Harvick Wins Race, Scores Sprint Cup Title At Homestead

HOMESTEAD, FL – Kevin Harvick won the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with a thrilling victory in the Sprint Cup series season finale Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his first career Sprint Cup title and the second in four years for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Harvick beat out fellow championship contender Ryan Newman on a final restart with three laps to go, holding off Newman’s last desperate inside charge with two laps to go to hold on to win the race and claim his first career Sprint Cup title in one of the most thrilling races of the season.

Harvick finished first among the four final Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers – including Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.

Brad Keselowski finished third in the race, followed by Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray. Hamlin ended up seventh while Joey Logano came home 16th.

Harvick becomes the third driver to win titles in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, joining Bobby Labonte and Keselowski.

“I just really don’t know what to even to say about how much I appreciate this,” said Harvick. “I’m just really excited. It’s really special for everybody. Really happy. Been trying for 13 years.

“I just have to thank Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for helping me through this week. After every practice, Jimmie was in there, and in our team debriefs Tony was constantly telling me just to go race and that it’s just another race. Today it was. It all worked out. I’m just really proud of everybody.”

Harvick’s win was his fifth of the season and 28th of his career, and comes just a week after a victory at Phoenix in a race he had to win to keep his championship hopes alive.

“I forgot we won the race, how about that,” said Harvick. “I think this Chase is about the best thing that has happened to this sport over the last decade. This new format has been stressful, but the racing has been phenomenal.”

Harvick brought home the second championship for Stewart-Haas Racing following team co-owner Tony Stewart’s title in 2011. Harvick joined SHR at the start of this season after 13 years at Richard Childress Racing, where he began his career after taking over the drivers seat for the late Dale Earnhardt following his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

“I think from December last year this whole No. 4 car team went for their first test, they were going to be a force to be reckoned with,” said Stewart. “It just shows how tough this Chase was this year to get to this last day and then to watch this race and have all four contenders be up front at the end there. It shows how hard it is to win a Sprint Cup Series championship.”

Sunday’s race was the culmination of NASCAR Chairman Brian France’s latest incarnation of The Chase, where 16 drivers started out competing for the title over the course of ten races, with four drivers being eliminated every three races until four remained to compete for the title in the final race of the year.

NASCAR had high hopes the new format would add drama to what had been an anti-climatic battle for the title in recent years.

And drama they got.

Besides the furious battles on the track and the equally furious post-race brawls in the races leading up to the finale, Sunday’s race delivered exactly what NASCAR wanted – all four championship contenders in the hunt right up until the final lap.

Jeff Gordon started out on the pole and for the first half of the race he looked to be the car to beat, leading 107 of the first 124 laps.

From that point forward, it was Gordon, Hamlin and Harvick trading the top spot, with Gordon getting back out in front on seven consecutive pit stops while all four championship contenders managed to hold fast in the top five.

With 25 laps to go, all four were running in the top ten with Harvick out in front by a huge lead when the caution came out for debris.

Under the ensuing caution, Gordon and Hamlin chose to stay out while Newman elected to take two tires to restart fourth and Harvick rejoined the field in 12th with four tires. Logano, meanwhile, had his car fall off the jack during his pit stop, dropping him all the way to 21st.

Racing resumed with 15 laps to go with Hamlin getting past Gordon to take the lead before the caution flew again for a two-car wreck, bringing Gordon and Logano to pit road and putting Newman in second with Harvick trailing in sixth.

On the restart, Harvick roared up through the middle from sixth spot on his four fresh tires to take second from Newman and then tracked down Hamlin, ducking under as Hamlin got loose coming through turn four to take the lead.

The final caution flag with four laps to go gave Newman and Hamlin one last shot at Harvick, but Hamlin didn’t get going on the restart, dropping him out of the top five. Newman looked to the inside of Harvick going through turn two but couldn’t make it stick, falling back behind Harvick who raced to the finish by five car-lengths over Newman.

Although the call to put on four tires on the final stop put him back in the field, it turned out to be the winning move – whether it was two tires or no tires, no one stood a chance against Harvick.

“That was the call that won us the race,” said Harvick. “We were able to go so hard on the restarts. Rodney Childers (crew chief) isn’t scared to make a call. He does what is right, and right or wrong we had to believe in what we did and kept going with it.

“I was just going to hold the pedal down and hope for the best.”

Newman’s second-place effort was remarkable considering he was the only remaining Chase driver without a win at all this season, but the decision to take two tires was a gamble that didn’t pay off.

“We were in a good spot and just didn’t have the best tires. We did that on purpose. That was our strategy,” said Newman. “Luke (Lambert, crew chief) did an excellent job calling that shot. Kevin was a little bit faster than us.

“I thought about hauling it in there wide open under Kevin (Harvick) but that wasn’t the right thing to do. I wouldn’t have wanted him to do that to me.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, FL
Ford EcoBoost 400 – Nov. 16, 2014
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1. (5) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $346498.
2. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, $244450.
3. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, $231758.
4. (16) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, $172664.
5. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, $165239.
6. (3) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, $160151.
7. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $108315.
8. (6) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 267, $127481.
9. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $135001.
10. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $143626.
11. (2) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, $82340.
12. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $96640.
13. (27) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, 267, $109085.
14. (11) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $88890.
15. (14) Justin Allgaier #, Chevrolet, 267, $108523.
16. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, $116356.
17. (10) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $107873.
18. (32) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 267, $87665.
19. (18) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, $116276.
20. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 267, $104373.
21. (38) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267, $75290.
22. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 267, $114265.
23. (13) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 267, $110215.
24. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 267, $91998.
25. (24) Austin Dillon #, Chevrolet, 267, $123751.
26. (42) Cole Whitt #, Toyota, 267, $77290.
27. (17) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, $103335.
28. (30) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 267, $85448.
29. (33) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 267, $76590.
30. (31) David Ragan, Ford, 267, $94912.
31. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 267, $81165.
32. (37) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 267, $72940.
33. (41) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 264, $72740.
34. (15) Carl Edwards, Ford, 263, $91540.
35. (39) Michael Annett #, Chevrolet, 263, $72340.
36. (43) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 262, $80115.
37. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, Accident, 254, $71888.
38. (40) Blake Koch(i), Ford, Accident, 254, $66730.
39. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 246, $110571.
40. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 235, $58730.
41. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 220, $99305.
42. (26) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, Accident, 204, $50730.
43. (28) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, Accident, 182, $81388.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 122.28 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 16 Mins, 31 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.500 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 13 for 52 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Gordon 1-12; B. Koch(i) 13; Kurt Busch 14; K. Harvick 15-25; J. Gordon 26-63; D. Hamlin 64-65; J. Gordon 66-120; K. Harvick 121; J. Gordon 122-123; K. Harvick 124-157; J. Gordon 158-159; D. Hamlin 160; J. Gordon 161-165; D. Hamlin 166-195; J. Gordon 196-212; D. Hamlin 213-222; J. Gordon 223-252; D. Hamlin 253-259; K. Harvick 260-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Gordon 8 times for 161 laps; K. Harvick 4 times for 54 laps; D. Hamlin 5 times for 50 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap; B. Koch(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 5,043; R. Newman – 5,042; D. Hamlin – 5,037; J. Logano – 5,028; B. Keselowski – 2,361; J. Gordon – 2,348; M. Kenseth – 2,334; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 2,301; C. Edwards – 2,288; Kyle Busch – 2,285; J. Johnson – 2,274; Kurt Busch – 2,263; A. Allmendinger – 2,260; G. Biffle – 2,247; K. Kahne – 2,234; A. Almirola – 2,195.