Harvick Sweeps Stages, Dominates XFINITY Race at Atlanta

Kevin Harvick won the NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, sweeping all three stages. It’s Harvick’s fifth XFINITY Series win at Atlanta, and his seventh NASCAR win at the Georgia track. Harvick now has 47 career XFINITY Series wins, and approaches Mark Martin’s 49 series wins. Martin is second in all-time XFINITY Series wins to Kyle Busch’s 90.

Joey Logano jumped by polesitter Christopher Bell early, but Bell was able to get back by him after a couple of laps. John Hunter Nemechek made a spectacular save early on after being tipped sideways by Kevin Harvick.

😳 Hold on, John Hunter! #NASCARonFS1 https://t.co/TtibICgs5O

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 24, 2018

Shortly after, Nemechek got bumped by a charging Elliott Sadler, sending Nemechek into Cole Custer, who slammed the outside wall. The wreck would end Custer’s race, but Sadler and Nemechek would continue.

🙈 @ColeCuster00 gets turned around early in the #Rinnai250. pic.twitter.com/bnli8xfkzG

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) February 24, 2018

On the ensuing restart, Kevin Harvick blew by both Logano and Bell from third place in a three-wide move to take the lead away.

NEW LEADER: @KevinHarvick takes the inside lane to the point! #Rinnai250 pic.twitter.com/vwnGCWQvf3

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) February 24, 2018

With seven laps left in stage one, John Hunter Nemechek pitting because of a tire problem. Michael Annett had a tire go down one lap later, bringing out the caution with five to go in the stage. Everyone pitted except Joey Logano, Ty Dillon, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, and a handful of backmarkers. On the one-lap shootout, Harvick, who had pitted on the caution, blew back by Logano to win stage one.

Kevin Harvick got out to a quick lead in stage two. Christopher Bell made it back up to the second spot. Partway through the second stage, Brandon Jones had a right front tire go down in turn three. Jones dove to the bottom in a reckless move to get to pit road, sending several cars scrambling to avoid him. Somehow, everyone made it through cleanly.

Dang. #Rinnai250 pic.twitter.com/QTK12YUpmJ

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) February 24, 2018

Kevin Harvick won stage two by a long way over second-place Christopher Bell.

At the beginning of the final stage, Harvick easily took off to the lead once again, with Logano now trailing him, as Bell fell to third. With only 25 laps to go, Tyler Reddick, who had been running sixth, had a right rear tire come apart. That tore the fender off, and sent back to a finishing position of 19th. WIth only six laps to go, Christopher Bell scraped the wall trying to hold on to second place over Joey Logano. Logano passed Bell, but Bell was able to hold onto third spot.

Here are the full results for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250:

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Christopher Bell
4. John Hunter Nemechek
5. Elliott Sadler
6. Justin Allgaier
7. Austin Cindric
8. Kyle Benjamin
9. Ryan Truex
10. Ryan Reed
11. Daniel Hemric
12. Matt Tifft
13. Ty Dillon
14. Spencer Gallagher
15. Chase Briscoe
16. Ross Chastain
17. Brandon Jones
18. Alex Labbe
19. Tyler Reddick
20. Michael Annett
21. Dylan Lupton
22. Ryan Sieg
23. Kaz Grala
24. Josh Williams
25. Garrett Smithley
26. Joey Gase
27. Jeremy Clements
28. David Starr
29. Spencer Boyd
30. BJ McLeod
31. Vinnie Miller
32. Stephen Leicht
33. Tommy Joe Martins
34. Timmy Hill
35. Chad Finchum
36. Matt Mills
37. JJ Yeley
38. Morgan Shepherd
39. Cole Custer
40. Jeff Green