File photo • Wiki Commons With his win Kevin Harvick now leads the overall standings by 17 points over Chase Elliott.
The NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Indianapolis over the weekend for the Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As has been the theme for the season, the race came down to Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin with Harvick taking the trophy.
For the first time in history, the premiere stock car series shared a track with the Indycar Series. Other pre-race story lines included the news that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and his wife had been diagnosed with COVID-19 which forced the future Hall of Famer to miss the race. It was the first time Johnson was not behind the wheel of the No. 48 since his career began in 2002. It was also a milestone for Ganassi driver Kurt Busch. The elder of the Busch brothers rolled off the grid for his 700th career Cup start.
Once the green flag fell, the affects of the new aerodynamic package were on display. Indy has become knows as an aero-sensitive track which caused “follow the leader” type of racing. With the new package, a trailing car was able to gain momentum and slingshot by an opponent. Youngster William Byron was able to position himself out front to win the opening stage with Erik Jones and Austin Dillon in tow.
The cream started to rise to the top in stage two as the three strongest drivers since the season restarted battled at the front. The winners from last week’s double header, Hamlin and Harvick, were joined by Chase Elliott as the trio mixed it up on the restart. Harvick’s pass of Hamlin for the lead was almost a pass in the grass as the former champ took his No. 4 to the inside. Elliott was able to duplicate the move to get by Hamlin for second before the stage came to an end.
Throughout the event, tires had become an issue. Blown right fronts had resulted in several drivers taking hard hits into the outside wall. One more blown tire would play a pivotal role in the outcome of the race.
With Harvick leading, Hamlin ducked to pit road for his final pit stop of the event. Harvick’s crew had planned on pitting at the same time, but a miscommunication meant Harvick had to make an extra lap. As he exited pit road, Harvick saw Hamlin’s No. 11 flash by to take away the top spot.
Building on his lead and seemingly well on his way to his second consecutive victory, Hamlin blew a right front tire and slammed the outside wall, ending his day and bringing out the caution flag.
The restart came in overtime and Harvick timed it perfectly, pulling away from any potential challengers and extending his point lead with the win. Matt Kenseth had his best finish since returning to fill the seat of Kyle Larson with a runner-up spot. Aric Almirola continued his string of strong runs with a third place finish.
During the race, a scary moment happened on pit road with a spinning car hit Zach Price, Ryan Blaney’s tire changer. After being placed an a stretcher, Price was able to smile and give a thumb’s up. He was treated in a local hospital and later released.
The race was shown on NBC and according to the Peacock Network, had 4.7 million viewers, up 26 percent from last year’s Independence Day weekend race at Daytona.
Next up on the Cup schedule is Kentucky Speedway Sunday, July 12 with the race starting at 2:30 p.m. on FS1.