AVONDALE, Ariz. — Recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
Whether it’s two tires or four, a long run or an overtime dash to the checkered flag, there is simply no stopping Kevin Harvick at Phoenix International Raceway.
This time, it was a gamble to stay out and a body slam just before the start-finish line that ultimately won Harvick his eighth race at PIR and fifth of the last six at the desert oval.
Following a caution with five laps to go after Kasey Kahne blew a right front tire and pounded the outside wall, Harvick stayed out on old tires for an overtime, two-lap dash that pushed the Good Sam 500 one lap beyond its scheduled distance. Restarting on the outside lane, Harvick powered away to the lead as Carl Edwards followed him on the strength of four fresh tires.
Edwards followed in Harvick’s tire tracks through the first lap of the green-white-checkered attempt, and then made his move entering turn three on the final lap. He got to Harvick’s left-rear quarter panel, moving the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet up the race track off the exit of the final corner, and then side-slammed Harvick halfway between turn four and the start-finish line.
That slam managed to slow Edwards’ momentum and give Harvick just enough of a boost to edge back in front at the stripe, with the final margin of a hundredth (0.010) of a second marking the closest finish in Phoenix history and tying the Daytona 500 for the closest Sprint Cup finish to date this season.
“I knew Edwards was better than I was in (turns) three and four; trust me, that was not the car I wanted to see behind me at the end,” Harvick said in Gatorade Victory Lane. “I knew I could beat him down there (in turn one) and I tried to protect the bottom in three and four and I just missed the bottom with all the rubber build up on the tires.
“I knew I was going to be on defense down there (in three and four), but I got up too high and wasn’t able to stay on the bottom like I wanted to. Then he got into me like he should have and I knew I needed to get a good run coming off the corner and that I was probably going to have to get into his door. It all worked out there in the end, but just barely!”
Polesitter Kyle Busch elected the outside lane for the initial start and rocketed away from Edwards early, leading every lap of the opening stint before a right front tire issue sent Ryan Newman hard into the outside wall and drew the caution for the first time on the afternoon at the 52nd round.
The early story was the charge through the field for both Harvick (who qualified 18th) and six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson (who dropped to the rear in a backup car after his qualifying crash on Friday). By the time the first restart of the race flew on lap 60, Harvick had moved to sixth and Johnson was 13th in the running order.
A two-tire gamble for Busch in the early going would force him to cede the top spot on lap 75 to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who surged from 26th to the point in his No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt would lead stage two of the race, holding serve out front until Paul Menard pounded the wall in his Chevrolet to bring out the second yellow at lap 105.
Pit stops would shuffle up the lead order, as Edwards would assume the lead by winning the race off pit road and bring the field back to the restart on lap 112. By halfway the running order among the top three sat unchanged, however, as Edwards sat ahead of Busch and Harvick in the desert.
Tire problems would continue to be the story of the day, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. melted a bead on the right front of his Roush Fenway Racing Ford and packed it into the Turn 1 wall, bringing out caution number three on lap 162. The ensuing restart would be the one that saw Harvick get out front for the first time, taking the lead on the 169th circuit and beginning to check out ahead of the field.
From there, Harvick led 139 of the final 145 laps, only giving up the point once to Edwards during a lap 225 caution period (when Brad Keselowski blew a right rear tire in turn two) the rest of the way before ending up with the spoils of victory in the end.
For Edwards, the defeat was bittersweet after seeing the path to the win open up in the final moments and coming up short.
“Man, I should have wrecked him!” Edwards joked after climbing from his car. “I thought I’d just move him out of the way and get by, but I just didn’t move him far enough. He got up in the door and I was trying to side-swipe him before he got there, but I needed to be in front of his front tire (when I did it) and I wasn’t quite there.”
“It was a fun race but, man, I wish I could’ve won that thing. You win some, you lose some though. We’ll head on to Fontana and try to get ‘em there.”
Edwards’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammates — Busch and Denny Hamlin — finished third and fourth, respectively. Earnhardt rounded out the top five after he and Busch stayed out along with Harvick at the end of the race.
Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney were the balance of the top 10.
Of note, Harvick extended his all-time laps led record at Phoenix during the course of Sunday’s event. He has now led 1,484 circuits around the one-mile oval.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action on March 20 for the Auto Club 400 from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Brad Keselowski is the defending winner of the race.
RESULTS: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; Good Sam 500; Phoenix International Raceway; March 13, 2016
- Kevin Harvick (0.010 second margin of victory)
- Carl Edwards
- Denny Hamlin
- Kyle Busch
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kurt Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Dillon
- Ryan Blaney
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kyle Larson
- Aric Almirola
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ty Dillon
- Jamie McMurray
- AJ Allmendinger
- Joey Logano
- Danica Patrick
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Greg Biffle
- Kasey Kahne
- Trevor Bayne
- David Ragan
- Landon Cassill
- Michael McDowell
- Brian Scott
- Regan Smith
- Brad Keselowski
- Chris Buescher
- Clint Bowyer
- Joey Gase
- Michael Annett
- Josh Wise
- Casey Mears
- Cole Whitt
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Paul Menard
- Ryan Newman
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 22-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 both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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