Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-30):
● Kevin Harvick started 20th and finished fourth, earning seven bonus points.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer Head for the Mountains Ford Mustang was in the top-10 by lap 15 and in the top-five by lap 20.
● Harvick said his car was loose.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 31-85):
● Kevin Harvick started 18th and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer Head for the Mountains Ford Mustang pitted on lap 34 while in fourth place for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment.
● By lap 38, Harvick was back in the top-10.
● Harvick was in second place for much of the second stage, but on lap 78 Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a air pressure adjustment.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 86-140):
● Kevin Harvick started third and finished second.
● The No. 4 Busch Beer Head for the Mountains Ford Mustang took the lead with 45 laps to go as leader Brad Keselowski pitted.
● On lap 105, Harvick pitted for right-side tires and fuel. He was in the first position.
● After pit stops cycled out, Harvick was in second-place behind Denny Hamlin and could not catch him before the checkered flag flew.
Notes:
● Hamlin won the Pocono 350 to score his 41st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading fourth of the season and his record-tying sixth at Pocono. His margin of victory over second-place Harvick was 3.068 seconds.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 31 laps.
● Only 17 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Harvick remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 52-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
● Harvick earned his eighth top-five and 12th top-10 of the season, and his 14th top-five and 20th top-10 in 40 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-two and his third consecutive top-10. He finished 10th June 22 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and won yesterday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono.
● Harvick has finished among the top-10 in 12 of the 15 races held this year. He has only one finish outside the top-15.
● Harvick’s 20 top-10s at Pocono are tied with Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson for the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
● Harvick’s 14 top-fives at Pocono are tied with Busch for the second most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.
● Harvick’s second-place result marked the fifth time he has finished second at Pocono.
● Harvick led twice for 11 laps to increase his laps-led total at Pocono to 277.
● Harvick has now led 10,180 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 14,606 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.
Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Head for the Mountains Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“I think for us our Head for the Mountains Busch Beer Ford was actually better than yesterday. We had a really good car. He (Denny Hamlin) just did the opposite of what we did. We didn’t want to get caught with a caution and then wind up losing a little bit too much time in lap traffic with all the cars that hadn’t pitted and he was out there running clean laps and waited until right to the very end and wound up in front of us. I’m proud of everybody on our team. Yesterday that won us the race and today finished second.”
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 on Sunday, July 5 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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