Harvick Dominates at Dover

Kevin Harvick won the Drydene 311 from Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the second half of a doubleheader weekend.

Harvick was strong throughout the day, and led the most laps and won both stages on his way to a series-leading seventh victory.

Jimmie Johnson took the lead using pit strategy following a late caution, but he was not a match for Harvick on the restart.  When they took the green flag for the final time with 17 laps to go, Harvick was able to get around Johnson and pull away on his way to the checkered flag.

Harvick said his team worked overnight to help make the adjustments needed to win on Sunday.

“Really got to thank everybody on this team,” Harvick said.  “[Crew Chief] Rodney Childers and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for overcoming what happened yesterday with the trackbar and being able to nail the balance today.”

After he won the first stage, Harvick clinched the regular season championship, which awards him an additional 15 Playoff Points.  With the Playoffs set to begin in two weeks, Harvick will now have 57 bonus points when it begins.

Harvick said his team must continue to push forward, especially after Denny Hamlin picked up his sixth win on Saturday.

“With Denny winning yesterday, we needed to win today and we’re going to need all the points we can get,” Harvick said.  “As you look at these Playoffs, you just never know what to expect.”

For the second day in a row, Martin Truex Jr. finished second.  With the finish, Truex extended his streak to seven-consecutive races finished inside the Top 3.

Truex said the car was worse Sunday than it was on Saturday, but his team worked hard to challenge for the win.

“We tried some things overnight; definitely didn’t do what we hoped it would do,” Truex said.  “We fought hard…we executed well and came home with a good result.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. William Byron
5. Alex Bowman
6. Joey Logano
7. Aric Almirola
8. Brad Keselowski
9. Austin Dillon
10. Cole Custer
11. Kyle Busch
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Kurt Busch
14. Chris Buescher
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Clint Bowyer
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Tyler Reddick
19. Denny Hamlin
20. John Hunter Nemechek
21. Bubba Wallace
22. Erik Jones
23. Corey LaJoie
24. Ryan Newman
25. Michael McDowell
26. Ryan Preece
27. Christopher Bell
28. Daniel Suarez
29. Ty Dillon
30. Brennan Poole
31. BJ McLeod
32. Josh Bilicki
33. Reed Sorenson
34. Quin Houff
35. Garrett Smithley
36. Timmy Hill
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
38. JJ Yeley
39. Chase Elliott
40. Joey Gase