Harvick Doubles in Win Column at Darlington Racin with Russ By RUSSELL SCHMIDT A late pit strategy for four tires enabled Kevin Harvick to rally very late in Saturday nights NASCAR Cup race at Darlington to pick up his second trophy of the season. By all accounts, it appeared that either Jimmie Johnson or his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr would take the top spot, but as usual, four tires usually beats two tires and in this case, the two Hendrick drivers just couldnt hold off a hard charging Harvick for the win. The race started on time, something that hasnt really occurred too often lately, with Harvick as the polesitter. The Stewart-Haas driver exhibited early that he had one of the strongest cars by leading often. Several drivers took turns out front including Brian Vickers for 30 laps, Matt Kenseth for a dozen, both Earnhardt Jr and JJ, why even Jeff Gordon led eight, while Joey Logano topped the lap charts for 37 circuits only to succumb to a bad front hub less than 30 laps from the checkers. The final segments of the race came down to pit strategy with DE and JJ taking on two tires and Harvick gambling on four on his Chevrolet being the smarter idea. Had the race not gone to several green-white-checker scenarios, DE or JJ would have more than likely emerged as winner. But on the final g-w-c, Harvick moved around DE for the lead and held on one lap for his second win of the season. The rest of the top five finishers included Earnhardt Jr, Johnson, Kenseth and Greg Biffle. One of the final yellows was brought out by 11th place runner Kurt Busch being spun out by Clint Bowyer. I was amazed to see Busch walk to trackside with helmet and Hans and simply watch Bowyer drive by without any theatrics. Busch would up an underserving 31st place. Somehow, I dont think this issue is a done deal, especially with Richmond coming up in a few weeks. The latest results finds Gordon still out front in the points, but only by one over Kenseth and 21 over Carl Edwards. Nationwide Yet another exciting exciting Nationwide race saw rookie Chase Elliott blast by leader Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth to take his second consecutive win on the final lap of competition. Kyle Busch started out front and did lead the most laps, but the 18-year-old son of legend Bill Elliott seems to be years beyond his age with a calm demeanor and talent behind the wheel not seen very often at that level of experience. After all, this was his only seventh Nationwide outing. Chase Elliott mixed it up with Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson more than once and with more than paint swapping, yet held on to become the youngest two-time consecutive winner in series history. Capping the top five finishers were the cars of Sadler, Kenseth, Busch and Joey Logano. The latest series results finds Elliotts Chevrolet on top of the points by 13 over Regan Smith and 20 over Sadler. Open Wheel News The Indy Cars took to the streets of Long Beach on Sunday afternoon with Mike Conway taking the tough street course win. A seven car wreck occurred late in the go when Ryan Hunter-Ryea went to pass Josef Newgarden, blocking the narrow track as others piled in. That left Scott Dixon out front with Conway all over him for the final dozen. Unfortunately for Dixon, he had to get a splash of gas to finish, handing over the lead and win to Conway, able to hold off Will Power and Carlos Munoz at the stripe. From Rumorville Kyle Petty, son of “The King” Richard Petty says his famous father is spending a little more time at home, still grieving over the loss of his long time wife Linda. Richard is normally at the track helping out operations for his two-car Cup team, but finding it difficult to live alone after a 57 year relationship. Both Roush-Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards are about to secure additional time on their racing contracts. Both feel negotiations are going well and should be able to report something soon. Thats it for this week. Next weeks RWR will review the three top series results so far this year as all NASCAR top tier racing takes the Easter weekend off, while the Formula One drivers compete in China. Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 00:35:12 +0000
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