Kevin Harvick Scores Seventh Win of the Season

Kevin Harvick takes Michigan
Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

Last week at Watkins Glen, Chase Elliott's maiden victory on the road course interrupted the season of the Big Three.

But on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick restored the status quo, winning for the seventh time this season and breaking a tie with third-place finisher Kyle Busch for most victories in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Harvick led 108 of the 200 laps in the Consumers Energy 400 and cruised to a 3.233-second win over runner-up Brad Keselowski, who took over second place when Austin Dillon slowed with a cut tire on the next-to-last lap. Dillon nevertheless held fourth place at the finish, one spot ahead of Ryan Blaney.

The victory was Harvick's second at the 2.0-mile track—the first having come in 2010—and the 44th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 17th on a all-time win list. Harvick swept the first and second stages of the race and leap-frogged past Busch into the lead in Playoff points. Harvick now has 40 to Busch's 35.

Kevin Harvick (4) led a race-high 108 laps
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

"The most important thing is winning races right now and getting all the points that you can get to position yourself well to get to Homestead," Harvick said. "That's what we've been trying to do all year is win races.

"That was our only goal. We didn't want to learn anything. We don't want to do anything different. We just want to go out, and we want to win."

Keselowski, who drove from his 18th-place starting position to the runner-up spot, was grateful to have a clean race.

"It's nice to be able to get the finish we deserved," Keselowski said. "That's important. It's important to get what you have out of your car. Although we might not have race-winning speed, it's important to execute.

"So with that in mind, it's good for everybody's morale at Team Penske, and on the No. 2 team as well, but of course we want to break through and win as well. As I indicated, we not where we need to be to just win on speed against those guys week-in and week-out, so we've just got to find it. We've got to find that little bit of performance. It's not a lot, but it's just enough to keep us out of Victory Lane."

Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, pole winner Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano completed the top 10.

Kevin Harvick's six-year-old son, Keelan, gets a ride with his dad to Victory Lane
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

After the race, Harvick's 6-year-old son Keelan ran across the track to collect the checkered flag.

"Keelan is saving me some work," Harvick quipped. "Usually, when I get home, the next day we have to mock up a Victory Lane celebration. For him to be here and able to do that and be a part of NASCAR and bring your son to work and do all the things that we get to do with our kids, I have had him with me by myself the last three weeks and we have had a ball.

"I couldn't be happier to be a dad and be a part of NASCAR where they let your family come to the race track and be a part of it."

In the regular-season series standings, Kyle Busch maintained a 62-point lead over Harvick… Dillon scored his first top five since winning the season-opening Daytona 500.

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Led Points Status
1 3 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light/Mobil 1 Ford 200 108 60 Running
2 18 2 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Ford 200 0 39 Running
3 2 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 200 22 52 Running
4 5 3 Austin Dillon Dow WE Are Innovators Chevrolet 200 5 39 Running
5 8 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Insulation Ford 200 0 48 Running
6 12 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Ford 200 0 45 Running
7 11 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 200 0 37 Running
8 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 200 13 34 Running
9 21 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 200 0 28 Running
10 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 200 1 32 Running
11 40 19 Daniel Suarez Stanley Toyota 200 0 26 Running
12 16 14 Clint Bowyer Haas 30 Years of the VF1 Ford 200 0 29 Running
13 4 20 Erik Jones Doosan Toyota 200 0 24 Running
14 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour ENERGYToyota 200 25 29 Running
15 6 31 Ryan Newman Grainger Chevrolet 200 12 25 Running
16 14 21 Paul Menard Earn While You Learn Ford 200 0 21 Running
17 17 42 Kyle Larson DC Solar Chevrolet 200 0 21 Running
18 13 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fifth Third Bank Ford 200 0 19 Running
19 10 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 200 0 19 Running
20 23 37 Chris Buescher Slim Jim Chevrolet 200 0 17 Running
21 15 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet 200 1 16 Running
22 25 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet 199 0 15 Running
23 22 43 Bubba Wallace Medallion Bank/Petty's Garage Chevrolet 199 0 14 Running
24 30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Harvest Investments & Properties Ford 199 0 13 Running
25 29 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 199 0 12 Running
26 28 95 Kasey Kahne WRL General Contractors Chevrolet 199 0 11 Running
27 24 38 David Ragan Louis Kemp Crab Delights Ford 199 0 10 Running
28 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet 198 13 9 Running
29 31 0 Landon Cassill Mane n Tail Chevrolet 197 0 8 Running
30 39 23 Blake Jones Tennessee XXX Moonshine Toyota 194 0 7 Running
31 33 51 BJ McLeod Jacob Companies Ford 194 0 0 Running
32 36 7 Garrett Smithley Victory Lane Quick Oil Change Chevrolet 193 0 0 Running
33 34 99 Gray Gaulding StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 191 0 4 Running
34 26 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford 189 0 3 Engine
35 35 15 Ross Chastain Solomon Plumbing Chevrolet 187 0 0 Axle
36 20 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 187 0 1 Running
37 37 66 Timmy Hill Rewards.com Chevrolet 138 0 0 Electrical
38 27 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 131 0 1 Accident
39 38 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Xtreme Concepts Toyota 102 0 1 Engine
40 32 72 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Chevrolet 37 0 1 Engine


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