Kevin Harvick picked up his 8th win at Phoenix International Raceway, and as won 5 out of the last 6 races at the track.
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A week after leading all but one lap at Las Vegas, Busch led 175 of 200 laps on the mile oval to win for the 79th time in the second-tier series.
“I knew he was better through (Turns) 3 and 4”, Harvick said. Because with a victory on the line, Harvick would have done the same if in the situation Edwards found himself in. “So to start the year with a win, it’s like, ‘Oh, I got that one out of the way'”.
With 20 laps remaining in the scheduled 312-lap race, Harvick led Dale Earnhardt Jr. I knew I could beat him down there, and I tried to protect the bottom in three and four and I just missed the bottom with all the rubber build-up on the tires and everything.
It was Harvick’s 32nd victory in 542 Cup races – this week marked his 500th consecutive start – and means that he now tops the championship points. Edwards then pulled underneath Harvick and appeared set to win, only for Harvick to rally back and after twice body-slamming Edwards, narrowly beat him to the checkered flag. Only 17 cars finished on the lead lap. Several drivers had good days, while many drivers had bad days.
Busch started on the pole and led the first 74 laps of the race before Earnhardt got by him. “Those guys, everybody works hard here and if we would’ve had one more lap, I could have passed him clean”, said Edwards. It nearly got to the point where we could predict what lap the caution was going to come out. So I chose to hit him as hard as I did.
“We’ll have to get to the bottom of it”, Johnson said.
JGR UP FRONT: Joe Gibbs Racing took the top three spots in qualifying, with Denny Hamlin starting third behind the front-row tandem of Kyle Busch and Edwards.
The series stays in the Pacific Time Zone next Sunday when the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California hosts the Auto Club 400.
Harvick followed that by posting the fastest speed in the final practice session at midday, with track conditions most resembling those of Sunday afternoon’s race. “I think you’ll keep seeing this trend of being able to race each other”. “I knew that I was going to get hit and I’m going to hit him”. The confrontation led to a scuffle that left a dent in the hood of Harvick’s auto and ended with Edwards’ grabbing Harvick in a chokehold before the two were separated.
I was sitting there with no steering and no steering wheel and staring at the blue wall, Johnson said. If he reaches the summertime without a race victory and making the Chase is bearing down on him, he might be looking back on this desert race feeling like he was Wiley Coyote to Harvick’s Road Runner.
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It was another success for NASCAR’s new downforce and aerodynamic packages. 010 of a second, the closest Sprint Cup finish at the 1-mile venue.
