Kevin Harvick got his first win of the 2019 NASCAR season Sunday (7/21) in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
There was side-by-side racing from start to finish of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on the “Magic Mile.” There were only nine caution periods during the race including the two at the end of the first two stages of the race. Kyle Busch claimed the win in stage one and Aric Almirola was the winner in stage two.
Kyle and Denny Hamlin looked to be the class of the field most of the race. Kyle led a race high 118 laps in the 301 lap race with Denny coming in a close second in laps led at 113. However, it would be strategy at the end of the race that proved to be the winning factor along with what looked like pure determination to win.
Following the ninth and final yellow flag of the race Kevin Harvick’s crew chief told him to stay out on the track when all the cars ahead of him came to pit road for tires. That gave Kevin the lead with 35 laps remaining in the race. However, would he be able to win the race on old tires?
Kevin kept the lead on the re-start and was able to hold off a hard charging Denny Hamlin. In fact, the final lap of the race was very exciting as Denny tried to move Kevin out of the way and Kevin’s pure desire to win the race made for and exciting finish to the race.
Denny had to settle for a runner-up finish with Erik Jones in third place. Ryan Blaney crossed the finish line in fourth place and Matt DiBenedetto claimed a fifth place finish. See the complete race results for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 here.
Following the race the top three in the point standings remain the same with Joey Logano in first, Kyle Buch in second and Kevin Harvick in third. Kevin now has a win to go with his high spot in the standings. Denny Hamlin moves up a spot to fourth place while Brad Keselowski slips back a spot to fifth. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
There are now only six races remaining in the regular season and seven spots not filled on the Chase Grid by drivers with a win. Drivers wanting to lock themselves in the post-season will get that chance next at the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway Sunday, July 28th in the Gander RV 400.
By: Buck Stevens
