Kevin Harvick on Sunday won the Bristol “Night Race” that ended in the day because of rainy weather in eastern Tennessee on Saturday.

Aiding Stewart-Haas Racing Harvick’s victory were wrecks and mishaps suffered by several other drivers who had legitimate chance to win at the high-banked, half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway track.

“Yeah, just really from the drop of the green flag, the car was really fast,” he said. “Our strong point was the top groove in 3 and 4.  Our weak point was being a little bit too free on restarts.  But I think as the runs would go, our car would just keep turning, and I think that was really our advantage.”

The win was Harvick’s second at Bristol and the second of his season. It was his first victory since he won at Phoenix in Week 4.

“It’s been one of those deals where things have just not gone exactly right,” the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said. “But to have the win now and just try to get that momentum before we get into the Chase and get things rolling is really what we needed.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing finished second and Denny Hamlin third.

Stenhouse posted the best finish of the season for Roush Fenway Racing, running a paint scheme and wearing a helmet in honor of close friend Bryan Clauson, who lost his life because of injuries sustained in a midget car accident on Aug. 6.

“It wasn’t from a lack of hard work and being lucky a few times,” Stenhouse said. “We really wanted to get this Bryan Clauson tribute car in victory lane.  It just wasn’t meant to be today.  We made our car a lot faster throughout the race and came from two laps down to get back on the lead lap.  We missed some wrecks and gave it all we had.  I thought we were matching the 4 car there lap for lap, but he got away from us and we had to restart sixth there on that last restart, but it was an honor to drive this car.  All of the fans that came out this weekend.  This place was pretty packed last night. Thanks to all the fans that were able to stay around.  I thought the track was really good. You could run the bottom.  You could run the top.  We just wanted one more spot.”

The race was scheduled for Saturday night and then rescheduled for Sunday and then set back again by rain on Sunday morning, finally began at mid-afternoon.

Kyle Busch, Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, led 256 laps, but was involved in a four-car wreck on Lap 357 of the 500-lap race. His car spun because of  what the driver said was a broken part. Justin Allgaier then piled into Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.

Shortly thereafter, an 11-car wreck – triggered when Kurt Busch got loose and collected Brad Keselowski – thinned the field further.

(This story will be updated shortly)

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tennessee

Saturday, August 20, 2016

1. (24) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500.
2. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 500.
3. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500.
4. (13) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500.
5. (12) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 500.
6. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500.
7. (16) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500.
8. (28) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500.
9. (8) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500.
10. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 500.
11. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500.
12. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 500.
13. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500.
14. (17) Aric Almirola, Ford, 500.
15. (6) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 500.
16. (34) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500.
17. (18) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 500.
18. (30) Brian Scott #, Ford, 499.
19. (26) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 499.
20. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 497.
21. (37) David Ragan, Toyota, 497.
22. (29) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 496.
23. (7) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 496.
24. (23) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 495.
25. (21) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 495.
26. (33) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 491.
27. (36) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 489.
28. (15) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 487.
29. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 479.
30. (27) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 471.
31. (31) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 470.
32. (20) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 458.
33. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 458.
34. (35) * Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 442.
35. (4) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 437.
36. (40) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 416.
37. (5) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, Accident, 373.
38. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 372.
39. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 357.
40. (39) Justin Allgaier(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 354.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  77.968 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 25 Mins, 05 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.933 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  9 for 106 laps.

Lead Changes:  20 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Edwards 0; D. Hamlin 1-8; C. Elliott # 9-22; Kyle Busch 23-87; B. Scott # 88-92; R. Newman 93-101; Kyle Busch 102-160; C. Edwards 161-189; Kyle Busch 190-226; C. Edwards 227; Kyle Busch 228-250; C. Edwards 251; Kyle Busch 252-285; K. Harvick 286-309; Kyle Busch 310-347; K. Harvick 348-366; J. Logano 367-403; K. Harvick 404-417; J. Logano 418; D. Hamlin 419-429; K. Harvick 430-500.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 6 times for 256 laps; K. Harvick 4 times for 128 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 38 laps; C. Edwards 3 times for 31 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 19 laps; C. Elliott # 1 time for 14 laps; R. Newman 1 time for 9 laps; B. Scott # 1 time for 5 laps.

Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 762; B. Keselowski – 735; Kurt Busch – 692; C. Edwards – 689; J. Logano – 684; Kyle Busch – 674; D. Hamlin – 659; M. Truex Jr. – 630; J. Johnson – 612; M. Kenseth – 604; A. Dillon – 596; C. Elliott # – 588; J. Mcmurray – 583; R. Newman – 576; T. Bayne – 541; K. Larson – 537.

 

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