Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
• Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team scored a second-place finish in Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
• Harvick started the race from the pole position and held the lead until the No. 24 car got by at lap 17. He told the team the car was “tight on both ends (of the track), but really bad in (Turns) 3 and 4,” prior to pitting under green at lap 41. The team changes tires, added fuel and made a track bar adjustment to help improve the car’s handling. The No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet cycled back to second once the field completed green-flag stops at lap 45.
• Harvick regained the lead from the No. 24 car at lap 57 and stayed out front until the team pitted under caution at lap 74. Crew chief Rodney Childers called for right-side tires and fuel and Harvick returned to the track in the third position.
• He fell back to fifth at the start of the run, but worked his way up to third before the caution flag waved at lap 103. Once again Childers called for right-side tires and fuel, and the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet team got Harvick off of pit road in the first position.
• When the caution flag waved at lap 122, Harvick stayed out and a majority of the field behind him pitted. He fell back to second on the restart, but regained the lead at lap 142. The caution flag was displayed again several laps later and Childers called Harvick to pit road for right-side tires and fuel. Several teams didn’t pit, so Harvick restarted in the ninth position when the field took the green flag at lap 152.
• The teams that didn’t pit during the caution period began to hit pit road at lap 165. Two laps later, Harvick reported a vibration and brought the car to pit road for left-side tires and fuel. Harvick was scored in the fifth position once the entire field cycled through green-flag pit stops. He quickly reeled in the cars ahead of him, taking over the third position at lap 195 and second at lap 196.
• Harvick narrowed the gap to the No. 48 car of leader Jimmie Johnson, but wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge for the win. He took the checkered flag in the second position, 1.214 seconds behind Johnson. Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne completed the top-five positions.
• Jeff Gordon continues to lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings following Sunday’s race. Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Keselowski complete the top-five spots. Harvick gained three positions and moved into ninth place. He’s now 90 points back from the leader and 43 markers out of the top five.
Harvick on his finish at Michigan International Speedway:
“The car was fast, but we just wound up on the wrong side of all the strategy and finished second.”
The following is the finishing position of the other Stewart-Haas Racing teams in Sunday's race:
• Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet team finished 11th.
• Kurt Busch and the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet team 13th.
• Danica Patrick and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet team finished 17th.
Coming Up:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams travel to Sonoma, California, next week to compete in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. FOX Sports 1 will provide coverage of Friday’s practice sessions at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. ET. On Saturday, FOX Sports 1 will broadcast qualifying at 1:30 p.m. ET. TNT will provide live coverage of Sunday’s race at 3 p.m. ET. PRN radio affiliates and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio will have live coverage of the event.