Sitting on the pit wall in front of his team’s pit box after the race concluded, an exhausted Kevin Harvick was asked to run through the final lap of the second stage, considering teammate Kurt Busch wasn’t thrilled with how he went about it.
“I don’t know why we’d have a conversation (about it). Maybe you can tell me that,” Harvick said to Dave Burns of NBC. “I thought it was a good race there, and (we) got a stage point.”
In the closing laps of the second stage, Harvick ran down Busch and squeezed his way through, almost touching the wall exiting Turn 4 in the process, to collect the playoff point that went with winning the stage. Busch didn’t take kindly to Harvick risking both their runs to collect a single point.
“Championship. What the…I mean really?! That’s a teammate right there, everybody. Tune it into NBC live. That’s what a teammate does. Never expected that from a teammate. Never expected it, wow!”
It was the highlight of a strong run in the Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway for Harvick, who finished fifth in the first stage while dealing with a tight handling car early in it, and first in the second.
While he reeled in race leader Kyle Busch with roughly 40 laps to go, the handling of his car went back towards the tight side and couldn’t make the pass on Busch. A few laps later, Kyle Larson usurped him for second and he brought his car home to a third-place finish.
“Our car was just off all weekend. We had a tough time making the front end turn, and then we would wind up way too tight all the way through the corner or way too loose all the way through the corner. The guys did a good job and kept us in the game all day. We had a chance, we just wound up at the wrong side of it at the end.”
He led 39 of the 267 laps and earned 50 points.
Harvick leaves Chicagoland Speedway second in points, 61 behind Kyle Busch.
There’s no argument that the 2018 Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the greatest finish of the season so far. So what if Kyle Busch won? So what if Kyle Larson didn’t win? It doesn’t change the overlying fact that the fender-smashing, side-by-sideways last-lap run to the checkered flag was the most exciting thing anyone has seen all season. Once again, to bring the topic around, there is no argument here. This was the best finish of 2018.
Still, the chorus of boos was heard at full volume while Busch was interviewed at the finish line following the win. Reminiscent of the Fall 1999 race at Bristol when Dale Earnhardt Sr. turned Terry Labonte, the boos were hard to ignore; Busch even returned the favor by mocking the detractors on national television. Meanwhile, despite finishing second, Larson was all smiles and made sure to congratulate Busch following the race. It was evident that the two had fun, which is more than what could be said for some of the fans.
It’s expected at this point in time that any Kyle Busch victory will be met with a chorus of boos, unless it’s a clean race then yeah, sure; let’s applaud the guy. But considering he ran into the back of Larson in what was a fair play move, fans looking for a reason to gripe found a reason to lob their regularly scheduled boos at the guy. Never mind that he’s one of the best of our time. Never mind that he’s 10 wins shy of 200 NASCAR National Touring wins. Never mind that Sunday’s finish left everyone standing in their seats. Somehow, it feels awkward not to boo Kyle Busch.
To be honest, a prevalent fan issue is that they can be a touch disingenuous. It’d be nice to see new faces in Victory Lane this season; only six drivers have won in the Cup Series so far. But then again, history is being made. Not since the 90s has there been such a small but dominant group of drivers. A lot of fans talking about “missing the old days,” but with three drivers alone (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr.) winning 13 of this season’s races, it’s a nod to racing 20 years ago when Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon were winning everything.
Sure, there’s been some good, close finishes in ’18, such as the Daytona 500 or the race at Texas. But nothing with this sense of urgency, nor with the level of talent, has gone down this season. Two natural wheelmen went toe-to-toe for the win at Chicago, with the better of the two coming out on top. This is the kind of racing that makes NASCAR so fun to be a part of and this is the kind of racing that makes lasting memories for the fans. If anything, there should be more cheers because when all is said and done, Sunday’s finish was the type that defines NASCAR.
Kyle Busch parked his damaged car at the start/finish line, climbed out and retrieved the checkered flag, to a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance. In response, he turned to the NBC cameraman and gave a “boo-hoo” gesture.
“I don’t know what y’all are whining about,” Busch said, as he gestured towards the grandstands. “If you don’t even like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.”
