In case anyone needed a reminder that Kevin Harvick is a contender for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, he put together a runaway victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to close out the regular season.
Harvick started his dominating run in the closing laps of the second stage and never looked back as he sped to over a six-second lead on runner-up Joey Logano.
“I can’t tell you how much coming to Indianapolis means to me,” said Harvick. “As a kid, I watched Rick Mears win the Indy 500 and got to be around him as a kid. He was my hero. My team built a great race car. I can’t say enough about everyone on this team.”
Harvick may have run away with the victory, but the Brickyard 400 had no shortage of on-track action. Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman battled for the final playoff spot in the closing laps, ending up within six points of each other in the final nine laps. Despite a late-race charge from Suarez, Newman held on to finish eighth and take the sixteenth playoff spot. Bubba Wallace had his season-best finish of third. And the race ended in heartbreak for Jimmie Johnson, whose career-long playoff streak ended after having been in the previous 15 NASCAR postseason, with a wreck on Lap 105.
Kansas native Clint Bowyer finished fifth and wrapped up the 15th seed in the playoffs. The NASCAR Playoffs come to Kansas Speedway on October 20 for the Hollywood Casino 400! Catch the full weekend schedule and snag your tickets here.
As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas this weekend, here’s your playoff field –
1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Joey Logano
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Chase Elliott
8. Kurt Busch
9. Alex Bowman
10. Erik Jones
11. Kyle Larson
12. Ryan Blaney
13. William Byron
14. Aric Almirola
15. Clint Bowyer
16. Ryan Newman
September 9, 2019