Harvick Hammers Home Playoff-Busting Michigan Win

Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR

Kevin Harvick Earns First Win in 65 Races at Michigan, Takes 15th Playoff Spot

BROOKLYN, Mich. – The Playoff picture took another big hit, as Kevin Harvick becomes the 15th different winner of 2022 at Michigan. Earning his first race win since the 2020 Bristol Night Race, Harvick bumps Martin Truex Jr. below the Playoff cutline with just three races left in the regular season. The Closer took command late and never looked back, taking one of his biggest wins ever.

Stage 1 saw many contenders taken out early, as the first restart turned into chaos. JJ Yeley was taken three-wide while mid-pack, sending Austin Cindric hard into the turn two wall. Also collected here were Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and others.

Stage 1 would go to Christopher Bell once racing went back green. Denny Hamlin would also take Stage 2, making it a Toyota Stage-sweeping day. The 11 was arguably the fastest car at Michigan, as he carved his way through the field on each restart.

Pitting after Stage 2 would set Hamlin back, giving the lead to Daniel Suarez over Bell. The Trackhouse 99 quickly grabbed the lead and held it until his final pit stop on lap 156. Suarez pitted in tandem with his teammate Ross Chastain, who was running just behind in second. Just after they came back out on track though, Bell tried blocking Chastain, sending the 20 hard into the wall. This caution would change everything for the finish.

On pit road under this caution, Denny Hamlin would get penalized for too many crew members over the wall. A member of the 11 team jumped out to catch a would-be uncontrolled tire, incurring the penalty. This unforced error by the 11 team gave the lead to Kevin Harvick.

On the restart, intense racing with Joey Logano holding back everyone behind him allowed Harvick to scoot away. By the time Bubba Wallace finally got to second, Harvick’s lead was over four seconds.

By the checkers, Harvick led Wallace by three seconds, as the 23 simply could not close in late. For Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing 4 team, this is their first win in 65 races. Coming into Michigan 17th in points, this vaults them up into the Playoffs. Can Harvick return to his usual spot in the championship fight after a slow start to the year?

“Just good timing for sure,” Harvick said on the Michigan win. “We’ve had several good runs the last few weeks – Loudon and Pocono where the car ran good and just didn’t have everything work out. I’m just really proud of everybody on our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang. They’ve been digging all year long trying to make these Mustangs run faster. They haven’t been great this year, but our guys have done a good job in trying to take what we have, maximize it and do the things that we need to do. I’m just really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

“Everybody who doubted us doesn’t know us. They obviously know we thrive in these types of situations and a lot of things went our way today, which we haven’t had all year long things go our way and have things fall our way. There at the end we pitted and didn’t go a lap down and then the caution came out and got control of the race. That’s the thing I struggled with most today was traffic and restarts and just having to make up ground, but once I got clear track that baby was hunting.”

“It’s been awhile and coming to Michigan, this has been a great place for us. I’ve just got to thank all the fans. They’ve stuck with us through this little dry spell, so hopefully we can get back to victory lane again soon.”

Behind Harvick and Wallace, Hamlin rallied to third, while Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney were the top five. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Alex Bowman, and Ty Gibbs were the top 10.

With Harvick winning, that pushes Truex below the Playoff cut line, and only gives Ryan Blaney a 19-point cushion. See the full Playoff standings below with three races left in the regular season.

The next race for NASCAR Cup cars will be a return visit to Richmond Raceway. Hosting their first-ever summer race, Richmond offers a chance at a 16th different winner. Coverage of the Federated Auto Parts 400 kicks off Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Both Blaney and Truex were strong at Richmond in April; can either of them take home the win this time?

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Mike Mulholland/Getty Images for NASCAR