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Author: Joseph Shelton

Hill’s Daytona win solidifies Hattori Racing as Toyota powerhouse

When 2018 Gander Outdoor Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt was released from Hattori Racing Enterprises following his title win only to be replaced by underdog Austin Hill for the 2019 season, there were questions, of course. Moffitt was a proven winner, Hill was not. Moffitt could contend on any race track, Hill only had a few strong runs. Moffitt was a champion, Hill wasn’t.

Yet there was little doubt that the move to HRE could end up making a winner out of Hill, which is exactly what happened Friday night when he won the NextEra 250 at Daytona. Hill, who led the most laps (39), managed to stay out of trouble the most during the caution-filled event and nab the first Truck Series win of his career. Hill is the sixth driver to score his first truck series win at Daytona International Speedway.

Regardless of Hill’s current employer, the fact that he won so soon out of the gate is still surprising. He came into the 2019 season with only a top-five and eight top-10s under his belt, with a career-best finish of fifth at Texas last fall. All of of which occurred over a span of 51 starts since 2014 while driving for a spate of owners, from Ricky Benton’s No. 92 team to his own family team’s No. 20 to Young’s Motorsports last season. In short, he hadn’t accomplished much during his time in the Truck Series. To be fair, though, his first full campaign in the series was 2018, where he managed to grab the bulk of his top-10 finishes.

Meanwhile, by proving themselves an organization that can produce multiple winners, HRE has also shown themselves to be an adequate foil to the Toyota dominance of Kyle Busch Motorsports, an organization long thought to be the gold standard for Toyota in the Truck Series. However, while KBM fields multiple entries for both title pursuit and driver development, HRE has the luxury of a competitive single-car team to pursue victories and championships with.

This is the way the sport should be. A team which started out as a solid mid-pack/occasional contender has grown enough and established itself enough that it is now a contender for wins and championships, and right now it holds seven wins with two drivers and a championship – all since the beginning of the 2018 season. They are setting a great pace for themselves in terms of success, and although Daytona is known to be a wild card – emphasis on “wild” – Shigeaki Hattori and Crew Chief Scott Zippadelli know now how to build a team around a driver. Ryan Truex was a consistent finisher with them, Moffitt was a champion with them, and now underdog-turned-winner Hill is bringing home the trophy from Daytona for them.

It wasn’t too long before the 2018 season started that Moffitt was on a job hunt, with only a win at Michigan in 2016 to his credit. Imagine what Hill can accomplish this season with such an established team. If he can win at Daytona, then it isn’t a matter of if he can win again in the No. 16, but when.

Here’s a hint: Soon.

February 16, 2019
Hendrick Motorsports and the Daytona 500 Front-Row Curse

Saying that the Hendrick Motorsports camp has a lock on Daytona 500 qualifying is like saying water is wet.

With William Byron scoring his first-career pole for the 2019 edition of the Great American Race, he joins the ranks of other Hendrick notables like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and even Ken Schrader in being the eighth HMS driver (and third in the No. 24) to win a 500 pole.

Yet with 13 poles and 12 outside-pole starts, Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, and Geoff Bodine are the only HMS drivers to win the 500 from the front row (Bodine started second in 1986 and Waltrip started second in 1989 while Gordon won from the pole in 1999).

Schrader was a three-time (’88, ’89, ’90) 500 pole winner, as well as a two-time winner of the Clash at Daytona (’89, ’90). But with a runner-up finish in the ’89 500, Schrader couldn’t seal the deal in the No. 25 Chevrolet, with a sixth-place run in ’88 and a 40th-place run in ’90 sandwiching his ’89 disappointment.

No more HMS drivers started on the front row until Gordon’s 500 win in ’99, then it was Jimmie Johnson on the front row in 2002, winning his first of two 500 poles and four front-row starts overall. His runner-up qualifying efforts in 2005 and 2015 were rewarded with a fifth-place finishes in both instances, but his ’02 and ’08 poles were met with 15th-place and 27th-place finishes, after spinning in both races. Despite all that, the seven-time series champion is a two-time 500 winner.

