Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-50):
● Kevin Harvick started first and finished third, earning eight bonus points.
● Harvick led the first 39 laps before pitting on lap 40 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
● Said his car was a bit loose early on and he was starting to “lose the noose.”
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 51-100):
● Harvick started first and finished second, earning nine bonus points.
● By lap 58, he already had a lead of 2.787 seconds over second-place Denny Hamlin.
● On lap 72, Kyle Busch passed Harvick for first place.
● Harvick pitted on lap 78 for four tires and fuel. He was in second.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 101-163):
● Harvick started first and finished sixth.
● On the restart, Harvick fell back to third behind Hamlin and Joey Logano.
● Under caution on lap 115, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel. Several cars used different pit strategies, so Harvick restarted 16th.
● Harvick worked his way into the top-five, but two late restarts caused him to fall back from third to sixth.
Notes:
● Harvick earned his 13th top-10 of the season and his 18th top-10 in 38 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● This is Harvick’s second straight top-10. He won the series’ previous race last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
● Harvick finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points and second in Stage 2 to earn an additional nine bonus points.
● Harvick led three times for 62 laps to increase his laps-led total at Pocono to 250.
● Hamlin won the Gander RV 400to score his 34th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his fifth at Pocono. His margin of victory over second-place Erik Jones was .341 of a second.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 24 laps.
● Only 25 of the 38 drivers in the Gander RV 400 finished on the lead lap.
● Logano remains the championship leader after Pocono with a six-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.
Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Gen X #4TheCup Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“It was a good day. They had the right strategy, and I just didn’t time those last two restarts right. Our car struggled a little bit on the first lap or two to get the front to turn, but they had everything right where it needed to be. If the caution doesn’t come out, I think we were in good shape, but that’s the way it goes, especially at this place. You have to have the cautions fall your way, and you have to have everything go right. We just had a few little things here and there that didn’t go our way and wound up sixth.”
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, Aug. 4 at Watkins Glen.
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