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Kevin Harvick Wins In NASCAR Overtime At Texas; Punches Ticket To Championship 4

by Camille Jones November 4, 2018 0 comments

FORT WORTH, Tex. – Kevin Harvick capitalized on a NASCAR Overtime restart to capture the win in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, sealing his ticket to race for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18.

Harvick now holds eight wins in the 2018 season behind the wheel of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick won Stage 1 and Stage 2 in the race that saw a checkered flag after 337 laps around the 1.5-mile oval. Every time Harvick’s No. 4 Ford saw the lead, he was able to open up a considerable gap on the competition and drive away with the victory by the end of the race. He led a race high of 177 laps throughout the AAA Texas 500.

“That last restart I knew I needed to pick the top,” said Harvick. “I wanted to be on the bottom to be safe because the top got such a good sidedraft getting into one and the outside groove got rubbered up. I thought if I could keep him from finishing the corner I could drive back by him. It all worked out. Everything went well today on our Mobil 1 Ford and we were able to get to victory lane.”

Ryan Blaney started on the pole in Sunday’s race, but was forced to settle for a second-place finish in the event after falling behind on Harvick’s dominant final restart. Blaney now has 16 top-10 finishes this season.

“We got by the 4 on that one restart but I just couldn’t hold him off,” Blaney said. “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.”

Joey Logano finished in the third position in the race. Logano earned his spot to compete for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship following his win at Martinsville Speedway last weekend.

Erik Jones and Kyle Larson finished out the top-five, followed by Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Martin Truex Jr. and Austin Dillon completing the top-10 in the finishing order.

Over the course of the AAA Texas 500, there were eight cautions for a total of 37 laps.

The final caution flag flew on lap 332 when Joey Gase went for a spin, bringing out the yellow flag and setting up NASCAR Overtime.

With just one race remaining before the cut-off for the Championship 4, only Harvick and Logano have claimed their chance to race for the championship. The final two competitors will be decided in next weekend’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway.

Kyle Busch is 28 points above the cutline, and Martin Truex Jr. is 25 points to the good. Currently below the Championship 4 cutline is Kurt Busch (-25), Chase Elliott (-39), Aric Almirola (-57) and Clint Bowyer (-73).

Live coverage of the Can-Am 500 will broadcast on Sunday, November 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET. on NBC and the Motor Racing Network (MRN).

Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

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