Sunday December 22nd, 2024 1:38PM

Harvick moves into 3rd round with win at Charlotte

By Jenna Fryer, AP Auto Racing Writer
CONCORD, NC (AP) - Kevin Harvick moved into the third round of NASCAR's championship race with a victory Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where tempers flared after the race and two drivers had to be restrained from fighting Brad Keselowski.<br /> <br /> Harvick had to win a two-lap sprint to the finish to grab his third victory of the season, but attention turned quickly to two near-brawls in the garage involving Keselowski. Denny Hamlin was held back by his own crew from going after Keselowski, who appeared to try to wreck Hamlin after the race.<br /> <br /> Then Matt Kenseth appeared to jump on Keselowski from behind between two haulers and multiple team members had to pull back Kenseth. Kenseth and Keselowski made contact racing for the lead on a late restart, and Kenseth was livid that Keselowski hit his car after the race.<br /> <br /> "It was really the safety. He was doing something with Hamlin, I had my seatbelt off, my (head-and-neck restraint) off and he clobbers me," Kenseth said. "The race is over, come back to pit road. If you want to talk about it like a man, go do that. But if you want to wreck somebody on the racetrack with people standing around, that's just inexcusable.<br /> <br /> "There's no excuse for that. That's a champion and he's supposed to know better than that."<br /> <br /> Hamlin also said the 2012 champion behaved badly and called him "desperate, obviously" to save his title hopes.<br /> <br /> "He's just out of control," Hamlin said. "Matt was nearly out of his car and he just plowed into Matt and then ran into Tony (Stewart) and then went in through the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage."<br /> <br /> Keselowski cooled off in his Team Penske hauler before addressing the events. He said Kenseth "swung at my car" during the final caution to cause damage that ruined his race. He also said Hamlin "stopped in front of me and tried to pick a fight."<br /> <br /> "I figured if we're going to play car wars under yellow and after the race, I'll join, too," Keselowski said. "Those guys can dish it out, but they can't take it. I gave it back to them and now they want to fight."<br /> <br /> It capped a terrible night for three of NASCAR's biggest stars: Keselowski, six-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all go into next Sunday's elimination race at Talladega needing a victory.<br /> <br /> Keselowski finished 16th, Johnson was 17th and Earnhardt was 20th - last in the 12-driver Chase field. Earnhardt broke his shifter early in the race and it put him in a deep hole he couldn't climb from.<br /> <br /> "The vibration broke the shifter in half," Earnhardt said. "The car wasn't handling well and the vibration was giving us problems."<br /> <br /> The four drivers now in danger of being eliminated next week are Kenseth, Keselowski, Johnson and Earnhardt.<br /> <br /> Kenseth's rough night began before he even made it to the green flag.<br /> <br /> NASCAR ordered him to drop to the back of the field at the start of the race because his Joe Gibbs Racing team was penalized for making an unapproved change to his Toyota.<br /> <br /> "They are out of control. Absolutely out of control," crew chief Jason Ratcliff radioed about NASCAR.<br /> <br /> Kenseth remained calm and urged his crew to do the same: "Let's just get it together here, keep our composure and do the things we know how to do. It's not a big deal. It's 500 miles."<br /> <br /> He was anything but calm, though, after his 19th-place finish and tussle with Keselowski.<br /> <br /> Keselowski, the 2012 champion and most dominant driver of the first round of the Chase, also had a post-race issue with Stewart. He seemed to run into the back of Stewart after his issues with Hamlin and Kenseth, and Stewart backed his car up to crumple the front of Keselowski's Ford.<br /> <br /> Watching the replay in the media center after the race, second-place finisher Jeff Gordon was clearly entertained. He put his arms in the air and yelled "Kenseth!" and thought Stewart's move was "awesome!"<br /> <br /> "Obviously there's some built up animosity towards Brad - I better hold the rest of my thoughts," Gordon said.<br /> <br /> Keselowski said he understood Stewart's frustration.<br /> <br /> "I rubbed into (Kenseth) and I think he gassed up and ran into Tony, and I don't think Tony knew what was going on so he's probably upset and he has every right to be," Keselowski said. "I'm sure when he sees the whole situation he'll understand."<br /> <br /> Harvick, meanwhile, was celebrating in Victory Lane.<br /> <br /> He had the strongest car for most of the race - as he does almost every week, only to have some sort of problem keep him out of Victory Lane. It almost happened again Saturday night as a caution with seven laps to go forced Harvick to win it on a two-lap sprint to the finish.<br /> <br /> The Stewart-Haas Racing driver leads the Sprint Cup Series in laps led and poles, but had only two victories to show for his effort. The win was his first since Darlington in April<br /> <br /> "This is the night that we needed to win. I didn't want to go to Talladega next week," he said.<br /> <br /> <b>NASCAR Sprint Cup Series<br /> Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC<br /> Bank of America 500 - Oct. 11, 2014</b><br /> <br /> <b>(Start position in parentheses)</b><br /> <br /> 1. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 145.3 rating, 48 points, $291,248.<br /> 2. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, 126.8, 43, $248,111.<br /> 3. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 334, 112.7, 42, $183,639.