NASCAR

NASCAR Atlanta: Harvick eases to second Cup Series win of 2020

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick eased to his second victory of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Atlanta after dominating the final stage of the race.

Harvick’s #4 Ford Mustang re-started the final segment of the 325-lap race in third position, but quickly passed Joe Gibbs Racing duo Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr to assume control of the race.

Throughout the final 114-lap stage, aside through green-flag pit-stops, Harvick comfortably held the chasing Truex and Busch at bay by around two-three seconds to ease to his 51st career Cup win, at the track where he claimed his first back in March 2001.

Truex ran strongly in the #19 JGR Toyota Camry, and claimed his first, and second stage wins of the campaign, but as he faded in his pursuit of Harvick, team-mate Busch was able to nip by in the closing stages to equal his best result of the season with second – the third time he has done that in 2020.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney had a sensible race in a quiet afternoon, coming home in fourth in the #12 Mustang ahead of the third JGR entry of Denny Hamlin, who did not quite have the pace to keep tabs with the team-mates around the 1.5-mile Atlanta circuit.

Kurt Busch was forced to start at the back of the field after his #1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro failed pre-race inspection, and was forced to take a drive-through penalty early on.

The 2004 Cup champion steadily rose throughout the pack, finishing 17th and 15th in the two stages before passing Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson late on to record a sixth top 10 finish of the season and place as the highest Camaro finisher.

Johnson held off Hendrick Motorsports team-mate, the randomly drawn pole-sitter, Chase Elliott for seventh as team-mate’s William Byron’s race was effectively ended early on with a puncture in the opening stages.

Penske pair Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano both encountered trouble in the race, with Keselowski being slapped with a pit-road speeding penalty, whilst Logano suffered minor damage after contact with another car in the pit-road scramble.

Keselowski fought back to ninth, with 2018 champion Logano racing the #22 Mustang to 10th and came home as the last driver still on the lead lap.

Clint Bowyer was set for a strong result, following his second-place at Bristol last Sunday, but his #14 SHR machine was struggling with the right-rear tyres all race, leading to him often pitting out of sequence with the rest of the leading gaggle.

With 14 laps to go, Bowyer was forced to pit again, and fell from seventh to a lapped 20th.

Results

Pos Driver Team Gap
1 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 325 3h30m03.s CLA
2 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 -3.527s 3.527s CLA
3 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 -4.708s 4.708s CLA
4 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 325 -14.730s 14.730s CLA
5 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 325 -20.182s 20.182s CLA
6 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 325 -22.902s 22.902s CLA
7 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 -24.589s 24.589s CLA
8 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 -25.532s 25.532s CLA
9 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 325 -25.862s 25.862s CLA
10 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 325 -25.925s 25.925s CLA
11 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
12 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
13 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
14 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
15 Matt Kenseth Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
16 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
17 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
18 Christopher Bell Leavine Family Racing Toyota 324 1 Lap CLA
19 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
20 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
21 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 324 1 Lap CLA
22 Chris Buescher Roush Fenway Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
23 John Hunter Nemechek Front Row Motorsports Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
24 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
25 Matt DiBenedetto Wood Brothers Racing Ford 324 1 Lap CLA
26 Ryan Preece JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 323 2 Laps CLA
27 Corey LaJoie Go FAS Racing Ford 323 2 Laps CLA
28 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 322 3 Laps CLA
29 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 322 3 Laps CLA
30 Brennan Poole Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 321 4 Laps CLA
31 Daniel Suarez Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 316 9 Laps CLA
32 Quin Houff StarCom Racing Chevrolet 314 11 Laps CLA
33 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 313 12 Laps CLA
34 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Ford 313 12 Laps CLA
35 Garrett Smithley Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 312 13 Laps CLA
36 J.J. Yeley Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 311 14 Laps CLA
37 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 310 15 Laps CLA
38 Joey Gase Petty Ware Racing Ford 308 17 Laps CLA
39 Timmy Hill MBM Motorsports Toyota 259 Electrical CLA
40 B.J. McLeod BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Clutch CLA

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