Kevin Harvick wins at Darlington, scores victory in first NASCAR playoff race
Kevin Harvick won for the second time this season at Darlington Raceway.
The Stewart-Haas driver took the lead with 13 laps left Sunday and went on to win the Cook Out Southern 500 in NASCAR’s Cup Series playoff opener.
“I don’t even know how we did it. Great job, guys,” Harvick said on his radio after the race.
It was Harvick’s third win at Darlington. He won in May when NASCAR made its return to racing following the COVID-19 shutdown. When he got out of his car that night, there were no fans in the stands. But on Sunday, around 8,000 spectators were on hand.
When Harvick went to grab the checkered flag, he saw a kid with a Harvick shirt on and gave it to him.
“Welcome back, fans,” Harvick said. “This is a hell of a lot more fun with you guys up there.”
Harvick entered the playoffs as one of the favorites along with Denny Hamlin.
He led for 32 laps Sunday. With the win, Harvick clinched a spot in the second round of the playoffs. He has won eight races this season, which ties his career high he set in 2018.
The first round has two more races at Richmond and Talladega before the 16-driver playoff field is trimmed to 12.
“Anytime you can win the Southern 500 it’s a good day,” Harvick said. “This is one of the most prestigious races in our sport and one of the most prestigious race tracks in our sport. Any time you can win at Darlington it’s a big deal.”
Harvick was in third behind Chase Elliott and Martin Truex when those two got together. Truex appeared to pass but hit the front of Elliott’s car and hit the wall.
Truex had to go to pit road, and chances at the win were over. He finished in 22nd, a lap down.
“I thought I had enough to clear him and he would let me in. I was committed; there was nothing I could do. Really unfortunate,” Truex said. “Really thought I had the position to go in there. Will have to go back and look at it and see if something I could have done different. Had the car to beat obviously.”
Elliott finished 20th, the second chance he had a shot to win at Darlington this year.
The other was on May 20 in the second Cup race at Darlington when he was involved with Kyle Busch in a late-race incident. Busch appeared to try to merge directly behind Elliott just across the start-finish line on with 28 laps remaining when he clipped the back of the No. 9 Chevrolet, spinning Elliott into the wall and out of the race.
Austin Dillon finished second Sunday, his best finish at Darlington, and made a late push against Harvick on the final lap. The finish moved Dillon up to spots to eighth in the points race.
“I wish we could have got a win and locked into the next round. Heck of a finish by our team,” Dillon said.
The rest of the top five was made up of Joey Logano, Erik Jones and William Byron. Jones was the lone non-playoff driver to finish in the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson finished 18th in his final Cup race at Darlington. The seven-time Cup champion got as high as third-place during the race before falling back.
NASCAR at Darlington race results
| Pos. | Driver | Car No. | Time Behind |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | WINNER |
| 2 | Austin Dillon | 3 | 0.343 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 22 | 2.109 |
| 4 | Erik Jones | 20 | 4.308 |
| 5 | William Byron | 24 | 5.037 |
| 6 | Alex Bowman | 88 | 5.562 |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | 18 | 8.26 |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | 1 | 8.614 |
| 9 | Aric Almirola | 10 | 11.405 |
| 10 | Clint Bowyer | 14 | 11.926 |
| 11 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | 14.887 |
| 12 | Cole Custer | 41 | 15.06 |
| 13 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | 15.078 |
| 14 | Matt Kenseth | 42 | 17.221 |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | 6 | 17.512 |
| 16 | Michael McDowell | 34 | 19.586 |
| 17 | Ryan Preece | 37 | 20.135 |
| 18 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 | 22.73 |
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 47 | 23.714 |
| 20 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 27.572 |
| 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | -1 |
| 22 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | -1 |
| 23 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | -1 |
| 24 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | -1 |
| 25 | Daniel Suarez | 96 | -3 |
| 26 | Chris Buescher | 17 | -3 |
| 27 | Ty Dillon | 13 | -4 |
| 28 | Brennan Poole | 15 | -5 |
| 29 | Ross Chastain | 77 | -7 |
| 30 | JJ Yeley | 27 | -7 |
| 31 | Quin Houff | 0 | -10 |
| 32 | Josh Bilicki | 7 | -11 |
| 33 | Joey Gase | 51 | -16 |
| 34 | Christopher Bell | 95 | -18 |
| 35 | Timmy Hill | 66 | -71 |
| 36 | John Hunter Nemecheck | 38 | -122 |
| 37 | Corey Lajoie | 32 | -133 |
| 38 | Bubba Wallace | 43 | -150 |
| 39 | James Davison | 53 | -205 |
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Kevin Harvick wins at Darlington, scores victory in first NASCAR playoff race."
