NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick dominates 2019 Gander RV Duel 1
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick dominated Gander RV Duel 1 to secure himself a second row starting position for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, the Daytona 500.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick led a majority of Gander RV Duel 1 en route to taking the checkered flag to secure himself the third position in the starting lineup for Sunday’s 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, the 61st annual Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway.
Harvick, who started the 60-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona International Speedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida in eighth place in his #4 Ford, won it by 0.165 seconds over Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished in second place in his #17 Ford.
Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard finished just 0.007 seconds behind Stenhouse Jr. in third place in his #21 Ford, giving Ford drivers a 1-2-3 sweep of the race.
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The race’s highest finishing Toyota drivers were Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. They finished the race in fourth and fifth place in their #95 Toyota and #19 Toyota, respectively.
The race’s highest finishing Chevrolet drivers were Richard Petty Motorsports’ Darrell Wallace Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher and Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson. They finished the race in sixth, seventh and eighth place in their #43 Chevrolet, #37 Chevrolet and #48 Chevrolet, respectively.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman and JTG Daughtery Racing rookie Ryan Preece rounded out the top 10 by finishing in ninth and 10th place in their #6 Ford and #47 Chevrolet, respectively.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who started the race from the pole position and is set to start the Daytona 500 from the pole position as well, finished in 16th place in his #24 Chevrolet after strategically moving toward the back of the field to avoid putting his car in a risky situation that could have resulted in him going being involved in a wreck, being forced to use a backup car for the Daytona 500 and thus losing his pole position start for the race.
The race featured only two lead changes among three drivers. Harvick led more laps than anybody else in the field with 44 laps led. He led the race’s final 44 laps after Byron led its first 15 laps and StarCom Racing’s Landon Cassill led its 16th lap. Cassill finished the race in 15th place in his #00 Chevrolet.
The race featured only one caution flag period for three laps, and this caution flag period took place as a result of contact between Johnson and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch on the back straightaway that resulted in Busch spinning across the track. He failed to rebound and ended up finishing in 18th place in his #18 Toyota.
Of the 21 drivers who started the race, all 21 finished it, but only 16 finished it on the lead lap.
Here are the full race results of the 2019 Gander RV Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway.
Race Results
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3rd – Paul Menard
4th – Matt DiBenedetto
5th – Martin Truex Jr.
6th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
7th – Chris Buescher
8th – Jimmie Johnson
9th – Ryan Newman
10th – Ryan Preece
11th – Daniel Suarez
12th – Parker Kligerman
13th – Tyler Reddick
14th – Ryan Truex
15th – Landon Cassill
16th – William Byron
17th – Daniel Hemric
18th – Kyle Busch
19th – Matt Tifft
20th – Brad Keselowski
21st – Cody Ware
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Gander RV Duel 2 is scheduled to get underway this evening at 9:00 p.m. ET, and it is set to be broadcast live from Daytona International Speedway on Fox Sports 1. Be sure not to miss it, as the starting lineup for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, the 61st annual Daytona 500, is set to be determined upon its conclusion.