Sunday’s rain-delayed Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race is underway after morning showers caused a delay of nearly four hours.
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Harvick having only one win in the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season, was able to manage to come from his 24 starting position and race through the field to get his second win of the season. Larson also was involved for the second straight incident in a handful of laps. But he spun on Lap 373 when a part broke and Justin Allgaier, driving in relief of Michael Arnett, hit the No. 18 vehicle flush to end the defending series champ’s race.
In addition, while Harvick was able to pick up the win, Toyota driver Kyle Busch clearly had the best racecar on Sunday, as he led 256 of 500 laps, but his vehicle experienced a mechanical failure on lap 358, spun out, and was then crashed into by another auto piloted by Justin Allgaier. Before he could bring the vehicle in for repairs, he spun between Laps 1 and 2. Busch tried to nurse it for awhile and had just chose to go behind the wall for repairs when he spun out, lost control and was hit by Justin Allgaier (driving in place of Michael Annett) after he had already stopped. Busch wasn’t too happy after the collision throwing his helmet into his driver seat window back in the garage.
THEY SAID IT: “The person that’s really the biggest moron out there is the spotter of the 46 and driver of the 46 (Justin Allgaier)”. The race was red-flagged due to rain. “I don’t know. It’s a shame. Frustrating day, let’s go home”. He reclaims the championship standings lead by 27 points over Brad Keselowski. Gordon, subbing for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., got sideways but managed to keep his auto from hitting the wall and was able to continue. The wreck collected seven other drivers as they checked up in order to avoid the crash that happened in front of them.
Harvick, who started 24th, first took the lead on the 286th of 500 laps. Harvick went on to lead most of the remaining laps of the race. It was his first victory since he won at Phoenix in Week 4.
Kevin Harvick has had a lot of bad breaks this season, with mistake after mistake costing him chances to win and ruining strong finishes.
The next four finish spots: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Chris Buescher.
Still the race was close throughout the pack, Edwards made a last-lap pass to get around Johnson for sixth place.
He celebrated by inviting his vehicle owner and fellow SHR driver Tony Stewart, who is retiring at the end of the season, to join him in a double-burnout, much to the delight of the fans who stuck around.
Logano took the lead on the ensuing restart but Harvick quickly ran him down and passed him to regain the lead.
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Reflecting on his final moments as a driver an the Last Great Coliseum, Stewart acknowledged making the most of his last laps.