Despite being a three-time 500 winner and two-time 500 pole sitter, Gordon hasn’t had much 500 luck from the front row. Qualifying second in 2006, the No. 24 crew found themselves in a few scrapes before finishing 26th. Again qualifying second in 2011 and 2013, Gordon’s efforts were met with finishes of 28th and 20th, respectively. His pole run in 2015 was followed up with a dominant showing in the 500, where he led the most laps (87) before being turned around as the field was heading for the finish. He was credited with a 33rd-place finish.

Joining HMS in 2009, Mark Martin’s comeback season started off with a second-place qualifying run in the 500. However, five wins and a runner-up points finish masked a forgettable 16th-place finish in the 500, and not even a pole the next season in the 500 could bare any success: He finished 12th after leading 11 laps.

Earnhardt’s 2011 effort saw him put his No. 88 on the pole to put HMS on the 500 front row for the second-straight year after he qualified second in the 2010 event. But although he finished second in that event, ’11 saw him lead a meager nine laps before crashing and finishing 24th. He returned to the 500 front-row in 2017, but a crash while leading after halfway put the two-time 500 winner in 37th in the final running order.

Chase Elliott has two 500 poles to his credit (’16, ’17) but lacks the finishes to back up his qualifying efforts. His 500 debut in ’16 put him in the lead for three laps after starting first, but an early-race spin put him in 37th after extensive damage was made to the No. 24. In 2017 he led 39 laps but was shuffled out of the running order late in the race, finishing 14th in the final order.

The most recent 500 had HMS driver Alex Bowman on the pole, but a late-race involvement in The Big One left him in 17th even though he led 13 laps early on.

With all of this being said, the argument can be made that HMS has a lock on 500 qualifying, as mentioned before. But with three 500 wins from the front row in 33 years, the argument can also be made that the odds are not in the organization’s favor that they’ll put the No. 24 or the No. 88 in Victory Lane even though come Sunday Byron and Bowman will be leading the field to the green flag.

Regardless, being on the front row for the 500 hasn’t proven that successful for an organization that has eight 500 wins despite the fact. The odds may not be in favor for two of the drivers, but with established drivers like Johnson and Elliott picking up the slack, things are evened out so there may be an HMS Chevy in Victory Lane regardless.

February 12, 2019
Johnson’s Clash Performance Doesn’t Warrant Criticism

Following his elimination in a big crash at the end of Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, Paul Menard’s comments seemed to sum up the most common criticism of Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR career:

“Jimmie does that a lot.”

It’s safe to say Menard’s frustration is warranted, as contact with Johnson is what sent his dominant No. 21 Mustang around in a cloud of smoke and twisted metal. It is also a valid point that Johnson’s aggressiveness has caused more than a few crashes at Daytona and Talladega. It is also a given that following these comments, the NASCAR community took to social media to voice their criticism of Johnson’s actions (as was expected).

But despite all of that, Johnson’s aggressiveness on Sunday doesn’t warrant the criticism he’s been receiving. If anything, it warrants understanding, especially when it’s considered that he spent all of 2018 out of the Winner’s Circle. It also warrants understanding that he drove the way he did in order to validate his new pairing with crew chief Kevin Meendering, especially when his long-time crew chief, the one he earned the majority of his successes with, was shifted over to the under-performing No. 24 team.

Menard has every right to be mad. He was not only leading but dominating at Daytona, and even though it was a non-points event Menard is not someone who has visited Victory Lane very often (Three XFINITY Series wins and one MENCS win). It would have been a great morale booster for a team that along with recovering from a personal tragedy, has not set the circuit on fire. Also worth noting is that a win during Daytona Speedweeks is a great confidence booster leading into the Daytona 500.

