NASCAR at Michigan 2020 Results: Kevin Harvick Completes Rare Weekend Sweep
August 9, 2020
Kevin Harvick had himself quite the weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
After winning the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Saturday, the No. 4 car took home the victory at Sunday's Consumers Energy 400. Harvick held off Denny Hamlin after taking the lead with a key restart with 15 laps remaining.
It was a tight battle to the finish, but there was less drama than Saturday when Harvick defeated the field in a race that featured nine caution flags and a two-lap overtime.
Sunday's win was Harvick's sixth of the year and 55th career premier-series victory, moving him into a tie for 10th with Rusty Wallace on the all-time leaderboard. He also passed Lee Petty, whom he had tied Saturday.
"I think as you look at that number, I've been fortunate to drive a lot of really fast race cars and we've been fortunate to be successful throughout the years, but when you start getting up there with those names and those icons in our sport, they've been a part of a lot of big moments and helping change the sport in a positive direction," he said Saturday, per Zack Albert of NASCAR.com. "That's the way I look at it and the responsibility that I think I have."
There was news before the race even started Sunday, as a number of cars were moved to the rear of the field. Pole-sitter Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer all went to the rear for going to backup cars.
Brennan Poole did so for an engine change, and the No. 7 car did so for changing drivers from Joey Gase to Josh Bilicki. Reed Sorenson and Daniel Suarez went to the rear for inspection failures.
Clint Bowyer avoided those early troubles and cruised to a Stage 1 win. He led every lap on his way to his third stage win of the year, and Aaron Bearden of Motorsports Beat noted he had more success in the opening laps Sunday than he did in the rest of his entire career at Michigan:
Bowyer was unable to hold the lead in the opening portion of Stage 2, as Harvick moved into the top position and held on for his fifth stage win of the year.
He also moved into the lead for playoff points:
Like Harvick did in Stage 2, Ryan Blaney took the lead in the early portion of Stage 3 right before the first major crash of the race. His Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski crashed into him, knocking them both out of the race and giving Hamlin the lead:
Aric Almirola took a temporary lead after staying out before a restart because of some head-turning miscommunication:
Still, Harvick took the lead back with the restart with 15 laps remaining and never looked back despite a strong push from Hamlin on the final stretch.