Author: Reid Spencer
Date: August 23, 2020
There was no drama in Kevin Harvick’s victory in the Drydene 311 at Dover International Speedway, an old-fashioned thrashing in the back end of a Saturday/Sunday NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader.
There was more than enough suspense, however, in the battle between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and William Byron for the final position in the Cup Playoffs.
After winning the first stage at the high-banked concrete Monster Mile, Harvick had already clinched the regular-season Cup championship and the 15-playoff-point bonus that goes with it, with next Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway still to be run.
Harvick went on to sweep the second stage and the race, crossing the finish line 3.525 seconds ahead of runner-up Martin Truex Jr., who finished second in both legs of the doubleheader after running third in each of the previous five races.
The victory was Harvick’s series-leading seventh of the season, his third at Dover and the 56th of his career, tying him with Kyle Busch for ninth all-time. The win was the 700th in the series for Ford.
“I love the grit of our race team,” said Harvick, who was disappointed with his fourth-place result in Saturday’s opener at Dover, which he accomplished with a broken track bar. “I think that’s what (team owners) Gene Haas and Tony Stewart have built at Stewart-Haas Racing, a team with a lot of grit.
“Sometimes we don’t have the fastest car, but we have guys willing to suck it up, and when we have a weak link that day, someone else will carry the team. I’m really proud of that, and that’s what it’s all about. You’re only as good as the people around you, and we have great people.”
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