NSCS: Harvick Scores Win at Phoenix International Raceway

Kevin Harvick captured his 24th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win this afternoon at the Phoenix International Speedway after having a very dominant car this afternoon. Harvick led the event four different times and led a total of 224 laps of the event, which was the most of any driver today.

“Man, this just solidifies so many things and so many decisions,” said Harvick. “I’ve just got to thank all these guys at Stewart-Haas Racing and I’d like to thank Sprint and the fans; Jimmy John’s, Budweiser, Outback, Chevrolet, and everybody who makes this thing go ‘round. It’s been so much work with all the time and effort that these guys have put in, but what a race car.”

Finishing in the second position, was last weekend’s Daytona 500 winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Though he was not able to lead any laps, Earnhardt Jr., ran a very consistant race to stay nearly inside the top-10 all afternoon long. He still leaves Phoenix with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead after two races. He was just 0.489 seconds behind the race winner, Kevin Harvick.

“Yeah we had a great car.  (Kevin) Harvick was so fast all weekend, congratulations to him and his whole team.  They did an awesome job getting ready for this race and were just fast out of the gate,” said Dale Earnhardt, Jr. “We got a little bit better; we leaned on our teammates and got the car a lot better.  Steve (Letarte) and those guys just keep getting better and better.  These cars I’m driving I think are the best in the garage.  Right at the end of the race I think we were a little bit quicker than Kevin (Harvick).  Just real, real happy with the cars, just hate to come home second, but that No. 4 car was quick all week.”

The pole sitter, Brad Keselowski, came home in the third place when the 312 lap event concluded. He led a total of only three laps, as his teammate Joey Logano, led the most laps of any driver with 71. When the green flag flew to begin the race, Logano took the lead, while Keselowski dropped back to the second spot and slipped away all from there. He later on re-took the lead for one lap for a restart, and then once again later on under the same circumstances.

“That was everything we could do to get up there and get third. Nobody had anything for Kevin. We did the best we could and that was really all we had,” said Keselowski. “He was good everywhere. I am not sure there wan anywhere he didn’t have an advantage.”

The next race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be in seven days at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9th. Coverage will begin live on FOX at 2:00 p.m. Et. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network. PRN broadcasts are avalible on many stations around the country, PRN app, or on GoPRN.com.

Brett Winningham
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