Kevin Harvick, the driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway on May 6, 2018, in Dover, Delaware. Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images

The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series was at Dover International Speedway this weekend to race at the ‘Monster Mile.’ The track offers drivers a similar racing surface to Bristol – a concrete surface with steep, tight banking corners that requires drivers to race at their best because the surface eats up tires. The difference between new tires and older tires is huge here compared to other tracks. Drivers need to worry about not over-driving their cars early in runs because they can overdo it on the tires.

The start time of this race moved up because of weather in the area, meaning that drivers could mix up their strategy and possibly steal a win by acquiring good track position when the rain shows up.

A few drivers started from the back of the field to start this race because of failing pre-race inspection. One of these drivers was the pole sitter, Kyle Larson. After staying out in an early caution, Kyle Larson gained his track position back. Alex Bowman also stayed out under the early caution to restart first. He led around 20 laps before his car gave way to Brad Keselowski who had fresher tires.

However, late in Stage 1, Kevin Harvick ran down Keselowski to pass him for the lead. A few laps left in the stage drivers began running out of fuel. Erik Jones and Ryan Newman had to pit with a lap left in the stage. Denny Hamlin ran out of fuel but coasted the last lap of the stage to stay on the lead lap. Harvick was safe on fuel as he won the first stage.

Stage 2 left off where Stage 1 ended. Harvick was out to an early lead and held that lead until a caution came out on lap 34. Keselowski won the race off of pit road and therefore restarted from the lead position. Newman’s car was out of contention as a wheel stud broke and sent him into the garage. Keselowski lead for most of Stage 2. However, Harvick came back to take the lead late in the stage and won his second stage of the afternoon. Harvick led the field to the green flag at the start of the last stage.

Kyle Busch hit the wall and drew a caution in the early goings of this stage. Busch beat up the interior of his car pretty well and was unable to continue. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. then led the field to the green flag on the restart. He was trying to play the track position game and he was off to a strong restart. However, his car performance fell off and cars with fresher tires caught up to him. Clint Bowyer passed him up and shortly after the caution came out for rain.

However, the rain did not last long enough for the race to get called. The boys were back to racing for an intense restart between Bowyer and Harvick. Harvick beat Bowyer at a clutch point in the race. Harvick was able to hold on all the way to finish. He swept the race and won the 41st win of his career and his fourth of the season.

This win puts Harvick in the lead for the number of wins in a season. Kyle Busch has three versus Harvick’s four, making this season hard to find any other driver that can compete against these guys. Harvick and Busch have been consistently fast to no surprise, but fans still expect a few other drivers to run with these guys.

Martin Truex Jr. has shown success by picking up a win earlier in the year and has run up front in every race, but nothing to catch much attention. The Penske team has been fast during races, but other than Joey Logano’s win last week, no one can close out a race. Most of today’s race was between Keselowski and Harvick, but even Keselowski could not contend late in the race.

Next week the series is at Kansas for some night racing, and next is the All-Star race to kick-off two weeks at Charlotte. After the break, the schedule switches up and we will see some different tracks. Maybe this will allow different names to appear at the top of the leaderboard. Pocono, Michigan, and Sonoma all invite different styles of racing, so it will be fun to see if anything switches up in the next couple of weeks.