Date: May 13, 2018
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Nobody has been able to keep pace with Kevin Harvick this season.
Not even the reigning series champion on a track where he swept both races last season.
Harvick surged past Martin Truex Jr. with one lap to go Saturday night at Kansas Speedway, winning for the fifth time in what has turned out to be a record-setting start to the year. His total matches a career high for Harvick, who still has 24 chances to win a few more Monster Energy Cup Series races.
Nobody had ever won five of the first 12 races in NASCAR's top series.
"Man, that was wild the last few laps," said Harvick, who deftly dodged a couple late-race cautions, then used four fresh tires to roar to the front on the final restart with 10 laps remaining.
"That was so fun," he said, "hearing those fans screaming and yelling. It was a great race."
Harvick made the final pass as he crossed the start-finish line to take the white flag, while Truex chased him the final lap to finish second — a strong showing after his two wins at Kansas last year.
"He just got through traffic too quick and was too fast," Truex said. "The flip switched, I got tight, started shaking the right front tire and I knew I was in trouble. He was coming quick."
Joey Logano finished third, and Kyle Larson rallied from a late tangle with Ryan Blaney to finish fourth. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five for Joe Gibbs Racing.
"Kevin was ripping there with the new tires at the end. He was the fastest," Logano said. "My only show was those guys (Harvick and Truex) wrecking each other and they're too good for that."
To view this article as it appears on USAToday.com, click here.