivers since NASCAR returned from its COVID-19 bracket, and that continued on Sunday in Indianapolis.
For the second time in three races, Harvick drove to victory lane after fleeing the field on the final restart with two laps to go. With a push from teammate Stewart-Haas Racing Cole Custer, Harvick eliminated Matt Kenseth as he entered Turn 1 and scored his second consecutive victory, the third overall, at The Brickyard.
Harvick led 68 laps in the race. He took the lead last time when Denny Hamlin, who was up front, blew up a right front tire as he entered Turn 1 with seven laps to go. Hamlin’s accident prepared the sprint to the end.
“I’m really proud of all these guys and everyone at SHR,” said Harvick. “I just have to thank everyone from Busch Light. Our Ford Mustang was fast today. Mobil 1, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Jimmy John’s, everyone at Haas Automation for everything they do to get our car into the victory lane is just a big effort right now to get the cars onto the race track.
“Denny had his problems there, and we were able to capitalize and get a big boost from Cole in the end and bring him home.”
Kenseth held on to second place, his best result since joining Chip Ganassi Racing. Aric Almirola picked up his fifth consecutive top 5 with a third place effort. Brad Keselowski finished fourth, and Custer finished fifth.
Kyle Busch finished sixth with Michael McDowell seventh, Tyler Reddick eighth, Darrell Wallace Jr. ninth and Joey Logano tenth. Logano started the day from pole and led 14 laps, but he and Team Penske never seemed satisfied with their Ford Mustang.
Unfortunately for Hamlin, he was the fifth driver to suffer a broken tire during the 160-lap race. Hamlin, Erik Jones, and Alex Bowman were heavily hit on the outside wall by their broken tires, while Ryan Newman was also injured by one tire, and William Byron lost a left front while running second after half the race.
Six drivers had early starts from the race after a buildup on pit lane under the caution of lap 14 competition. Among those included was Justin Allgaier, who was replacing Jimmie Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr. Allgaier ended in 37th and Truex 38th.
Harvick continues to lead the point standings and is tied for the most wins this season with Hamlin. Indianapolis is the 53rd victory of his NASCAR Cup career.
“Winning never goes out of style,” said Harvick.
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