For the fifth time this season Kevin Harvick was victorious in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; this time around he got it done at Kansas Speedway in the KC Masterpiece 400. With the win Harvick joins Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as the only 3-time winners at Kansas.
The majority of the race was pretty tame. Harvick started on the pole and led until the competition caution on lap 30. Ryan Blaney took the lead on the restart and despite a late charge by the 4 car Blaney won the stage.
Stage 2 belonged to Kyle Larson who started at the end of the field. He picked his way through the field and took the lead on lap 131 and led the remainder of the stage.
The final stage seemed as though it would remain calm as well and it did for a while. Larson continued to dominate but with 31 to go Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman tangled on the backstretch bringing out the yellow. Harvick reclaimed the lead on the restart with 24 laps to go. Four laps later Larson and Blaney were battling for third when Blaney, who was attempting to side draft, hit Larson’s left rear. This cut Blaney’s tire sending him into the wall.
Lots of cars opted not to pit under caution and it resulted in a log-jam on the next restart. Before a green flag lap could be completed William Byron got sideways off turn 4 and went head on into the wall collecting a number of cars in the process.
After a brief red flag the last restart came with 9 to go. Martin Truex Jr. was the leader as a result of staying out under the last caution. Harvick was stuck in traffic but managed to catch Truex relatively quickly. Harvick attempted to get around him a few times to no avail but with a lap and a half to go he finally made the move and drove to victory.
Results for the KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway:
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Martin Truex Jr
3. Joey Logano
4. Kyle Larson
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Paul Menard
7. Erik Jones
8. Kurt Busch
9. Aric Almirola
10. Kyle Busch
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
12. Chase Elliott
13. David Ragan
14. Brad Keselowski
15. Clint Bowyer
16. AJ Allmendinger
17. Austin Dillon
18. Alex Bowman
19. Jimmie Johnson
20. Michael McDowell
21. Kasey Kahne
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Darrell Wallace Jr
24. Corey LaJoie
25. Landon Cassill
26. Ross Chastain
27. Reed Sorenson
28. Daniel Suarez
29. Gray Gaulding
30. Ryan Newman
31. Jamie McMurray
32. Timmy Hill
33. William Byron
34. Chris Buescher
35. BJ McLeod
36. Matt Kenseth
37. Ryan Blaney
38. Ty Dillon
