NASCAR: Kevin Harvick dominates upon return at Darlington

Kevin Harvick dominated and took the checkered flag to win the The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway, the first NASCAR Cup Series race in 10 weeks.

The so-called “second offseason” is over, and NASCAR Cup Series action is back underway. At Darlington Raceway, it was Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick who took the checkered flag to win the fifth race of the 36-race season and the first race since the race at Phoenix Raceway back on Sunday, March 8, 10 weeks ago today.

Harvick started the race in sixth place behind the wheel of the #4 Ford, and he led 159 of the 293 laps that were contested around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) oval in Darlington, South Carolina.

Harvick entered the race as the leader of the championship standings despite the fact that he had not won any of the season’s first four races. He still hasn’t finished outside of the top nine this year, and his average finish is a series-best 5.00. He is the fourth different driver to win a race this year.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Additionally, this dominant victory at “The Lady in Black” is the 50th of his Cup Series career, making him the 14th driver to win 50 races at NASCAR’s highest level. He tied Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th place on the all-time wins list.

Harvick held off Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman by 2.154 seconds to secure the victory. The driver of the #88 Chevrolet was the first of three Chevrolet drivers who finished the race in the top four, as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch finished in third place in his #1 Chevrolet ahead of Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott in fourth in his #9 Chevrolet.

Hendrick Motorsports very well could have had all four of their drivers place in the top five or six, but things did not go their way early. Jimmie Johnson was leading the race on the final lap of stage one when he made slight contact with Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher coming off of turn two, sending him spinning into the inside barrier and ending his race.

This allowed Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron to win stage one, but his chance for a good result went out the window shortly thereafter when he had a tire issue that resulted in him hitting the wall. He ultimately finished in 35th place, 14 laps off the lead lap.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were the race’s highest finishing Toyota drivers. They finished in fifth and sixth place in their #11 Toyota and #19 Toyota, respectively.

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick was one of two rookies who finished in the top nine, as he finished in seventh place in his #8 Chevrolet. The other one, Front Row Motorsports’ John Hunter Nemechek, finished in ninth in his #38 Ford behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones in eighth in his #20 Toyota.

In his first race since November of 2018, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Matt Kenseth finished in 10th place in his #42 Chevrolet.

Six different drivers led the race at some point, and the lead changed hands 12 times. Race polesitter Brad Keselowski won stage two en route to a 13th place finish behind the wheel of his #2 Ford.

The race featured a total of 10 caution flag periods, including one planned competition caution and two caution flag periods for the end of the first two stages. With that being said, the first of those two stage break caution flag periods technically began when Johnson spun. Of the 40 drivers who started the race, 35 finished it and 24 finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2020 The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway.

Race Results
1st – Kevin Harvick
2nd – Alex Bowman
3rd – Kurt Busch
4th – Chase Elliott
5th – Denny Hamlin
6th – Martin Truex Jr.
7th – Tyler Reddick
8th – Erik Jones
9th – John Hunter Nemechek
10th – Matt Kenseth
11th – Austin Dillon
12th – Aric Almirola
13th – Brad Keselowski
14th – Matt DiBenedetto
15th – Ryan Newman
16th – Ryan Blaney
17th – Clint Bowyer
18th – Joey Logano
19th – Ty Dillon
20th – Ryan Preece
21st – Bubba Wallace
22nd – Cole Custer
23rd – Michael McDowell
24th – Christopher Bell
25th – Daniel Suarez
26th – Kyle Busch
27th – Brennan Poole
28th – J.J. Yeley
29th – Reed Sorenson
30th – Joey Gase
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Chris Buescher
33rd – Timmy Hill
34th – Josh Bilicki
35th – William Byron
36th – Quin Houff
37th – Garrett Smithley
38th – Jimmie Johnson
39th – B.J. McLeod
40th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET this Wednesday, May 20 for the live broadcast of the next NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway, the Toyota 500. This race is the sixth race of the 2020 season and the second of nine over a 36-day span that began with today’s The Real Heroes 400.

Home/NASCAR Cup Series