Kevin Harvick Wins NASCAR Race At Michigan, Ganassi’s Kyle Larson Finishes 3rd

BROOKLYN, MI (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Stewart Haas Racing’s (SHR) Kevin Harvick picked up his second victory of the season passing Joey Logano with 17-laps to go to win Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Race at Michigan International Speedway (MIS).

“We just had a really fast car all weekend,” said Harvick.  “Our car handled really well today, and with the multiple lanes, we were able to run all three lanes pretty well and make our way through traffic.  So just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford, everybody from Busch and Hunt Brothers and Jimmy John’s and everybody back at the shop from Haas Automation and Stewart-Haas Racing, just put a really fast car on the racetrack and we were able to capitalize on it, and that’s always fun.”

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson finished third in the No. 42 McDonalds Camaro, right behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who finished second.

“Our McDonald’s Chevy handled really well today when we had four tires on it,” said Larson.  “When we would do two rights, I’d be way too tight, and then we’d put two lefts on and I was way too loose, but then that finally balanced out and I was back to being good and running really fast laps at the end.”

Larson was running in the top 10 with a couple of laps remaining when a number of cars either had to go to pit road for fuel, with some running out of gas on the last lap, so Larson finished better than even he thought.

“The last thing I knew I was running like ninth and I passed a couple guys, but so yeah, I guess more people ran out of fuel than I thought,” said Larson.  “I don’t really know what happened there.  But yeah, it worked out.”

Larson’s third place finish solidified his spot to qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs with three races remaining in the regular season.  Larson now sits in 13-place in the playoff standings, 71-points above the cut-off.

“That was a great point saver, well above the cut line now, so happy about that,” said Larson.

Good finish and awesome points day for us today! Happy to head to my favorite track with some momentum. Cars have been fast lately 👍🏼👍🏼

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) August 12, 2019

Larson’s teammate Kurt Busch ran in the top 10 all day and was running 7^th on lap 198 of the 200-lap event, but was one of many drivers trying to save fuel to make it to the end of the race, so he slid back to 8^th as he took the white flag and ran out on the back straightaway and fell to 23^rd.

Hope the neighbors have some gas ⛽️ when we get home! Ran her dry today. Happy with our effort and teamwork, let’s win @BMSupdates baby! pic.twitter.com/CHgxX2KIou

— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) August 12, 2019

Busch now sits in 8^th place in the playoff standings with 1-win and 6-playoff points. Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott s in 7^th place with 2-wins and 14-playoff points.  Elliott’s teammate Alex Bowman is behind Busch in 9^th place with 1-win and 5-playoff points.

Clint Bowyer is in the 16^th and final playoff spot, 6-points above the cut line.  Bowyer’s SHR teammate Daniel Suarez is in the 17^th position.  The top 16 in points qualify for NASCAR’s playoff.

The next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race is Saturday night August 17, 2019 at Bristol Motor Speedway.