NASCAR Cup Series: Kevin Harvick wins 2019 AAA Texas 500

Kevin Harvick locked up his fifth NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance in six tries with a victory in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag for the first time in the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in the second of three races of the round of 8, the AAA Texas 500, at Texas Motor Speedway.

Harvick started this 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas from the pole position in his #4 Ford, and he won it by 1.594 seconds over teammate Aric Almirola in second place in his #10 Ford to lock himself in the Championship 4.

Stewart-Haas Racing swept the top three, as Daniel Suarez finished in third place in his #41 Ford, tying his season-high, which he recorded in the March race at Texas Motor Speedway.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Team Penske’s Joey Logano made it a top four Ford sweep by finishing in fourth place in his #22 Ford, marking just his first top seven finish of the playoffs.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. were the highest finishing Chevrolet and Toyota drivers of the race, respectively. Bowman finished in fifth place in his #88 Chevrolet and Truex finish in sixth in his #19 Toyota.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones rounded out the top 10 by finishing in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #18 Toyota, #12 Ford, #1 Chevrolet and #20 Toyota, respectively.

Multiple playoff drivers experienced issues in the early stages of the race, most notably Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who hit the turn two wall on lap nine, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who spun out off of turn four and went through the grass on the frontstretch on lap 81. They finished in 32nd and 28th place in their #9 Chevrolet and #11 Toyota, respectively.

This race featured 25 lead changes among 11 drivers. Harvick led all drivers with 119 laps led. Almirola, Suarez, Logano, Bowman, both Busch brothers, Jones, Bowyer and Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Jimmie Johnson also led the race. Johnson’s race came to an end with a wreck. Harvick won stage one and Almirola won stage two.

The race featured 11 caution flag periods, many of which took place in a chaotic first stage. Eight of the 40 drivers who started the race failed to finish it, and of the 32 drivers who finished it, 14 finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

NOTE: Round of 8 playoff drivers are listed in italics.

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

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

The Bluegreen Vacations 500 is the third and final race of the round of 8 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, and it is scheduled to take place next Sunday, November 10. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC from ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series