Instead, all it took was the No. 48 and the No. 21 getting sucked together during an aggressive move for all hell to break loose. But that’s okay. It’s a racing accident. Johnson isn’t a nefarious Dick Dastardly character, stroking his gray-streaked facial hair and uttering his evil cackle while plotting his next carnage-inducing move on the NASCAR garage. He’s a race car driver who tries to win races, and Sunday’s Clash was a chance to prove that he’s still got what it takes. Lo and behold, he does.

What would have been the point of the single-file racing we had been seeing up to the critical moment? Time after time at Talladega and Daytona, the fans as well as the garage are robbed because nobody ever makes a move at those tracks. The cars go lap after lap in a constant freight train, afraid to make a move or pass one another, content with riding around and earning a spot that doesn’t land them a win. This is an attitude that for some dumb reason has made it’s way into the non-points paying Clash, a race that’s supposed to be for fun and for the fans.

Johnson’s move, while aggressive, was a necessary evil. From a racer’s standpoint, it is what needed to be done. He didn’t set out to wreck Menard. He set out to do what he was paid to do – win races. Could it have been done without contact? Yes. But at this point in time, the contact is secondary. The wreck could have easily been caused by a number of other drivers, so to blame Johnson for his aggressiveness is moot.

Instead, call it for what it really was: Racing.

February 12, 2019
2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Rookie race not looking like much of a race

Although the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year race will see such talents as Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric lead a charge that also includes Matt Tifft and Tanner Berryhill, it doesn’t look like it will be much of a race.

At first, it may look like Preece has the upper hand in terms of statistics. Unlike Hemric, Preece has won in the Xfinity Series not once, but twice, both times in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment. Stacked against Hemric’s Xfinity record, where he was consistently recording top-fives and top-10s in stellar Richard Childress Racing equipment but didn’t record a win (mirroring his NASCAR Truck Series record where he was a consistent front-runner but never a winner), it looks like Preece may have an edge, and maybe he does when the numbers are taken into consideration: In 15 starts in 2018 he recorded a win, seven top-fives, and 10 top-10s. In 33 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series Hemric was winless, but he did record four poles, 16 top-fives, and 23 top-10s.

Preece has the upper hand in this case because he was able to get more out of the car in the limited run that he had. It may help a bit that the JGR Toyota program is a dominant force in the Xfinity Series despite the best efforts of the competition. But while Hemric is being promoted in the RCR organization to Cup level in an otherwise quietly consistent midpack entry, Preece is headed for the JTG-Daugherty camp in their No. 47 Camaro.

TThe fact that the Camaro struggled throughout the 2018 season was more of a manufacturer fault than a team fault despite getting four wins (by two drivers – Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 while Chase Elliott won three times in the second half of the season). But the No. 47 Chevrolet does not have a stellar record. With one win (AJ Allmendiner in 2014 at Watkins Glen) in 432 total Cup starts as well as two poles, 15 top-fives, and 50 top-10s among four drivers (Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Bobby Labonte, and Marcos Ambrose), Preece finds himself in an optimistic situation where the team can finally form itself around a true rising star. But often times that can lead to disastrous results, something that the JTG-Daugherty camp is all too familiar with.

Meanwhile, the RCR organization is still trying to re-establish itself as a weekly contender. Streamlining their Cup efforts to focus on Dillon in the No. 3 and Hemric in the No. 8, RCR looks to lighten their excess load in order to put the cars in Victory Lane more frequently, having not won since the 2018 Daytona 500. In his two Cup starts in 2018, Hemric didn’t make much noise, having his best run at the Charlotte Roval where he finished on the lead lap in 23^rd after starting 11^th. He does have experience, having been to most of the tracks on the schedule at least twice in the past two seasons, so he knows what to expect. Better still is that since he was promoted within the organization the team has a clear understanding of how Hemric performs and how to get the best out of him as a driver, while Preece back at JTG-Daugherty is in the middle of a learning curve with a new team.