<br /> 4. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, 334, 92.3, 40, $162,366.<br /> 5. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 115.5, 40, $196,841.<br /> 6. (24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 334, 107.5, 39, $145,635.<br /> 7. (5) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, 94.4, 38, $110,415.<br /> 8. (10) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334, 84.5, 37, $110,365.<br /> 9. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, 96.2, 36, $104,140.<br /> 10. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, 83.5, 34, $107,115.<br /> 11. (11) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 334, 111.9, 34, $95,640.<br /> 12. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 334, 79.1, 32, $106,273.<br /> 13. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 334, 82.1, 32, $131,001.<br /> 14. (23) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 334, 86.1, 30, $112,423.<br /> 15. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 334, 72.2, 30, $108,773.<br /> 16. (17) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334, 97.5, 29, $125,898.<br /> 17. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, 91.7, 27, $131,376.<br /> 18. (12) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, 66.8, 26, $121,565.<br /> 19. (22) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, 64.8, 25, $125,726.<br /> 20. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 333, 85.4, 25, $89,890.<br /> 21. (4) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 333, 78.8, 23, $116,423.<br /> 22. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 332, 63, 22, $116,276.<br /> 23. (32) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 331, 46.9, 0, $78,940.<br /> 24. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 331, 56.2, 20, $114,415.<br /> 25. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 331, 54.1, 19, $105,210.<br /> 26. (14) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 331, 61.8, 18, $85,965.<br /> 27. (30) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 330, 49.9, 17, $91,798.<br /> 28. (36) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 330, 43.1, 16, $77,340.<br /> 29. (31) Michael McDowell, Ford, 330, 50.5, 15, $74,015.<br /> 30. (33) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 330, 46.6, 14, $89,938.<br /> 31. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 329, 55.2, 13, $94,112.<br /> 32. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 329, 40, 12, $83,840.<br /> 33. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 328, 41.7, 12, $73,215.<br /> 34. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 328, 35.1, 10, $81,090.<br /> 35. (42) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 326, 32.9, 0, $72,940.<br /> 36. (40) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 326, 31.9, 8, $72,760.<br /> 37. (8) Brian Vickers, Toyota, engine, 325, 79.9, 7, $105,201.<br /> 38. (41) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 325, 29.5, 0, $67,530.<br /> 39. (43) Blake Koch, Ford, 322, 26.3, 0, $63,530.<br /> 40. (39) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 320, 25.5, 4, $67,530.<br /> 41. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, rear gear, 178, 38.8, 3, $55,530.<br /> 42. (6) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, engine, 134, 58.6, 2, $79,444.<br /> 43. (25) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, engine, 94, 56.5, 1, $83,021.<br /> <br /> <b>Average Speed of Race Winner:</b> 145.346 mph.<br /> <br /> <b>Time of Race:</b> 3 hours, 26 minutes, 49 seconds.<br /> <br /> <b>Margin of Victory:</b> 0.571 seconds.<br /> <br /> <b>Caution Flags:</b> 8 for 39 laps.<br /> <br /> <b>Lead Changes:</b> 32 among 14 drivers.<br /> <br /> <b>Lap Leaders:</b> Ky.Busch 1-13; J.Gordon 14-27; M.Annett 28; D.Earnhardt Jr. 29; Ky.Busch 30-36; J.Gordon 37-74; Ku.Busch 75; D.Earnhardt Jr. 76; B.Keselowski 77-78; J.Gordon 79-97; D.Earnhardt Jr. 98-99; J.McMurray 100-104; K.Harvick 105-139; J.Gordon 140; K.Harvick 141-187; J.Gordon 188; B.Keselowski 189-190; K.Harvick 191-222; K.Larson 223; K.Harvick 224-237; A.Dillon 238-242; Ky.Busch 243-263; K.Larson 264-267; B.Keselowski 268-271; D.Hamlin 272-293; K.Harvick 294-310; J.Gordon 311; Ku.Busch 312; A.Dillon 313; R.Newman 314; C.Edwards 315; J.Allgaier 316-317; K.Harvick 318-334.<br /> <br /> <b>Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led):</b> K.Harvick, 6 times for 162 laps; J.Gordon, 6 times for 74 laps; Ky.Busch, 3 times for 41 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 22 laps; B.Keselowski, 3 times for 8 laps; A.Dillon, 2 times for 6 laps; J.McMurray, 1 time for 5 laps; K.Larson, 2 times for 5 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 4 laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 2 laps; J.Allgaier, 1 time for 2 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Edwards, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Annett, 1 time for 1 lap.<br /> <br /> <b>Wins:</b> B.Keselowski, 5; J.Logano, 5; J.Gordon, 4; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3; K.Harvick, 3; J.Johnson, 3; C.Edwards, 2; A.Allmendinger, 1; A.Almirola, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Kahne, 1.<br /> <br /> <b>Top 16 in Points:</b> 1. J.Logano, 3,088; 2. Ky.Busch, 3,082; 3. K.Harvick, 3,081; 4. R.Newman, 3,077; 5. C.Edwards, 3,076; 6. J.Gordon, 3,074; 7. D.Hamlin, 3,073; 8. K.Kahne, 3,057; 9. M.Kenseth, 3,056; 10. B.Keselowski, 3,038; 11. J.Johnson, 3,031; 12. D.Earnhardt Jr., 3,031; 13. A.Allmendinger, 2,142; 14. G.Biffle, 2,127; 15. Ku.Busch, 2,109; 16. A.Almirola, 2,096.
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