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LAS VEGAS — How Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway played out:
© Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports Kevin Harvick (4) dominated the NASCAR Cup Series field for the second consecutive week.
WINNER: Kevin Harvick continues to impress in the early weeks of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Harvick blistered the rest of the field in winning for the second straight week and the 39th time in NASCAR's premier series.
Harvick led 214 of the 267 laps, won all three stages and was 2.9 seconds in front of second-place Kyle Busch at the finish. Harvick's domination Sunday comes one week after he led 173 of 325 laps during his win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch chased Harvick over the closing laps but trimmed his deficit only slightly.
“I don't think we could have made much ground by changing anything much,” Busch said. “It was just pure speed (by Harvick). Whether it's under the hood or whether it's aerodynamics or whatever it is, they've obviously got it going on right now.”
And it could continue. Next week’s race is at ISM Raceway near Phoenix, a track where Harvick has won eight times.
Sunday’s win was Harvick’s 100th across NASCAR’s three national series — Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. He joins only three other drivers — Richard Petty, David Pearson and Kyle Busch — at that level.
“I know how hard it is to get to victory lane, and to know we have been there 100 times is something I almost can’t fathom,” Harvick said.
Kyle Larson came home third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney, who started from the pole.
KURT VS. WALL VS. CHASE — Kurt Busch lost control of his car in heavy traffic with 84 laps to go and slid up the track into Chase Elliott and into the wall, causing a caution period. Both cars suffered heavy damage.
McMURRAY MEETS WALL — The race’s first yellow flag other than those that ended the first two stages flew on lap 176 after Jamie McMurray slapped the outside wall. He parked his Chevrolet.
STAGE TWO — Harvick dominated the race in its second stage, winning by 5.3 seconds over Ryan Blaney. Following were Larson, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. Harvick led 76 of the stage’s 80 laps.
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STAGE ONE — Harvick, winner of last week’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, also led the 80-lap first stage. He finished 3.6 seconds in front of Truex, leading 68 of the 80 laps. Also in the top five were Larson, Blaney and Logano.
MORE TROUBLES FOR JOHNSON — Jesse Saunders, car chief for driver Jimmie Johnson, was ejected from the garage after the No. 48 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times. Johnson has had a slow start this season and began Sunday’s race 35th in driver points. He was lapped early in Sunday’s race.
LATE REPLACEMENT — Josh Frankos, the front tire changer for Darrell Wallace Jr., suffered a hand injury Sunday morning in the garage area and missed the race. He was replaced by Michael Hubert. Frankos returned to the track after visiting an area medical center.
PENNZOIL 400 RESULTS
Sunday from the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway (starting position in parentheses):
1. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267 laps, 60 points.
2. (13) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 43.
3. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 50.
4. (4) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267, 46.
5. (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 48.
6. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 41.
7. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 43.
8. (9) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267, 29.
9. (12) Paul Menard, Ford, 267, 30.
10. (29) Aric Almirola, Ford, 266, 27.
11. (25) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 266, 26.
12. (14) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 266, 25.
13. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 24.
14. (7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 265, 23.
15. (28) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 265, 22.
16. (20) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 265, 21.
17. (19) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 265, 20.
18. (11) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 265, 19.
19. (21) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 264, 18.
20. (24) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 264, 17.
21. (26) Darrell Wallace Jr, Chevrolet, 264, 16.
22. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 264, 15.
23. (23) David Ragan, Ford, 264, 14.
24. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 264, 13.
25. (30) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 264, 0.
26. (18) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 263, 11.
27. (17) William Byron, Chevrolet, 263, 10.
28. (34) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 262, 9.
29. (33) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 262, 0.
30. (27) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 262, 7.
31. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 255, 6.
32. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 253, 0.
33. (35) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, engine, 195, 4.
34. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, accident, 183, 8.
35. (3) Kurt Busch, Ford, accident, 183, 9.
36. (22) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, accident, 176, 1.
37. (15) Michael McDowell, Ford, engine, 100, 1.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 141.760 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 49 minutes, 31 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 2.906 seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 29 laps.
Lead Changes: 11 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R.Blaney 1; K.Harvick 2-38; M.McDowell 39-49; K.Harvick 50-121; Ky.Busch 122-125; K.Harvick 126-163; J.Logano 164-176; M.Truex 177-182; J.Logano 183-194; K.Harvick 195-224; Ky.Busch 225-230; K.Harvick 231-267
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Harvick, 5 times for 209 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 23 laps; M.McDowell, 1 time for 10 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 8 laps; M.Truex, 1 time for 5 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 0 laps.
Wins: K.Harvick, 2; A.Dillon, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 135; 2. J.Logano, 132; 3. R.Blaney, 131; 4. M.Truex, 115; 5. Ky.Busch, 104; 6. K.Larson, 104; 7. B.Keselowski, 99; 8. D.Hamlin, 97; 9. P.Menard, 96; 10. A.Dillon, 94; 11. A.Almirola, 93; 12. C.Bowyer, 93; 13. Ku.Busch, 77; 14. R.Newman, 75; 15. D.Wallace, 68; 16. A.Bowman, 67.