In this case, the odds look to be in Hemric’s favor, but that’s not to discredit either of the two rookie front-runners let alone Tifft and Berryhill. Hemric’s stability in the RCR camp only serves to boost his confidence going into 2019. He’s in a familiar territory, and as a result he may very well post some great numbers. Nevermind that he has yet to score a NASCAR Trucks or Xfinity win; Jimmie Johnson still only has one Xfinity win before his rookie Cup season of 2002 and he’s now a seven-time champion. Therefore, Xfinity results (or lack thereof) don’t always translate to Cup performance. But in terms of the 2019 rookie race where Berryhill (driving for the brand-new Obaikia Cup entry) and Tifft (driving for the reincarnated Front Row Motorsports third entry) will both be driving as unheralded rookies for under-funded teams while Preece will be in an adjustment period with his team, Hemric and RCR may be the best bet for top rookie honors come Homestead.

January 16, 2019
Camping World Truck Series 2018 Season Just What Division Needed

The 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season is now four days over, and observers all agree that it was an ideal year for the sport’s number three division. No incessant talks of Cup drivers ruining the show, no extra nonsense with behind the scenes matters, and a series regular earned the title with an underdog team as Brett Moffitt used six season wins to score a championship.

The 2018 season was by the regulars, for the regulars, and not an ounce of hubris was in sight. Not only was there a strong storyline in Moffitt’s championship run, other drivers had their time in the sun. Justin Haley surprised many when he went from winner at Gateway and MoSport to championship threat with his Texas win in November. Johnny Sauter continued to be the best in the division with six wins. Noah Gragson was always at the front in his Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra while teammate Todd Gilliland contended for wins throughout the season. Even ThorSport driver Grant Enfinger put up some strong numbers, even scoring a win at Las Vegas in the Playoffs.

The 2018 Truck Series season was host to some of the best racing in NASCAR during the year, which lives up to the division’s reputation as a haven for good racing. That had been a difficult claim to boast in previous seasons as part-time dominance wrecked winning hopes for series regulars. Instead, in 2018 non-series regulars won five races, as Kyle Busch won two and John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, and Timothy Peters all won once. That left the season to be decided by who mattered the most–division regulars.

2018 was the season the Truck Series earned it’s identity back after years of just being viewed as a lesser division, a feeder/development series. Quite the opposite is true; any racing division should be recognized not as a feeder series but as it’s very own product. The Truck Series has been in this position before, producing some of the best product in NASCAR and standing on the strength of its own quality product.

The division isn’t out of the woods yet as several teams face the very real issue of finances. Season champion Moffitt and his Hattori Racing Enterprises are unsure they’ll be paired up next season despite this season’s successes. This is an ongoing problem across the board with successful drivers still going without rides as they’re not bringing in enough funding.

But if the Truck Series can have another season like 2018, and if drivers like Moffitt can secure funding for another championship run, the division might not become an equal to the Cup series, but it can come close.

November 20, 2018
Despite Admitting Error, NASCAR Needs To Overhaul Tech Procedures

Despite admitting wrongdoing to Jimmie Johnson by penalizing him for failing tech inspection three times when he only failed twice, the fact remains that the call to overhaul NASCAR inspection penalties is getting louder. Although the issue was more of a communication error, there’s no glossing over the fact that the system of failing three times before being penalized is pointless and without solid reasoning.

“I still don’t understand why we have to worry about failing three times,” said Tony Stewart, winning car owner of the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick. “It’s like, you bring your car and bring it through tech, and you either pass or you don’t.”

“I don’t know why we screw around, jack around one, two, three times, and it’s ridiculous to me. It’s the only series in the world where you get to go through tech three times and you fail twice and they still let you go a third time. We got to figure it out and make it simpler and it shouldn’t be this difficult.

