FORT WORTH, Texas - Kevin Harvick became a five-time NASCAR Nationwide winner at Texas on Saturday night, leading 127 of 200 laps.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had the most important finish, battling an ill-handling car that slid around the track all night while managing to finish fourth. That got his No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford even with Elliott Sadler for the Nationwide points lead with two races remaining.
Sadler was sixth, only two spots behind Stenhouse, on the final restart with 18 laps left at the 1 1/2-mile high-banked track. But the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy started slipping back, and lost the points lead after dropping out of the top 10 with three laps left. He finished 11th.
Stenhouse, the defending Nationwide champion, made up a six-point deficit in the standings. He has the tiebreaker because of his six victories, two more than Sadler.
The series goes to Phoenix next week, where Sadler won and Stenhouse was third in the second race of the season in March. The season finale is at Homestead.
Harvick got his second Nationwide victory this season, and the 39th of his career. He finished in his No. 33 Chevrolet 1.63 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney's Dodge. Kyle Busch, the polesitter, was third.
Original Print Headline: Harvick gets win in Texas
Nationwide: O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
Saturday at Fort Worth, Texas
Lap Length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
Car maker abbreviations: C=Chevrolet, D=Dodge, F=Ford, T=Toyota
1. (3) K. Harvick, C, 200 laps, 0 points, $66,175.
2. (19) R. Blaney, D, 200, 0, $52,168.
3. (1) Ky. Busch, T, 200, 0, $40,750.
4. (5) R. Stenhouse Jr., F, 200, 40, $37,568.
5. (9) D. Hamlin, T, 200, 0, $24,725.
6. (4) A. Dillon, C, 200, 39, $29,893.
7. (14) S. Hornish Jr., D, 200, 37, $25,803.
8. (17) J. Allgaier, C, 200, 36, $24,763.
9. (20) K. Swindell, F, 200, 35, $17,200.
10. (7) J. Logano, T, 200, 0, $17,025.
11. (2) E. Sadler, C, 200, 34, $22,118.
12. (6) C. Whitt, C, 200, 32, $21,368.
13. (15) B. Sweet, C, 200, 31, $20,843.
14. (8) D. Patrick, C, 200, 30, $20,418.
15. (10) K. Wallace, T, 200, 29, $21,368.
16. (13) J. Clements, C, 200, 28, $22,668.
17. (18) M. Annett, F, 200, 27, $19,943.
18. (16) M. Bliss, T, 200, 26, $13,350.
19. (12) R. Newman, C, 199, 0, $13,225.
20. (23) J. Nemechek, T, 199, 24, $20,243.
21. (22) E. McClure, T, 199, 23, $19,443.
22. (11) B. Scott, T, 198, 22, $19,318.
23. (24) D. Starr, T, 198, 0, $19,168.
24. (27) M. Wallace, C, 198, 20, $19,043.
25. (39) E. Darnell, C, 198, 19, $19,043.
26. (26) J. Blankenship, C, 197, 18, $19,093.
27. (40) R. Richardson Jr., C, 197, 17, $12,175.
28. (42) D. Efland, C, 194, 16, $18,518.
29. (41) J. Carlos Blum, C, 194, 15, $18,443.
30. (34) H. Martin, T, 192, 14, $18,693.
31. (33) J. Gase, C, 191, 13, $11,870.
32. (36) S. Saunders, F, 191, 12, $11,810.
33. (30) J. Bowles, T, 175, 11, $18,243.
34. (32) S. Riggs, C, rear gear, 154, 0, $11,740.
35. (38) T. Andrews, F, electrical, 105, 9, $18,153.
36. (21) J. Long, C, transmission, 56, 8, $18,118.
37. (31) J. Green, T, vibration, 30, 7, $11,615.
38. (25) B. Koch, T, rear gear, 23, 6, $11,561.
39. (35) T. Hill, F, vibration, 22, 5, $11,445.
40. (37) K. Lepage, F, transmission, 20, 4, $11,405.
41. (29) J. Yeley, C, brakes, 7, 0, $11,335.
42. (28) J. Wise, C, electrical, 6, 0, $11,290.
43. (43) T. Bell, C, engine, 1, 1, $11,218.
Race Statistics
Average speed of winner: 141.919 mph.
Time of race: 2 hours, 6 minutes, 50 seconds.
Top 10 in Points: 1. R.Stenhouse Jr., 1,170; 2. E.Sadler, 1,170; 3. A.Dillon, 1,149; 4. S.Hornish Jr., 1,075; 5. M.Annett, 1,013; 6. J.Allgaier, 1,010; 7. C.Whitt, 945; 8. M.Bliss, 846; 9. B.Scott, 780; 10. D.Patrick, 772.
