Yahoo Movies Kevin Harvick Wins at Michigan, Takes Playoff Spot
Entering today's race at Michigan, Kevin Harvick was in an awkward position. Despite a consistent and strong season, his zero wins and championship position well behind the also-winless Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney left him effectively eliminated from the playoffs without either a win or a disastrous few closing races for one of those two. He leaves with his spot in the postseason secure, moving that disappointment over to one of the two drivers that seemed to be locks ahead of him.
Before the closing restart, Toyota seemed to be the day's powerhouse group. JGR's four cars and 23XI's two cars were fast all day, punctuated by Bubba Wallace's first career pole and laps led by many drivers throughout the day, but the team's cars began to drop like flies. The No. 18 of Kyle Busch was caught up in a major first stage crash after Rick Ware Racing's JJ Yeley stayed out on an early restart and checked up into the field. The No. 20 of Christopher Bell ended up in the wall after contact with Ross Chastain. The No. 45 of Ty Gibbs, filling in at 23XI for Kurt Busch, tapped the outside wall shortly after Noah Gragson crashed in front of him. That left just Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Martin Truex Jr. in the top ten during the day's final stop. When Hamlin was handed a penalty for a pit lane violation on the final stop and Truex buried back further in the top ten, just Wallace had a shot to beat Harvick on the final restart.
While Harvick restarted well, Wallace and the No. 12 of Ryan Blaney could not get going quickly enough. Wallace fell to third, then spent the next 15 laps working past Joey Logano. By the time he was back into second, he had just over a dozen laps to catch Harvick now more than 4 seconds ahead of the field. Wallace was able to cut substantially into Harvick's lead, but the sheer size of it and lack of meaningful lapped traffic kept him from reaching back into contention. Harvick would go on to win, while Wallace would finish second.
While the win puts Harvick in the playoff, it marks a substantial missed opportunity for Wallace. He'll now need to win one of the final three races to make the playoff. Blaney, too, was hit particularly hard by the finish; he came home in the top ten, but he's now on the playoff bubble by a narrow margin over Martin Truex Jr. a week before a race at what has historically been one of both Truex and Toyota's best tracks.
That Richmond race next weekend is one of just three remaining in the regular season. Despite historically running as a night race, this year's event is on a Sunday afternoon.
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