“Half the time you don’t even know what the penalty is supposed to be, and I don’t…I’m a car owner and I don’t know what the penalty is supposed to be. I don’t know how the fans can keep up with it either. If you start rolling cars through and they don’t pass and you send them to the back after one time I guarantee you a lot less cars fail tech the next week.”

Stewart’s words illustrate a common idea regarding the tech inspection process. Granted, the idea of giving cars three chances through tech inspection is meant to be lenient and easier on the drivers. However, a communication error would be easier and more avoidable if the process was limited to just one chance at tech inspection.

Allowing three passes at tech inspection allows a chance for communication to be needlessly tangled such as what happened with Johnson prior to the AAA Texas 500. It is true that the penalty didn’t harm Johnson too terribly; he had a disastrous qualifying effort by the 48 team’s standards (having won seven races at Texas), and the penalty barely moved him further down in the field. But the next time such an error happens it could happen to a Playoff driver in a cutoff event and it’s obvious NASCAR doesn’t want to have another 2013 Chase field fiasco.

Johnson finished 15th at the final running order despite having led briefly due to pit strategy.

“There was a breakdown of communication on how teams can communicate to the tower to dispute something, and it was really exposed today,” said Johnson.

It’s apparent that without the option to go through tech three times, such a “communication breakdown” wouldn’t have even happened.

November 5, 2018
Harvick Wins Texas, Will Make Appearance in Championship Round

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Harvick punched his ticket to the Championship Round in Miami by dominating Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 177 laps and outrunning pole winner Ryan Blaney by 0.447 seconds.

Joey Logano finished third, with Erik Jones and Kyle Larson rounding out the top-five. Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr., and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-10.

Blaney spoke about his second-place finish, saying. “We got by the 4 on that one restart but I just couldn’t hold him off. He was really good. I kind of missed one and two by an inch and he took advantage of it. We needed to be mistake free and then some and I just couldn’t be that.

“Then we had another shot at it. The last one, he took the top, like I knew he was going to and he motored around me. It was a strong showing by our Carlisle team. I thought we were a second-place car all night really. I thought the 4 was head and shoulders above everyone else but I thought we were second best for sure. That was a fun race for sure.”

Third-place Logano also commented on the dominance of Harvick and the Ford teams.

“We had a top-five car. We got out front where we could lead laps for a little bit and just when the front tires would give up that is when the 4 was just stellar. He was stupid fast. He was able to do a lot. Congrats to them. That is two Fords in and two to go.”

The win was Harvick’s 45th career Cup Series win and his second-straight in the fall event at TMS. With this win, Harvick’s appearance at Miami will be his fourth in five years, since the inception of the playoff system in 2014, the year he won his first championship.

”Really, that’s what we race for,” said Harvick on his run to Miami. “You try to get yourself in position to get into the Playoffs and position yourself to have a chance at getting to Homestead.”

”It’s not easy at this time of year just because of the fact that everybody is throwing everything that they have at it, all the notes and all the things that you’ve done all year all piled into the cars that you have on the race track. But it’s enough to win races at this point of the year and to get to Victory Lane and that’s our goal.”

Harvick celebrated his win on the track with a young fan, celebrating with him by taking a selfie before handing him the checkered flag.

”I thought about taking him to Victory Lane with me, but I realized his parents wouldn’t know where he was at,” said Harvick in the Media Center to a roomful of laughter.

Harvick is also the winningest driver at ISM Raceway, where he’ll be able to take a breath next weekend before racing for his second title at Homestead on November 18.

November 4, 2018
Logano’s Move at Martinsville Was Par For The Course

A day after Joey Logano’s controversial bump-and-run on Martin Truex Jr. coming to the checkered for the win at the First Data 500 at Martinsville, social media still seems to be fired up. Granted, the race’s final 30 laps were some of the best racing we’ve seen all year and the run to the checkered was one of the best this season. But most of the energy from the drivers and peers seems to be centered on Logano and whether what he did was right or wrong.

