HAMPTON, Ga. — Saving his tires over the course of stage two in Saturday’s Rinnai 250, Kevin Harvick charged to the point and led the final 19 laps to collect the maximum 10 bonus points at the end of the stage at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The stage ran caution free and saw Brad Keselowski lead the field to green for the race resumption on lap 48, but Harvick had a plan and conserved his tires while those ahead of him “burned them off” early in the run.

He dive-bombed to the inside of turn three to take second from Kyle Busch on lap 59 and surged to the lead around Keselowski in turn one three laps later.

From there, Harvick ran out to more than a three-second lead by the end of the stage, ahead of Keselowski, Busch, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.

William Byron was the highest-running XFINITY regular at the end of stage two, with Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Austin Dillon completing the top 10 and also earning points.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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