Kevin Harvick drives dominant car to tight NASCAR victory on Saturday

Although Kevin Harvick won all three stages of Saturday’s NASCAR race at Michigan, it was by no means a blowout. Harvick had to find his way back to the lead multiple times, and took the top spot from four different drivers in each of the stages in an overtime race that finished in entertaining, caution-heavy fashion.

Brad Keselowski finished second and Martin Truex Jr. finished in third.

“Anytime we’ve come to Michigan since I’ve been at Stewart-Haas Racing, these cars have been just lightning fast,” Harvick said after his fifth win of the season. “It’s definitely a place where we feel like we should come up here and contend for the win.”

The Firekeepers Casino 400 remained green under green flag conditions, barring the competition caution and end-of-stage caution, through the first two stages. But the final stage saw six yellow flags, three of which were called for John Hunter Nemechek, forcing teams to make strategy calls on tires, fuel and their restart lane with the new choose rule in effect.

With nine laps left, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch battled in the front row for the lead spot off the restart, but Harvick raced up from third to the inside of Busch as Elliott dropped back. Harvick’s No. 4 car looked like it barely tapped the side of Busch’s No. 18 on the inside. Busch fell behind and Harvick surged to the lead, where he remained despite two more yellow flags that added five laps to the 161-lap race.

Harvick said after the race that he couldn’t tell if the two cars made contact, but that he thought the video replay looked like they didn’t touch. Busch, who finished fifth, gave Harvick credit for having a fast car, but said that the move was “close enough that it disturbed my car obviously.”

“I mean I just didn’t get loose and turn up to the wall by myself, so I don’t know whether he hit me or it was just air,” Busch said on the NBCSN broadcast.

Still the No. 19 driver said “it was a race for second today overall,” noting the “lights out” speed of Harvick’s Ford.

The choose rule makes a thrilling debut

The choose rule, a procedural update that many drivers advocated for this season, went into effect for the first official race at Michigan after NASCAR tested the rule at the All-Star Race at Bristol. Drivers were forced to pick either the bottom or top lane before each restart rather than the double-file restart system NASCAR previously uses.

It added excitement to Saturday’s late-stage restarts, allowing drivers to move into a better starting position by picking the non-preferred lane and mixing up the running order.

Elliott, for example, used the rule to his advantage. With 25 laps left, a caution was called for Nemechek who hit the wall in Turn 3. Then-leader Harvick stayed out, as did the other top-running drivers. Harvick chose the top lane, but Chase Elliott moved from fifth place to second by choosing the bottom lane for the restart. He then surged past Harvick to the lead position. Harvick was able to eventually get it back with his pass of Busch, but it was a promising signal for Elliott and his No. 9 team, which won the All-Star Race where the choose rule made its first appearance.

Strong finish for Keselowski, Ford

Keselowski also utilized an inside lane choice late in the race to move into the front row on the final restart. Harvick stayed on the outside lane, took a push, and moved ahead of the No. 2 Ford heading into the final lap to clinch the victory.

“We got a good launch and just not quite strong enough to keep up with Kevin,” Keselowski said after the race. “He was really fast, and I got a little tight.”

Keselowski didn’t necessarily credit the choose rule for his final top-three finish, nor did he say he was particularly excited about it, as some other teams have said they are.

“I’m kind of agnostic to be honest,” Kesleowksi said. “I thought at the front, it seemed to be a little fun, something kind of different. It’s one of those things where I think it’s just, when you eat chocolate, you want vanilla sometimes. It felt different and different was kind of fun. There were other parts where I was kind of a little questioning about it. Overall I’m kind of neutral on it.”

Jones makes a statement early, couldn’t close

Erik Jones, who made headlines this week after his Joe Gibbs Racing team announced it would not extend the current No. 20 driver’s contract next season, posted a standout performance at Michigan in the first two stages. Jones is on the bubble for the postseason in points, but earned critical points with a sixth and fourth place finish, respectively, in the first two stages of the race.

By the final stage, though, Jone got caught up in the crowd and had dropped to the bottom-half of the top-10. He finished the race 11th. Still, Jones has an opportunity tomorrow to close his first win of the season and his first win at his home track.

Other drivers like Jones, such as No. 43 driver Bubba Wallace, are in critical talks with teams and sponsors as they try to secure a ride for next season. Wallace made a bold move with a low lane choice to put him in fifth late in the race. He dropped back for the finish, to ninth, but said cracking the top-10 was still “solid” for his Richard Petty Motorsports team. After the race he teased a “big deal” in an interview with NBCSN.

“This could only help so much,” Wallace said on the broadcast. “I have yet to check my phone to see the status of it. This will send us over the top if we can get it done.”

JGR takes top spots, this time with Truex and Busch

Joe Gibbs Drivers, including Jones, found success at Michigan. Hamlin was an early leader, gaining stage points with a second and third place finish in Stages 1 and 2, respectively, before finishing 6th.

Truex Jr. took a top-three finish despite an early tire failure. Busch finished fifth, and for a moment, looked like he could control the race before the late cautions. It wasn’t quite the finish JGR was looking for, but as a whole, it was an improvement for an organization that’s had one standout driver this season.

“I think our car was just really, really fast today, and maybe not as fast as the 4, but pretty dang close,” Truex said. “And I didn’t see anybody better. If we can gain on it a little bit, maybe we can give them a run for their money tomorrow.”

Still, it was Harvick who was able to secure the win and give his Ford manufacturer the advantage for the Heritage Trophy for his second straight year. Harvick is now tied with driver Lee Petty in 11th on NASCAR’s all-time winner list after his 54th victory in the Cup Series. Saturday’s second place finisher Keselowski is still on the hunt for his first win at the track.

“Got challenged by a whole bunch of restarts at the end that made it kind of crazy,” Harvick said. “But in the end, it was a great day for us. Everybody did a great job, called a great race and we capitalized on a fast car and put it in Victory Lane.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2020 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Kevin Harvick drives dominant car to tight NASCAR victory on Saturday."