Arguments on whether it was wrong are rooted in the fact that Truex managed to race Logano cleanly up to that point. Meanwhile, the argument that it was right centers around the fact that since a championship is on the line, nothing is sacred coming to the checkered on a short track. Ultimately, that latter train of thought is the more logical approach to the race’s finish.

Many argue that Logano raced dirty and that he owed Truex a clean run to the finish. The fact of the matter is that Logano owes nobody anything. Given the circumstance – a win would place him in the championship round at Homestead – giving another driver a nudge in the final two corners of a playoff short track race was what was required to win.

Playing nice is out the door at this point of the season. There are no teammates or friends among the playoff drivers, there are only peers. So why are people upset or angry that Logano acted in this manner? Why are people acting like this is unexpected of Logano? He’s bumped Mark Martin out of the way for a win. He’s dumped Matt Kenseth for a win. He’s not afraid to use his bumper. If anything, people are angry because of who made the move – Logano.

To most, Logano dons the black hat. He’s not here to make friends; he’s here to win and be the best. That’s literally a requirement in what makes a good racer. He’s drawn the ire of many in the process, and on that note, he ranks up there with some elite company such as Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. He’s been popped in the mouth because of this, but he doesn’t back down. Instead, he swings back in some cases, which draws even more ire from his detractors.

So on Sunday at Martinsville, when Truex made his move too early and cleared Logano off of Turn Two, it should have been obvious Logano was going to bump Truex. It was an innocuous bump, the same Jeff Gordon used on Rusty Wallace at Bristol in 2002. It was a simple bump short track racers across the country use to win. There was nothing wrong with it. So, for the most part, this ire was unwarranted.

Two drivers raced hard for the win on a short track which carried some serious championship ramifications. Given the current playoff system – “Win and you’re in” – the bump for the win was cultivated almost perfectly by the system. It’s a moment that has happened before and will happen again as long as this system sticks around. So with that said, it was typical, awesome short track racing.

October 29, 2018
Sieg’s Comments Highlight An Unnecessary Trend in NASCAR Sponsorship

Following Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at Kansas Speedway, ninth-place finisher Ryan Sieg had some choice words on Twitter for the NASCAR on NBC post-race coverage, and as it turns out, his tweet resonated with many fans and peers in the NASCAR community.

Calling out @NASCARonNBC for some awful coverage of our team and many others today. Lots of good finishes for small teams and not even a mention. Not good for sponsors. But good thing they interviewed @ColeCuster post race for his gutsy effort with no power steering in 26th 😎

— Ryan Sieg Racing (@RyanSiegRacing) October 20, 2018

This raises a question on some sponsorship issues that reside in NASCAR. Sure, the brass in charge say that there are no sponsorship issues. But try saying that to Furniture Row Racing. Try saying that to Roush Fenway’s XFINITY Series efforts. Try saying that to all the backmarkers who fill out the field on a weekly basis.

There was a time not too long ago when a viewer could hear about the MBNA Pontiac driven by Ward Burton, or the Rumple Furniture Pontiac driven by J.D. McDuffie. It wasn’t uncommon for race broadcasts to cover the majority of the field, if not every driver. In turn that would lead to television time for the various sponsors, who in turn would be inclined to spend more money on advertising and sponsorship. It was a simple formula that added solidity to the sport.

But now the broadcasts have shifted focus to Playoff points and storylines. Granted, as Sieg said, it was a good performance by Custer to maneuver his broken Ford around the track. It also helps that Custer is a Playoff driver. But should that give him the added merit? Should he be treated like he won the race when the Top-20 had guys like Sieg, Ty Majeski, Jeremy Clements, and Chad Finchum? These are guys who definitely have to work harder for position than a driver in a Stewart-Haas Ford. Guys who managed to buck their personal trends and managed to have a great day while sporting sponsors who, in some cases, barely have the funds to adorn and support a team.

