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Busch Light Driver Scores Fourth Top-Five Finish of 2017

Date: May 13, 2017

Event: Go Bowling 400 (Round 11 of 36)

Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)

Start/Finish: 8th/3rd (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)

Point Standing: 6th (347 points, 128 out of first)

 

Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Wood Brothers Racing (Ford)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Ended on Lap 80):

• Kevin Harvick started eighth, finished seventh, earning four bonus points.
• Busch Light Ford Fusion came to pit road under caution for four tires and fuel on lap 32. The pit crew gained a position on pit road.
• Stayed out under caution on lap 52 to take the lead.
• Dropped to the seventh position at the end of Stage 1 on tires older than those of the rest of the field.
• Pitted at the conclusion of the stage for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Ended on Lap 160):

• Started seventh, finished 15th.
• Made an unscheduled pit stop and fell a lap down to the leader under green-flag conditions on lap 135 after reporting a vibration.
• Took the wave-around under the caution on lap 140 to return to the lead lap and restarted 27th on lap 143.
• Raced his way up to 15th in the final laps of Stage 2.
• Pitted at the conclusion of Stage 2 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Ended on Lap 267):

• Started 13th, finished third.
• Entered the top-five on lap 176.
• Stayed out during the final two cautions of the night on laps 260 and 264.
• Restarted third on lap 266 for the final, two-lap shootout.

Notes:                                   

• Harvick scored his seventh top-five and 12th top-10 finish in 23 Cup Series starts at Kansas.
• He scored his fourth top-five and sixth top-10 finish of the 2017 Cup Series season.
• He led once for 10 laps to bring his laps-led total at Kansas Speedway to 559 and season laps-led total to 469.
• There were 15 caution periods for a total of 61 laps.
• Twenty-five drivers finished on the lead lap.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It was a solid night. Our Busch Light Ford was fast, and we were able to come through the field and do what we needed to do. We had the restarts there, and the 21 and 2 hung on my right rear and just lost the 78, and we never really had a chance to catch him there at the end. We worked on it quite a bit and had good pit stops. We had to adjust the balance on it throughout the night. Our Busch Light Ford was solid all night. I got us a lap down there when I had a tire coming apart. It was vibrating really bad. We came back through the field. It just didn’t line up for us there at the end.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race on Saturday, May 20 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.

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