Kevin Harvick, the driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Ford, celebrates with his crew after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on March 11, 2018, in Avondale, Arizona. Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
NASCAR’s second race of the “#NASCARGoesWest” series was at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. The TicketGuardian 500 is a short 312 lap race on a one-mile track, consisting of aggressive driving during every stage of the race. This held true on Sunday afternoon with a lot of drivers taking a gamble and racing hard early in the race.
Over the past few races in Phoenix, the driver that lead the most laps often does not win the race. The two races in Phoenix last year ended in this fashion. During the spring race, Ryan Newman lead only a few laps, but two of those laps came from a great restart with two laps left in the race. During the fall race, Matt Kenseth ran down Chase Elliott and won the final race of his career.
The first stage of the race was over in a flash as Kyle Busch took the stage win with Kyle Larson behind him in second. A lot of familiar faces round out the top-ten. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr were also toward the front. Brad Keselowski came in for two tires only after Corey Lajoie blew his engine. This gamble paid off for Keselowski as he finished the stage in the top-ten.
The second stage was more exciting as a few wrecks had an impact on the entire race. Kyle Larson spun out in turns three and four. He was running toward the front up until lap 121 when his wreck occurred. Kyle was never able to bounce back completely as he finished 18th overall.
Another caution occurred with four laps left in stage two. This meant that the stage would end in a one-lap shootout. Brad Keselowski took another gamble on pit road; only taking two tires. This move allowed him to restart on the front row, but Kurt Busch beat him in the one-lap shoot-out to win the second stage.
The final stage of the race was a 162-lap battle for the lead between Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott. Hamlin was able to hold off Harvick and Busch for a while, but Kevin Harvick was too persistent and motored by Hamlin for the lead. Chase Elliott caught the three leaders while they were fighting for position. Eventually, Hamlin fell back while Harvick, Busch, and Elliott ran away from the rest of the field.
Green flag pit stops cycled through around lap 70 with Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman staying out to gain track position. This strategy did not work for them as they eventually had to come down pit road and fuel up. During the green flag pit stops, Chase Elliott came out in front of Harvick and Busch. However, Harvick was able to run Chase down and make a crucial pass. Kevin ‘The Closer’ Harvick took off from Elliott and Busch and took home another win in the 2018 season. Kyle Busch finished second and Chase Elliott finished third.
Last week, Kevin Harvick had his win taken away as he had a deformed rear-windshield. He was on a hot streak, and it was questionable as to how he would react to his penalty last week in Las Vegas. Well, Harvick got down to business. He qualified for the tenth position and did not seem to be a threat after Friday practice and qualifying.
His team made some changes during the two practices on Saturday and was number one on the charts in both of those practices. During the race, he showed great long run speed. He chased down Denny Hamlin and passed him for the lead midway through the third stage of the race. He also ran down Chase Elliott late in the race to take the win. Kevin Harvick bounced back strong after receiving the tough penalty last week.
Regardless of the penalty, Kevin Harvick has dominated this season. Truex won the championship last year and also won a lot of races. Well, Kevin Harvick is on the same pace. Two dominating wins early in the season, and another win that got taken away.
These next few tracks favor Kevin Harvick. Next week, we race in California at another worn down race track like Atlanta. Kevin Harvick had his way at Atlanta, so he will most likely have another hot weekend next week.
Another favorite in that race is ‘Two Mile’ Kyle Larson. Larson won last years race in California and also won twice at the sister track in Michigan. Larson loves the two-mile race tracks so expect him to be hot next week as well. The Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway is always an interesting race to watch. The track surface is extremely worn and impacts the tires immensely. So tire strategy is important to watch during the race next week.