Folds of Honor/Outback Steakhouse/Budweiser Driver Records 11th Top-5 of 2015
Date: June 28, 2015
Event: Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile road course)
Start/Finish: 17th/4th (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
Point Standing: 1st (616 points, 53 points ahead of second)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Folds of Honor/Outback Steakhouse/Budweiser Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), battled through a pit-road incident and some ill-timed cautions tofinish fourth in the Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway on Sunday afternoon.
The reigning Sprint Cup champion started 17th and raced his No. 4 Chevrolet into the fourth position by lap 45. However, during a green-flag pit stop for four tires on lap 52, the No. 4 Chevrolet fell off the jack, dropping the team back to the 25th position when Harvick returned to the racetrack.
The Bakersfield, California, native battled back into the top-five by the third caution of the day on lap 75. After a four-tire pit stop, Harvick restarted in the 16th position and raced his way into the top-10 before his final four-tire stop under caution on lap 100. With new tires and just seven laps remaining following the restart, Harvick raced his up to the fourth position, passing six cars, before the checkered flag fell on lap 110.
“Just a lot of things went wrong,” said Harvick, who finished second in the Sprint Cup race at Sonoma in June 2007. “We had probably the fastest car on the racetrack. It just took us all day to overcome all the stuff we had going on. Just want to thank Budweiser, Outback, Folds of Honor, everybody from Jimmy John’s and Chevrolet for everything they do for our team.”
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday at Sonoma by finishing second in the Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Busch started on the outside of row one and led three times for 43 laps around the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course to bring his laps-led total at Sonoma to 197. The runner-up effort was Busch’s sixth top-five finish this season and his seventh top-five in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Sonoma.
Harvick finished fourth to earn his 11th top-five this season and his fourth top-five in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Sonoma.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 12th to score his third top-15 this year.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 24th.
Kyle Busch won the Save Mart 350k to score his 30th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the year and his second at Sonoma.
Kurt Busch finished .532 of a second behind Kyle Busch, marking the first time the brothers have finished 1-2 in a Sprint Cup race.
Clint Bowyer, Harvick and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five, while Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were five caution periods for 21 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 110-lap race.
With round 16 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 616 points, 53 ahead of second-place Martin Truex Jr. Kurt Busch is 10th with 469 points, 147 out of first. Patrick is 19th with 377 points, 239 out of first. Stewart is 26th with 301 points, 315 out of first.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola on Sunday, July 5 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:45 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.
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