NSCS: Kevin Harvick Freaky Fast En Route To Campingworld.com 500 Domination

For the second straight week in a row, Kevin Harvick has reached victory lane as he dominated the Campingworld.com 500 en route to his 30th career victory. It also marks Harvick’s seventh straight top-two finish dating back to last season.

“When you look at the start of this year, we know each other better, a lot of things are different than they were and I feel the bond between everybody was really special,” he commented. “It’s almost scary to think about how well things are going and we’re just really proud.”

Harvick led throughout the day, and was able to hold off Jamie McMurray’s charge on a late race restart with 12 laps to go.

“The restarts were really slippery and I learned yesterday that you had to maintain your entrance speed and slide it through the corner to get through there,” he said.

McMurray would cross the finish line second, continuing Chip Ganassi Racing’s strong run.

“Really good day for us,” McMurray commented. “We ran fifth to eighth all day. Matt McCall made a good decision to stay out, got us on the front row. Had a really good battle with Kevin and if I could do that again, I would’ve slid up sooner. With the new package, you can make the guy stall out –  I was going to slide up, but I also knew it was the for the win and we’d probably wreck.”

Ryan Newman finished third as he carries the consistency over to this year that he finished last season with.

“Our Chevrolet was good, just not quick enough on restartss,” he expressed. “We did a good job, again. We’re knocking on the door – two top-five already, versus taking to June last year to get one.”

Kasey Kahne finished fourth after running throughout the top-10 all day.

“We’ve had momentum all season,” Kahne said. “We’ve had cars that could finish in the top-five each week, which I’m really proud of this Farmer’s Insurance team. We’re working hard. Keith and the team really stepped up during the race. We lost it a little in the middle with adjustments, but got it back at the end.”

Kurt Busch would round out the top-five in his return to the track for the first time since being reinstated by NASCAR.

“It means I have a strong team, and personally it’s great to get back to them and produce a result like this in our first race,” he said. “It’s a quality car and team, and I can’t thank them enough for believing me. the way that we raced today, there was a lot heart, and I thought there’d be a lot of goodwill to bring home a win today but Kevin was quicker. It was just too loose on restarts, couldn’t get what I needed early in the run.”

Brad Keselowski finished sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson.

Brian Vickers wouldn’t have the day that he was looking for, hitting the wall on the opening lap of the event after contact with Jimmie Johnson. Right rear tire issues also played a factor, as Sam Hornish Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered tire blow outs, resulting in poor finishes. Both tire failures were due to brake heat melting the bead. Tony Stewart had a top-10 run going, but found himself in trouble after getting loose underneath Justin Allgaier and hitting the wall.