He was cruising unchallenged to victory until Kyle Larson passed Kevin Harvick with less than 30 to go. Larson reeled him in but lost ground after making contact with the wall in Turn 2 with eight laps remaining. A group of lap traffic with four to go allowed Larson to pull back up to him. On the final lap, Larson pulled a slide move into Turn 1, came back up the track and put Busch into the wall. He quickly passed Busch down the backstretch, but Busch responded in part by bumping Larson in Turn 3. While he veered into the wall, Larson slid long enough for him to drive by and score his 48th career victory.
“I got really boxed in behind lapped cars and got really slowed, and I was just trying to get all I could there the last couple of laps. Larson tried to pull a slider, didn’t quite complete it. Slid up into me, used me. I kind of used him as a little bit of a brake going into (Turn) 3, and was able to come back for the victory.”
Busch wasn’t threatening for the lead most of the day, nor was he running Top-five for most of it, but his pit crew gained him track position on his final two stops to put him in position to win for the second time in his career at Chicagoland Speedway.
JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018, in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
“Great thing for this Skittles Camry and all these guys. We were horrible today, absolutely horrendous. We just never gave up. We just always kept working on it, kept making the most of it. Got to where we needed it right there in the end and I was able to lead all those laps. If it wasn’t for lap traffic, it wouldn’t even have been a race.”
Larson recovered from his spin to finish second.
“Oh man, I’m not upset,” Larson said. “I had an opportunity there to slide in front of him and I figured I wouldn’t clear him or I would allow him to drive back underneath me. So I tried to get to his door and you know I opened the door for him to retaliate into (Turn) 3. I thought it was free game. I ran into him first, he got me after that, maybe a little bit worse than I got him, but that is alright. I love racing Kyle (Busch). I know all these fans are probably mad at him, but hey we put on a hell of a show for you guys and that was a blast. I had the top rolling there. I ran the right front off of it a little bit trying to run those guys down and (seeing the replay) yeah, that has got to be one of the best NASCAR finishes of all time. I know I’m on the short end of the stick again, but you know it was fun. Our Credit One Bank Chevy was amazing. Not great on the short runs, but man, on the long runs I could really get the top going and was able to get the top of (Turns) 3 and 4 figured out and really made up some time there. Just a lot of fun. My team did a great job, the pit crew was on it again, so thanks to them. Thanks to all you fans for coming out, it was a hot weekend, really hot, but we put on a good show for you.”
Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the Top-five.
Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman rounded out the Top-10.
RACE SUMMARY
JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Paul Menard, driver of the #21 Menards/Sylvania Ford, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 PPG Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018, in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Paul Menard led the field to green at 2:34 p.m., but Ryan Blaney cleared him exiting Turn 2 to lead the first lap. Clint Bowyer reeled in Blaney and powered by his inside to take the lead, going into Turn 1, on Lap 19. He pitted from the lead on Lap 40, handing the lead to Brad Keselowski, who too pitted from the lead on Lap 47. Austin Dillon inherited the lead but pitted on Lap 61 and the lead cycled to Aric Almirola, who drove on to win the first stage.
Back to green on Lap 87, Kevin Harvick edged out teammate Almirola at the line to lead the lap, but Almirola cleared him exiting Turn 2 to take back the lead on Lap 89. Almirola pitted from the lead on Lap 122, but thanks to pitting a lap earlier, Harvick usurped him and cycled to the top spot.
The caution flew for the second time on Lap 128 for debris. Blaney exited the pits with the lead and led the field back to green on Lap 132. Almirola’s four new tires ran down Blaney’s two and edged him out at the line to retake the lead on Lap 136. Six laps later, however, he made an unscheduled stop for a possible loose wheel. Kurt Busch assumed the race lead. While he fended off most of Harvick’s advances, his teammate powered by his outside, and all but touches the outside wall exiting Turn 4, to win the second stage.
Back to green on Lap 168, Martin Truex Jr. shoved Busch past Harvick exiting Turn 2 to retake the lead. Two laps later, Kyle Larson edged him out at the line to take the lead. Harvick powered around him entering Turn 3 to retake the lead on Lap 177.
JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images
The caution flew for the fourth time on Lap 178 when Denny Hamlin got loose and spun down the track, exiting Turn 2. Keselowski exited the pits first, after taking just right-side tires, and led the field back to green on Lap 182. Harvick powered by him on the outside exiting Turn 2 to retake the lead on Lap 187.
A caution flew for the fifth time with 59 laps to go, when Corey LaJoie hit the wall in Turn 2. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the race lead.
Back to green with 55 to go, Busch maintained a half-second gap over Harvick for roughly 15 laps. But with 40 to go, right about the time the cloud cover disappeared, Harvick started to reel him in. After a few laps, Harvick radioed to his team that his car was “just too tight.” Larson usurped Harvick for second and quickly ran down Busch. He made contact with the wall in Turn 2 with eight to go and lost time to Busch. Larson made the ground back up when Busch ran into a group of lapped cars, setting up the final lap finish.
NUTS & BOLTS
The race lasted two hours, 50 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 140.636 mph. There were 24 lead changes among 10 different drivers, and five cautions for 23 laps.
Joey Logano’s ever-dwindling playoff hopes took a further hit yesterday with not one, but two pit road penalties in the closing laps of the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.
He ducked onto pit road to make his final stop with 36 laps to go. The call then came from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Director David Hoots that Logano had to serve a pass through for speeding on pit entry.
He came down two laps later to serve his pass through, locking up the brakes getting onto pit road. Logano’s team opted to change all four tires while he was serving his pass through, which is a no-no. As a result, he was issued a stop and go penalty for stopping to service his car while serving a penalty.
“My bad,” crew chief Todd Gordon said on the radio afterwards.
Logano rejoined the race in 27th, one lap down, which is where he finished.
This race has been the tale of his season since scoring his encumbered victory at Richmond Raceway. Logano, who finished outside the top-10 only once in the first quarter of the season, has only posted three top-10 finishes since his win at Richmond.
It also didn’t help that his performance was average at best, with a 17.7 average running position through the race.
He leaves Pocono trailing Matt Kenseth by 69 points for the 16th-place cutoff in the playoffs.
Eight drivers were officially collected in the Lap 1 multi-car wreck in Turn 3 of the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were racing for position entering Turn 3 when Kenseth got loose and spun out in front of the field. This caused a stack-up behind him with Aric Almirola slamming into the back of Michael McDowell, sending him spinning through the grass. Same thing happened to Austin Dillon, being rammed from behind by teammate Paul Menard and sent spinning into the left-rear corner of Chris Buescher.
Matt DiBenedetto swerved into the grass to avoid the mess, only to clip the front-end of Almirola, bounce up in the air and dig his splitter into the grass.
Danica Patrick also got turned by the melee, but it’s not clear what caused her to spin.
Unofficially, Almirola is credited with a last-place finish.
And his response to what happened out there, “I have no idea.”
“Our Smithfield Ford Fusion was really good to start off there. I had passed about seven cars the first two corners,” Almirola said. “I was making a lot of progress and then we got to Turn 3 and everybody just stacked up. I saw some smoke. I saw some cars stopped. I got piled in from behind and just drove into the accident. I haven’t seen a replay and have no idea what caused the wreck. Sort of a bummer not to even make a whole lap. Not our day.”
Except for Almirola and DiBenedetto, everyone collected in the wreck continued on in the race. Kenseth was the highest finisher of the eight, which could do wonders to preserving his 17-point margin over Clint Bowyer for the final spot in the playoffs.
It appeared Kyle Busch was out of it when he pitted with 25 laps to go. With 16 to go, however, he put the chrome bumper to Kevin Harvick and set sail to victory in the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Martin Truex Jr. commanded the race on the final restart on Lap 106. Cars started hitting pit road for the final time with 37 to go, and Truex followed suit three laps later. Busch assumed the race lead, having yet to pit. He did so with 25 to go.
Brad Keselowski led the next five circuits before making his final stop, cycling the lead to Denny Hamlin.
