NASCAR at Richmond 2022 Results: Kevin Harvick Wins 2nd Straight Race
Kevin Harvick has now won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races after taking down the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday.
Harvick went 46 races without a win before earning the victory at the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway last week.
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The victory marks Harvick's 60th Cup Series win all-time. Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.
Fifteen drivers had points-earning victories leading into Sunday with three regular-season races remaining. Therefore, that group held down 15 of the 16 playoff spots.
Ryan Blaney had the most points of the non-winners and therefore held on to the 16th and final playoff spot. Martin Truex Jr. sat just 19 points behind Blaney in 17th.
The Blaney-Truex battle was at the forefront of the storylines heading into Richmond. However, there remained the possibility of another driver winning this race and taking that spot away from Blaney. Truex ended up seventh, while Blaney finished 10th.
Pre-race, the national anthem was sung by Specialist Maya Rodriguez of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Band amid the military flyover.
Kyle Larson started out in front after winning the pole for Richmond.
Stage 1
Ross Chastain dominated Stage 1 by leading all 70 laps.
There wasn't too much action in this stage. Tyler Reddick spun out on Lap 3, which led to a caution, but he was able to continue the race.
The stage win marked Chastain's fifth of the season, but he ended up 18th on the day.
Stage 2
Stage 2 was a bit more eventful.
For starters, Joey Logano took the lead 11 laps in.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also made contact with Truex while trying to get on pit road.
It marked a rough stretch for Truex:
Thankfully, the contact wasn't too bad:
Ultimately, Logano won the stage.
Logano ended up finishing sixth overall.
Stage 3
Chastain ran into Kyle Busch at the beginning of Stage 3, and both drivers spun out. Erik Jones and Truex also got involved.
Truex wasn't pleased with Chastain:
Chris Gabehart, the crew chief for Denny Hamlin, also offered his two cents:
In the end, it was Harvick who took the lead late from Logano.
Buescher was on Harvick's tail, but some traffic got in the way of him taking first.
In the end, Harvick held off Bell to become the first back-to-back winner of the season.
What's Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series features two more races before the playoffs. Watkins Glen, New York, will host the next event on Sunday before the regular season wraps up in Daytona Beach, Florida, with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Aug. 27.
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