That said, it’d only make sense to give those guys a nod. Viewers/readers love underdogs, and these guys shouldn’t only warrant coverage if they’re leading. They should get the nod for a good day too, and that shouldn’t have to be solely the responsibility of some of the on-track media. These guys deserve good coverage and so do their sponsors who provide much needed funds into the sport.

Thus, giving equal support to the drivers could lead to more sponsorship. Stop talking solely about the “Big Three.” Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch do not define NASCAR. Neither does Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott. NASCAR is defined by every driver and every sponsor in every one of its divisions. Giving them all an equal amount of support could prove beneficial for NASCAR in the long haul.

On that note, there’s another reason to cover the underfunded underdogs. Better racing can sometimes happen in the back among these guys. The drivers bringing up the rear aren’t always just cruising around; there are some good races among their positions mid-pack. A race isn’t just for first-place on the track. Drivers know this, peers know this and fans know this. So when the race is a snooze fest with a driver leading wire-to-wire, there’s no reason not to give some of the underdogs good, positive coverage. The developers at 704 Games made sure to give guys like Spencer Boyd and Finchum as much love as the rest of the guys in NASCAR Heat 3, so once again there’s no reason NBC and FOX shouldn’t do the same.

Especially if they have great days like Saturday at Kansas.

October 21, 2018
Harvick Takes Seventh Win of MENCS Season at Michigan
Kevin Harvick took his seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400, leading 108 laps and sweeping all three stages for the third time in 2018. The win gave Stewart-Haas Racing a season sweep at Michigan, as Clint Bowyer took the win there in June.

It was his 44th Cup Series win which ties him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 17th on the all-time wins list.

Harvick took the checkered flag 3.23 seconds ahead of second-place Brad Keselowski.

“We kind of clawed all day and had some good restarts with the Discount Tire Ford and got all we could get out of it but just ended up one spot short and that is so frustrating,” Keselowski said after the race.

Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five with Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano rounding out the top-10.

The race was slowed by eight cautions for 37 laps, while there were 15 lead changes among nine drivers.

“What a car,” Harvick said. “The most important thing is winning races right now and positioning yourself for Homestead. And that’s all we want to do. We don’t want to learn anything, we don’t want to work on anything, we want to win.”

Harvick was met on the start-finish line by his son Keelan, who walked up the track and retrieved the checkered flag from the starter’s stand before riding along with his father on the way to Victory Lane.

“He told me before the race, ‘Dad, if you win, I want to go out and wave the checkered flag.’ And I said, ‘Well if you do that, you’ve got to take the victory lap with me,’” Harvick said of Keelan’s post-race antics.

He went on to describe the importance of sharing the experience with his son.

“For him to be here and able to do that and be a part of NASCAR and bring your son to work and do all the things that we get to do with our kids, I have had him with me by myself the last three weeks and we have had a ball. I couldn’t be happier to be a dad and be a part of NASCAR where they let your family come to the race track and be a part of it.”

There are three races left before the championship Playoffs begin in Las Vegas next month. The MENCS tour goes under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 18, on NBC Sports.

Unofficial Race Results for the Consumers Energy 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kyle Busch
4. Austin Dillon
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Kurt Busch
7. Aric Almirola
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Chase Elliott
10. Joey Logano
11. Daniel Suarez
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Erik Jones
14. Martin Truex Jr.
15. Ryan Newman
16. Paul Menard
17. Kyle Larson
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. Alex Bowman
20. Chris Buescher
21. Jamie McMurray
22. AJ Allmendinger
23. Bubba Wallace
24. Matt DiBendetto
25. Michael McDowell
26. Kasey Kahne
27. David Ragan
28. Jimmie Johnson
29. Landon Cassill
30. Blake Jones
31. BJ McLeod
32. Garrett Smithley
33. Gray Gaulding
34. Trevor Bayne
35. Ross Chastain
36. William Byron
37. Timmy Hill
38. Ty Dillon
39. Jeffrey Earnhardt
40. Corey LaJoie
August 12, 2018