Kevin Harvick dominated Sunday’s (Nov. 4) AAA Texas 500 but had to earn the victory near the end of the day at Texas Motor Speedway.
Passing Ryan Blaney with 17 laps to go, Harvick had to survive an overtime restart… and he did, by blasting clear of Blaney and cruising to the victory.
The win, his eighth of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, was his second at Texas. More importantly, it threw him into the Championship 4 in two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Everyone at the shop has been working day after day for speed,” Harvick said. “The expectations are to win. We don’t come here to count our fingers, we want to earn it and today we earned it.”
Pole-sitter Blaney drove to second place, his best finish at Texas and eighth top five of 2018.
“I really wanted to win this race,” Blaney said. “I thought we had a second-place car all night, really. The No. 4 was heads-and-shoulders better than anyone else but we were second-best for sure.”
Team Penske teammate Joey Logano finished third after earning his Championship 4 spot last week at Martinsville, while Erik Jones and Kyle Larson finished the top five.
The story of the race was on pit road, as multiple playoff drivers struggled to avoid issues throughout the day. Kyle Busch was one of them, who pitted with 28 laps to go in stage two due to a loose wheel, falling to 29th spot off the lead lap. The No. 18 finished 17th.
Martin Truex Jr. overcame similar issues in his No. 78 Toyota, rebounding for ninth spot.
Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola only managed sixth through eighth spots with non-playoff driver Austin Dillon in 10th.
Almirola, who advanced to as high as third in his No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, was upset at Joey Logano following a near-wreck on a late restart.
“When Homestead comes around, if I’m not in it, he’ll know it,” Almirola said of Logano. “He just continues to make things hard on himself.”
About the author
Growing up in Easton, Pa., Zach Catanzareti has grown his auto racing interest from fandom to professional. Joining Frontstretch in 2015, Zach enjoys nothing more than being at the track, having covered his first half-season of 18 races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017. With experience behind the wheel, behind the camera and in the media center, he thrives on being an all-around reporter.
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Aric, come on!!! Stop talking shit. Look at the standings!! The ONLY way you are in it , if you win at Homestead. That’sall in you.
Sorry, “that’s all on you”. And by the way ARIC, that move was all you. Logano had nothing to do with it. What a bunch of puzzies lately. Do they get their script to INSERT LOGANO NAME HERE, when they don’t get it done or screw up? Pretty amazing. ARIC used to be kinda my underdog..no more.
Did the drivers caught speeding blame Joey too?
It would not surprise. These people are nuts, it’s getting beyond stupid. Flucking prima donnas. Aric should be major embarrassed and apologize after he sees the video.
I don’t understand why they don’t do the interview after they see the replay. It seems they do the interview before the driver has a chance to cool down. On purpose, probably. Makes for better TV.
I hear yeah, but even in his car camera there was nothing to his rant at all, nothing. Then he doubles down on excuses. He is no longer a Little Guy I would root for. I am pau with him.
I get Aric being instantly upset when he was losing spots. But it was some time until his TV interview and he still couldn’t calm down. It’s called racing. Everyone has been always on his side and cheering him on. He displayed a no class side and sounded like a whiny baby. He’s lost me as a fan, irrelevant.
How come NASCAR doesn’t fine these threats as “detrimental to the sport”.