Harvick Rallies to Finish Sixth at Charlotte

Race Winner:      Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner:  Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 3 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):

● Kevin Harvick started 22nd and finished 14th.  

● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang was lacking rear grip early in the race while in 22nd-place.

● On lap 24, Harvick brought his car to pit road for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment. Came out in 19th place.

● After a rain-delay of more than an hour, Harvick pitted on lap 54 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. He was 16th.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):

● Harvick started 18th and finished 11th.  

● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 102 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment. Crew is taking a big swing at it.

● On lap 153, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Was in 13th place.

 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 201-300):

● Harvick started ninth and finished 19th.  

● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang came to pit road on lap 205 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Car is still lacking rear grip.

● On lap 256, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment.

● He did not pit and restarted second late in the stage. However, he fell to 19th.

 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 301-400):

● Harvick started 17th and finished sixth.

● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang pitted on lap 303 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and chassis adjustment.

● On lap 350, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Will restart 12th.

● Harvick pitted on lap 400 for four tires as the race went into overtime.

● On the overtime restart, Harvick moved from 13th to sixth-place, which was the highest he’d been all day.

 

Notes:

●  Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600 to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his second on the oval at Charlotte. His margin of victory over second-place Jimmie Johnson was .293 of a second.

●  There were eight caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

●  Only 20 of the 40 drivers in the Coca-Cola 600 finished on the lead lap.

●  Harvick remains the championship leader after the Coca-Cola 600 with a 22-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

●  Harvick earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his 18th top-10 in 37 career NASCAR Cup Series starts on the oval at Charlotte.

●  Harvick is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have finished in the top-10 in every race this season.

●  This was Harvick’s second straight top-10 at Charlotte’s oval. He finished 10th in the last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

●  Harvick has finished outside the top-10 at Charlotte’s oval just twice since joining SHR in 2014.

 

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Alsco Uniforms 500k on Wednesday, May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

 

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