NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick dominates 2019 Brickyard 400

Kevin Harvick closed out the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series regular season with a dominant victory in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick secured his third victory of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season and his third victory in the last seven races by dominating the regular season’s 26th and final race, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Harvick started this 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana from the pole position in his #4 Ford, and he won it by 6.118 seconds over Team Penske’s Joey Logano in second place in his #22 Ford.

Richard Petty Motorsports’ Darrell Wallace Jr. finished in the top 13 for the first time this season, and he did so by driving his #43 Chevrolet to an impressive third place finish, the second best finish of his Cup Series career.

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Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five by finishing in fourth and fifth place in their #24 Chevrolet and #14 Ford, respectively. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the highest finishing Toyota driver of this race. He finished in sixth in his #11 Ford.

Rounding out the top 10 were Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard in their seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #12 Ford, #6 Ford, #9 Chevrolet and #21 Ford, respectively.

Bowyer and Newman both locked up one of the two remaining playoff spots with their performances in this race.

The other two drivers who could have qualified for the playoffs based on their point totals were Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson. Suarez finished in 11th place in his #41 Ford while Johnson wrecked his #48 Chevrolet in stage three.

This race featured a total of 13 lead changes among eight drivers, although Harvick led 118 of the race’s 160 laps. Aside of Harvick, seven drivers led at least one lap of the race, but nobody else led more than 19.

Logano, Byron, Blaney, Menard, Johnson, Premium Motorsports’ Ross Chastain and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson also led the race. Harvick won stage one while Logano won stage two.

This race featured nine caution flag periods and one red flag period for a wreck involving Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski in turn two late in stage one. Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 31 finished it and 23 finished on the lead lap.

The 23rd place finish for Reed Sorenson was just the second lead-lap finish in Spire Motorsports history. The first one was Justin Haley’s shocking victory in the race at Daytona International Speedway in early July.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Joey Logano
3rd – Darrell Wallace Jr.
4th – William Byron
5th – Clint Bowyer
6th – Denny Hamlin
7th – Ryan Blaney
8th – Ryan Newman
9th – Chase Elliott
10th – Paul Menard
11th – Daniel Suarez
12th – Austin Dillon
13th – Ty Dillon
14th – Aric Almirola
15th – Chris Buescher
16th – Ryan Preece
17th – Michael McDowell
18th – Matt DiBenedetto
19th – Corey LaJoie
20th – David Ragan
21st – Alex Bowman
22nd – Ross Chastain
23rd – Reed Sorenson
24th – Ryan Sieg
25th – B.J. McLeod
26th – J.J. Yeley
27th – Martin Truex Jr.
28th – Garrett Smithley
29th – Josh Bilicki
30th – Kurt Busch
31st – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32nd – Matt Tifft
33rd – Kyle Larson
34th – Daniel Hemric
35th – Jimmie Johnson
36th – Parker Kligerman
37th – Kyle Busch
38th – Brad Keselowski
39th – Erik Jones
40th – Landon Cassill

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The first race of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is the South Point 400, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 15. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.

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