Harvick goes three in a row with Phoenix win

Kevin Harvick has won for the third race straight in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, this time taking line honours in Phoenix.

Harvick (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) did not dominate proceedings as he did a week earlier in Las Vegas but emerged at the lead after the completion of the final pit stops cycle with 22 of 312 laps remaining.

He had enjoyed one previous spell at the front of the field, from Laps 179 to 194 when he passed Kyle Busch (#18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota).

However, the pivotal move would come later in the race when he overtook Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) for what was fourth position at the time.

Having raced without car chief Robert Smith for the first of two races after a post-Las Vegas penalty, Harvick was in a defiant mood in victory lane.

“I’ve been mad as all get out because this team does a great job,” he said.

“This organisation does a great job and we’ve got fast race cars, and to take that away from those guys just really p###ed me off last week.

“To come here to a racetrack that is so good for us is a lot of fun and everyone was just determined this week and we just wanted to just go stomp them.

“We didn’t stomp them, but we won. That’s all that really matters. Just proud of this team. Put a little fire in our belly.”

Kyle Busch finished 0.774s in arrears in second position, having won Stage 1 and led a race-high 128 laps.

He lost time with a messy final pit stop with 53 laps remaining, but still managed to pass Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) and then Elliott before the chequered flag.

Elliott took third from Hamlin and pole-sitter Martin Truex Jnr (#78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota).

Stewart-Haas Racing got all four of its cars into the top 10, with Clint Bowyer sixth (#14 Ford), Aric Almirola seventh (#10 Ford), and Kurt Busch (#41 Ford), who won Stage 2, 10th.

Joe Gibbs Racing did likewise as Daniel Suarez (#19 Toyota) headed Erik Jones (#20 Toyota) in eighth and ninth.

Harvick’s win takes him back on top of the standings after dropping to third mid-week following his penalty, which team owner Tony Stewart indicated post-race would not be appealed.

Round 5 is the Auto Club 400 at California Speedway from March 16-18.

Harvick passes Elliott

Is this the pass for the win? @KevinHarvick gets by @chaseelliott, setting himself up to lead as pit stops cycle through. #NASCARGoesWest pic.twitter.com/QpU5P0MEtk

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 11, 2018

Race highlights

Results: TicketGuardian 500, Phoenix International Raceway

Pos	Num	Driver	Make	Laps	Led	Status
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	312	38	Running
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	312	128	Running
3	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	312	0	Running
4	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	312	33	Running
5	78	Martin Truex Jnr	Toyota	312	3	Running
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	312	0	Running
7	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	312	0	Running
8	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	312	0	Running
9	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	312	0	Running
10	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	312	6	Running
11	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	312	23	Running
12	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	312	15	Running
13	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	312	0	Running
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	312	0	Running
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	312	12	Running
16	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	311	0	Running
17	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	311	0	Running
18	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	311	54	Running
19	22	Joey Logano	Ford	311	0	Running
20	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	311	0	Running
21	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	311	0	Running
22	38	David Ragan	Ford	311	0	Running
23	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jnr	Ford	311	0	Running
24	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	311	0	Running
25	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	311	0	Running
26	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	310	0	Running
27	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	310	0	Running
28	43	Darrell Wallace Jnr	Chevrolet	309	0	Running
29	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	309	0	Running
30	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	309	0	Running
31	96	DJ Kennington	Toyota	309	0	Running
32	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	308	0	Running
33	51	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	306	0	Running
34	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	304	0	Running
35	00	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	292	0	Running
36	21	Paul Menard	Ford	189	0	Crash
37	72	Corey LaJoie	Chevrolet	23	0	Engine

Standings Updated due to post-race points penalty (25 points) for Chase Elliott and owner

Pos	Driver	Pts	Gap	Starts	Wins	Pl’off pts
1	Kevin Harvick	168		4	3	11
2	Kyle Busch	156	-12	4	0	1
3	Martin Truex Jnr	156	-12	4	0	0
4	Joey Logano	152	-16	4	0	0
5	Ryan Blaney	152	-16	4	0	1
6	Denny Hamlin	137	-31	4	0	0
7	Brad Keselowski	134	-34	4	0	1
8	Kyle Larson	131	-37	4	0	0
9	Clint Bowyer	125	-43	4	0	0
10	Aric Almirola	123	-45	4	0	0
11	Kurt Busch	117	-51	4	0	2
12	Austin Dillon	114	-54	4	1	5
13	Ryan Newman	101	-67	4	0	0
14	Paul Menard	97	-71	4	0	0
15	Erik Jones	93	-75	4	0	0
16	Alex Bowman	91	-77	4	0	0
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jnr	88	-80	4	0	0
18	Darrell Wallace Jnr	77	-91	4	0	0
19	Chris Buescher	75	-93	4	0	0
20	William Byron	68	-100	4	0	0
21	Daniel Suarez	67	-101	4	0	0
22	Trevor Bayne	67	-101	4	0	0
23	Chase Elliott	66	-102	4	0	0
24	Michael McDowell	64	-104	4	0	0
25	AJ Allmendinger	59	-109	4	0	0
26	Jimmie Johnson	59	-109	4	0	0
27	David Ragan	54	-114	4	0	0
28	Jamie McMurray	53	-115	4	0	0
29	Kasey Kahne	52	-116	4	0	0
30	Matt DiBenedetto	43	-125	4	0	0
31	Ty Dillon	37	-131	4	0	0
32	Jeffrey Earnhardt	27	-141	4	0	0
33	Gray Gaulding	25	-143	4	0	0
34	DJ Kennington	19	-149	2	0	0
35	Cole Whitt	18	-150	2	0	0
36	Mark Thompson	15	-153	1	0	0
37	Brendan Gaughan	9	-159	1	0	0
38	Harrison Rhodes	4	-164	1	0	0
39	Danica Patrick	2	-166	1	0	0
40	Corey LaJoie	2	-166	2	0	0
41	Justin Marks	0	-168	1	0	0
42	David Gilliland	0	-168	1	0	0
43	Cole Custer	0	-168	1	0	0
44	Ross Chastain	0	-168	3	0	0
45	Joey Gase	0	-168	1	0	0
46	Timmy Hill	0	-168	1	0	0