Pennzoil 400: Kevin Harvick too strong again, takes Vegas for 2nd straight win
By Nick Tylwalk
Kevin Harvick was the class of the Cup Series field for the second week in a row, winning in dominant fashion in Las Vegas after doing the same thing at Atlanta.
Youth is going to be served in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series eventually. Just not while Kevin Harvick is running the way he is right now.
The 42-year-old was too good for everyone in Atlanta, and except for the change in venue to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, not much was different for his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in the Pennzoil 400. Harvick once again led tons of laps and had no real challengers as he sailed to his second consecutive victory of 2018.
The win was the 100th trip to Victory Lance across all NASCAR series, one that had even strong contenders like Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. talking about how much homework their teams have to do after admitting they had nothing for the 4. To add to the superlatives, Harvick became just the second driver to win every stage of a Cup Series race, joining Truex, who did it several times in 2017.
“Just really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Ford for just doing a really great job with these race cars,” Harvick said in Victory Lane. “These last two weeks, we’ve just hit on what we needed to, and really, this stems back to last year when our mile and a half program got so much better at the end of the year.”
There was very little drama along the way for Harvick, who started on the outside of Row 1 and assumed the lead from pole-sitter Ryan Blaney very early on. The only time the 4 wasn’t out in front during Stage 1 was during green flag pit stops, and it didn’t take him long to get back there.
A slower pit stop at the conclusion of Stage 2 finally got someone else in front, with Joey Logano taking the lead. That also didn’t last, especially one cautions flew for Jamie McMurray blowing a tire followed by another for a wreck that took out both Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott.
Kyle Busch made a hard charge in the final 25 laps, getting to second place and briefly closing the gap to less than three seconds. But he got no closer, and Harvick found himself without much to do but navigate lapped traffic for the second time in eight days.
Harvick has never won three straight races, but he does own a previous victory at ISM Raceway, where he Cup Series heads next weekend. That’s bad news for everyone else in the garage, but at least they’re all searching for answers together.
Next: See highlights, stage results from Las Vegas
2018 Pennzoil 400 results from Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Kevin Harvick (also Stage 1 and Stage 2 winner)
- Kyle Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ryan Blaney
- Brad Keselowski
- Joey Logano
- Erik Jones
- Paul Menard
- Aric Almirola
- Ryan Newman
- Jimmie Johnson
- Austin Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Chris Buescher
- Alex Bowman
- Denny Hamlin
- Clint Bowyer
- Kasey Kahne
- Trevor Bayne
- Bubba Wallace
- Matt DiBenedetto
- David Ragan
- Ty Dillon
- Cole Custer
- Daniel Suarez
- William Byron
- Cole Whitt
- Ross Chastain
- AJ Allmendinger
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Joey Gase
- Gray Gaulding
- Chase Elliott
- Kurt Busch
- Jamie McMurray
- Michael McDowell