NASCAR: Kevin Harvick clinches 2020 regular season championship
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick clinched the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship and 15 playoff points with his win at Dover International Speedway.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick earned seven playoff points from his victory on Sunday at Dover International Speedway, including one for winning stage one, one for winning stage two and five for winning the race. He also secured an additional 15 for winning the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship.
With just one race remaining on the regular season schedule, nobody is capable of catching and passing the driver of the #4 Ford in points.
There are a maximum of 60 points on the table in each race (10 for winning stage one, 10 for winning stage two and 40 for winning the race), and Harvick leads Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in second place by a whopping 134 points in the point standings.
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Harvick has led the point standings since after his second place finish in the fourth race of the season at Phoenix Raceway back in early March. He has recorded a series-high seven wins this season, all during his 22-race streak of leading the standings, and is tied for Hamlin atop the stage wins list with seven.
He entered today’s Drydene 311 ahead of Hamlin by 100 points. To have clinched the regular season title prior to today, he would have needed to be at least 121 points ahead of him.
So even if there were still two races left, Harvick would have clinched the title, now that he is 134 points ahead.
In terms of the playoff points which he has earned via stage wins and race wins, Harvick leads the field with 42 ahead of Hamlin in second place with 37 (seven stage wins, six race wins). With the 15 additional playoff points he earned by winning the regular season championship, he has secured a series-high 57.
Hamlin would have 47 since second place in the regular season points standings awards 10 playoff points, but he has not yet secured that position. Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski sits in third in points, 26 points behind Hamlin.
Hamlin cannot, however, fall below third place in the points standings in the season finale, since fourth place Martin Truex Jr., also of Joe Gibbs Racing, sits 62 points behind him. A third place finish in the standings would net him eight playoff points.
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The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale is the Coke Zero Sugar 400, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 29.