Before entering Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was 0 for 27 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Harvick was looking to pick up his first win at the track. After starting in the fifth position there was some hope that he may finally get his first checkered flag at Charlotte.
After early cautions in stage one, Harvick dominated the stage by leading the majority of the laps. In fact, after surviving wild excitement, Harvick went on to win stage one. Harvick continued to dominate early in the race by winning the race off pit road.
When stage two began, Harvick was not the leader as Denny Hamlin and eventual race winner Ryan Blaney stayed out. By not making much noise in stage two, Harvick did finish in the top five in the stage.
It wasn't until 71 laps to go where Harvick was on the front row with Blaney for the restart. Blaney was able to jump out front, while Harvick slipped back just a bit, but kept close behind the leader in case anything should happen. With 55 laps to go, Harvick began reeling in the race leader Blaney. It wasn't until 42 laps to go, where a caution came out and gave Harvick a chance to come down pit road for adjustments.
Harvick would restart on the front row alongside Austin Dillon with 37 laps to go. Like there was early in the race, cautions once again became an issue late in the race with 25 laps or less remaining. With 14 laps to go for a restart, Harvick jumped to the lead and started to check out just a tad. However, with seven laps to go, a caution came out once again to bunch the field up.
The race went back green with three laps to go and Harvick needed to fend off a strong car of Ryan Blaney. He did so for a lap, until Blaney took the lead from Harvick in turn two. After leading the race three times for 58 laps, Harvick had to settle for a runner up spot.
Kevin Harvick Quote
"If I could do the (final restart) again I would probably do it differently. I felt like the 12 (Blaney) had the best car on the restarts. He was the one who helped us get the lead. Just wasn't able to get going through one and two. I needed to be clear by the time I got to three and four. I hadn't been taking the top but I felt if the 12 and 22 got paired on the top, I would be in double trouble. I had a heck of time today. All in all, I just got beat there by the 12. He did a good job all day there on the restarts. I'm really proud of everybody on the team. We ran well and lead a bunch of laps."
Harvick now has 181 top five's.
His next race is currently scheduled for Kentucky Motor Speedway in July.
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