Kevin Harvick dominates, wins Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
By Nick Tylwalk
The first non-restrictor plate race of the 2018 NASCAR season turned into a showcase for a driver who has Atlanta Motor Speedway pretty much figured out.
The Daytona 500 is a race that doesn’t always go to the fastest. Kevin Harvick would suggest that the same is true of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as well, considering how many laps he’s led there over the years with few trophies to show for it.
Still, after dominating the XFINITY Series race on Saturday, Harvick was clearly the man to beat again on Sunday. Despite some monkey wrenches in the form of iffy weather and drivers trying different pit strategies, Harvick’s No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford proved too strong for everyone, leading 181 of 325 laps and sending him to Victory Lane at Atlanta for the first time since 2001.
It was Harvick’s 27th start since his famous first Cup Series victory, which came after he replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Richard Childress Racing following Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500.
Harvick has long been faster than most at Atlanta, and he’ll probably be the most upset driver in the garage when the track gets repaved later this year. He’s been out in front for well over 1000 laps, but usually without victories to show for it.
Once the race got underway after a delay for morning rain, it became very clear that few if any drivers had anything for Harvick on long runs. There were plenty of those on a day when there were no big multi-vehicle wrecks — almost the exact opposite of what happened at Daytona — and the best bet to knocking off Harvick seemed to be hoping doing 500 miles in one less pit stop could eke out a win.
Denny Hamlin and his team went that route, but it didn’t matter. Brad Keselowski tried to stay with Harvick in a more conventional fashion and fared no better.
Next: See full highlights and stage results for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta
The threat of more rain hovered over the final stage of the race, but despite a few drops appearing on camera lenses a time or two, the weather held up and allowed the race to be run to its conclusion. That turned out to be good news for Harvick and bad news for the field.
“I’m just so proud of everybody on our team,” Harvick said in his post-race interview. “For five years, it’s been so fast here and at a lot of other places. It’s just so good to be back here, finally. It’s been a while.”
2018 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 results
- Kevin Harvick (also Stage 1 winner)
- Brad Keselowski (Stage 2 winner)
- Clint Bowyer
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Kurt Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Chase Elliott
- Erik Jones
- Ryan Blaney
- Aric Almirola
- Austin Dillon
- Daniel Suarez
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Paul Menard
- William Byron
- Jamie McMurray
- Alex Bowman
- Kasey Kahne
- Ryan Newman
- David Ragan
- Michael McDowell
- Chris Buescher
- Ty Dillon
- Jimmie Johnson
- Cole Whitt
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ross Chastain
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Bubba Wallace
- Harrison Rhodes
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Trevor Bayne
- Gray Gaulding