2014 Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick did what was needed to keep his 2015 title hopes alive on Sunday…win at Dover International Speedway. Harvick, whose #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was dominant throughout the day, darted away from the field on the final restart to notch his 3rd victory of the season. It lands Harvick in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which is made up of the twelve survivors from the original Chase Grid that opened the post-season two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway.
Harvick entered the Chase as the #5 seed but a pair of sub-par finishes in the first 2 races of the post-season left him among the bottom 4 in the standings and facing elimination entering Sunday’s race. He led all but 45 of the 400 laps, beating runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish by 2.6 seconds.
With Harvick leading comfortably in the closing laps, the only drama that remained was a duel between Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jamie McMurray for the 12th, and final, spot in the Contender Round. Earnhardt finished 3rd, one position ahead of McMurray. They wound up with the same number of points, but Earnhardt gets the berth in the next round after winning the tie breaker, which is their best finishing position in the opening round of the Chase. That came down to Sunday’s race, with Junior edging McMurray by that one position.
6-time champion Jimmie Johnson is among the 4 drivers eliminated from title contention. He finished 41st on Sunday, sidelined by a broken rear axle seal. Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer also will no move on to the Contender Round, which begins next Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 12 Challengers after Chase race #3 (unofficial)
| Driver (wins) | Points | Behind Leader | +/- Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Matt Kenseth (5) | 3000 | 0 | |
| 2. Joey Logano (3) | 3000 | +2 | |
| 3. Denny Hamlin (2) | 3000 | -1 | |
| 4. Carl Edwards (2) | 3000 | -1 | |
| 5. Martin Truex Jr (1) | 3000 | +4 | |
| 6. Kurt Busch (2) | 3000 | +1 | |
| 7. Jeff Gordon (0) | 3000 | +3 | |
| 8. Brad Keselowski (1) | 3000 | 0 | |
| 9. Kyle Busch (4) | 3000 | +4 | |
| 10. Ryan Newman (0) | 3000 | -4 | |
| 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr (2) | 3000 | +1 | |
| 12. Kevin Harvick (3) | 3000 | +3 | |
| – Eliminated from The Chase at the end of the Challenger Round – | |||
| Jamie McMurray (0) | |||
| Jimmie Johnson (4) | |||
| Paul Menard (0) | |||
| Clint Bowyer (0) | |||
– story by John Singler
www.mrn.com
Concord, NC
PRE-RACE POST:
Tune in for today’s AAA 400 from Dover International Speedway, the third race of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, on FM 95 and also on our online audio stream.
For The 16 Challengers on The Chase Grid, there are 2,877.58 “Miles-2-Miami” remaining. The 10-race title series will conclude November 22nd at Homestead-Miami Speedway, at which time only 4 will remain in championship contention. Today’s race will complete the Challenger Round of the post-season, after which the bottom 4 drivers will be eliminated. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth have won the first 2 Chase races to qualify for the next round. Any one of the remaining 14 title contenders that wins today will also automatically earn a spot in the Contender Round of 12 that opens October 10th in Charlotte.
Six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will make his 500th career start today. He is Dover’s all-time leader with 10 Cup Series victories and is going for a season sweep on the 1-mile concrete oval. He’s the last driver to accomplish that feat, doubling up in 2009. Johnson entered the post-season Chase as the #1 seed and is 5th in the standings through 2 races, 16 points behind leader Kenseth.
