Stage 1 Recap (Ended at Lap 120):
● Kevin Harvick started fourth and finished fifth to earn six bonus points.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer / All HARVICK Ford Mustang was loose early on as Harvick ran in the fifth position.
● On lap 43, Harvick said the car was “all over the place.”
● Harvick pitted the No. 4 Busch Beer / All HARVICK Ford Mustang on lap 78 for four tires, fuel and a chassis and tire pressure adjustment.
Stage 2 Recap (Ended at Lap 240):
● Harvick started fourth and finished fourth to earn seven bonus points.
● On the restart, Harvick went from fourth up to second by the end of the first green-flag lap.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer / All HARVICK Ford Mustang pitted on lap 123 for four tires, fuel and a chassis and tire pressure adjustment. Harvick said his racecar “has grip, but is nothing like practice on Saturday.”
● Harvick pitted on lap 184 for four tires and fuel. He was running in second.
Stage 3 Recap (Ended at Lap 400):
● Harvick started third and finished fourth.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer / All HARVICK Ford Mustang pitted on lap 244 for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure and track bar adjustment. Harvick said the car was lacking grip.
● On lap 321, Harvick said his car was tight. He pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis and tire pressure adjustment.
● Harvick stayed near the front to finish the race in fourth.
Notes:
● Harvick earned his 12th top-five and 21st top-10 of the season, and his eighth top-five and 19th top-10 in 38 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover.
● This is Harvick’s second straight top-five at Dover. He finished fourth in the series’ previous visit to the track in May.
● This is Harvick’s second consecutive top-five. He finished third in the series’ last race at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval.
● Harvick’s 19 top-10s at Dover tie him with Kyle Busch for second-most among active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Jimmie Johnson has the most top-10s at Dover with 25.
● Kyle Larson won the Dover 400to score his sixth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Dover. His margin of victory over second-place Martin Truex Jr. was 1.578 seconds.
● There were three caution periods for a total of 17 laps.
● Only eight of the 38 drivers in the Dover 400finished on the lead lap.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer / All HARVICK Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“For us, we had a tight condition and just right off the bat we struggled with getting the front of our car to turn, and we really just lacked overall grip for us. It was much different in the race today than it was in practice. I would say that luckily this is a good racetrack for us, and we were able to grind out a good solid finish and get some stage points on a day when a lot of people had trouble.”
Playoff Standing (with two races to go before Round of 8):
1. Kyle Larson (3,063 points) 1 win
2. Martin Truex Jr. (3,095 points, +63)
3. Denny Hamlin (3,080 points, +48)
4. Kyle Busch (3,080 points, +48)
5. Kevin Harvick (3,074 points, +42)
6. Brad Keselowski (3,052 points, +20)
7. Alex Bowman (3,049 points, +17)
8. William Byron (3,032 points, +0)
9. Joey Logano (3,032 points, -0)
10. Clint Bowyer (3,028 points, -4)
11. Chase Elliott (3,025 points, -7)
12. Ryan Blaney (3,010 points, -22)
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 1000Bulbs.com 500 on Sunday, Oct. 13 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. It is the fifth race of the 10-race playoffs and the second race in the Round of 12. It starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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