Kevin Harvick Completes Sweep of Sonoma, Wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350
- 29 Jun 2017
"I’m so excited," Harvick said in Victory Lane. "I think, as you look at it, getting our first win with Ford, this has been a great journey for us as an organization and team. Kurt (Busch) (teammate) winning the Daytona 500, and we have run well.” This win was Harvick’s 36th of his career, coming in his 590th start. Reaching the checkered flag under a caution, Harvick had an 8 second lead to stay somewhat comfortable. Harvick led twice for a total of 24 laps. He gained 40 points and 5 playoff points.
"It’s a great day. It finally all came together, and we were able to not have any cautions there at the end. Rodney had great strategy, and I was able to take care of the car and get out front. I felt like the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was the car we had to race, and then he had problems and from there we were in control."
Harvick’s Stewart-Haas teammate, Clint Bowyer, finished in second place for the second time this season. Bowyer did not lead during the race, but still managed to place high.
“Let's face it, yeah, we've got to win,” Bowyer said. “We need a win in a big way, and today would have been a great win, but after everything that happened, I mean, to get second place is, I guess, really good, as a matter of fact.”
Brad Keselowski finished in third place, with all drivers in the top three driving Ford cars, getting the sweep for the weekend. Keselowski led once for 17 laps.
“It was fun. We had a really fast Elite Support Freightliner Ford, and man, when you have a car that great, you just -- you really enjoy every moment of it, and today was a day I really enjoyed” Keselowski said. “I had the slip-up there and got into Clint and that really stank, but other than that, just an incredible race car, and really a pleasure to drive.”
Martin Truex Jr. won yet another stage, winning three of the past four in the last two races. Jimmie Johnson won the second stage.
Kyle Larson continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 659 points and 13 playoff points, after coming in 26th place. Martin Truex Jr is in second place with 646 points and 21 playoff points. Kevin Harvick sits in third place with 548 points and 8 playoff points.
The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. | |||
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