With 17 to go, Harvick got to Hamlin’s inside and made the pass for the lead rounding Turn 1, but he didn’t hold it to the start/finish line as Busch bumped him out of the racing groove rounding Turn 3 and took the lead with 16 to go.
The gap from him to Harvick widened further as the laps closed and he drove across the line to claim his 39th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 447 career starts.
“I never thought this day would happen. Such an awesome race car. Adam Stevens and all these guys on this No. 18 team, they never give up. They’ve been fighting all year long. We’ve all been fighting all year long. Just wasn’t sure why, you know, or what was next, but obviously this is a great day for us. Great day for all of our fans. Appreciate the fans here at Pocono. Thanks for coming out. This is something I’ve been waiting for for a long, long time.”
Harvick finished second and Truex rounded out the podium.
Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.
Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10.
RACE SUMMARY
Busch led the field to the green flag at 3:20 p.m. He lost the lead during a cycle of green flag stops on Lap 22, but powered by Matt Kenseth going into Turn 1 to take it back and win the first stage. During the aforementioned pit cycle, Truex, Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kenseth all led.
Kenseth regained the lead by opting not to pit under the stage break, only to lose it when Busch powered by him on the outside through Turn 3 on the Lap 56 restart. He held it until caution flew on Lap 70, debris from Kyle Larson’s car, saw him lose it to Hamlin exiting pit road. But because Hamlin didn’t maintain pace car speed, Race Director David Hoots bumped him from the lead and moved up Austin Dillon.
His time up front didn’t last long, however, as Hamlin too it back on the restart, going into Turn 1.
Truex returned to the lead on Lap 90, but opted to short-pit the second stage with three laps remaining in it. This handed the lead to Clint Bowyer, who won the stage and set up the run to the finish.
CAUTION SUMMARY
Caution flew for the first time on the first lap for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3. Jimmie Johnson brought out the third caution on Lap 57 when he made contact with teammate Kasey Kahne and spun out in Turn 3.
NUTS & BOLTS
The race lasted two hours, 50 minutes and seven seconds at an average speed of 141.080 mph. There were six lead changes among nine different drivers and five cautions for 21 laps.
Kyle Busch conserved his tires through the first round of qualifying and it paid off in the final round with pole position for today’s Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.
The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the pole with a time of 50.175 and a speed of 179.372 mph.
“I felt like I hit it pretty good. Gave up a couple things in a couple of spots, but overall, felt like it was a really good lap. [I] was gonna come over the radio and say, ‘Man, that’s close. You know, I think that’s right on target.’ But obviously it was way better. Just proud of these guys. The adjustments really worked us there through rounds and got us to where we needed to be in order to continually get faster each time out. You never really see that happen on re-run tires, cycled scuffs. Obviously, our M&M’s Caramel Camry is pretty fast. Looking forward to today’s race. It’s a great opportunity for us, starting up front, being able to be in clean air like we were last time. So hopefully, we can just do the right things and put ourselves in a better spot in the end.”
It’s his 24th pole in 447 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.
Martin Truex Jr. will start second after posting a time of 50.317 and a speed of 178.866 mph. Jamie McMurray will start third with a time of 50.552 and a speed of 178.034 mph. Denny Hamlin will start fourth with a time of 50.635 and a speed of 177.743 mph. Ryan Blaney will round out the top-five with a time of 50.682 and a speed of 177.578 mph.
Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Joey Logano round out the top-10.
Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne round out the 12 drivers that made the final round.
Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway.
The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 50.898 and a speed of 176.824 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 51.163 and a speed of 175.908 mph. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 51.239 and a speed of 175.647 mph. Denny Hamlin was fourth in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 51.307 and a speed of 175.415 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 51.352 and a speed of 175.261 mph.
Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.
Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 173.058 mph.
Matt Kenseth topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 51.114 and a speed of 176.077 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 51.149 and a speed of 175.957 mph. Erik Jones was third in his No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 51.307 and a speed of 175.415 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 51.323 and a speed of 175.360 mph. Chris Buescher rounded out the top-five in his No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet with a time of 51.495 and a speed of 174.774 mph.
Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10.
Jamie McMurray, who clocked in the 14th fastest single-lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 172.280 mph.
