Kevin Harvick and his #4 “Freaky Fast” Chevrolet edged Joe Gibbs Racing stand-out Carl Edwards by .010 seconds to win his eighth race at Phoenix International Raceway, in the Good Sam 500. The victory was Harvick’s sixth in the last eight contests at the 1.0 mile tri-oval and was NASCAR’s seventh closest finish since electronic scoring was introduced in 1993. Harvick and Edwards finished virtually tied while bumping and banging each other’s race cars to the finish line out of turn three.
After close review of the replay, it was the Stewart-Hass Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick that crossed the finish line in first. This wasn’t the first time Kevin Harvick has won a NASCAR event by a ridiculously close margin. In 2007, he won the Daytona 500 by .020 seconds over retired veteran Mark Martin and he beat NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon by .006 of a second to win his first Sprint Cup Series race of his career.
“Coming off of Turn 4, I had some momentum, but I needed to do everything I could to try to scrub some momentum off of his car,” Harvick said. “And by the time he realized that I had that momentum — he tried to do the same thing — we were too far towards the start‑finish line. Sometimes I can tell you that you plan it all that way, but sometimes you’re just lucky as hell.”
The 12th Annual Good Sam 500 at Phoenix Internal Raceway had four drivers that led over at least 30 laps and Kevin Harvick had to earn every lap as his hot-rod was not as dominate as in the past events at this venue. Runner-up Carl Edwards led a respectable 65 laps in his #19 Stanley Toyota and pushed Harvick to the brink by taking four tires under caution with just four laps to go.
Fellow Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded from a poor qualifying session to lead 34 laps and was slowly reeling in Kevin Harvick as the race was winding down. Like Harvick, Earnhardt Jr. decided not to pit under the race’s last caution with seven laps remaining in an attempt to keep his track position. That decision cost the Hendrick Racing driver to slip back in the field in the final two laps and finish in fifth. The #88 Axalta Chevrolet was satisfied with the teams performance.
“Yeah, I was surprised we finished as good as we did,” Dale Jr said. “I thought that was a good move to not pit. If a couple more guys don’t pit and we get another guy on the outside in the second row we was in good shape. We had an awesome car and that’s three weeks in a row I’ve enjoyed the hell out of driving it, so had a fun day and we ran great, really, really good, so proud of my guys.
Kyle Busch had another stellar performance for Joe Gibbs Racing. The #18 Skittles Toyota Camry started on the pole for Sunday’s race and jumped out in front to lead the first 78 laps of the race. He also took four tires on the race’s last caution and drove his machine to a fourth place finish. The result was good enough to keep Busch in the top two in the driver standings.
The Good Sam 500 had five cautions for a total of 30 laps and was completed in two hours and 45 minutes. Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Position Award and the Sherwin Williams Fastest Lap Award. Hendrick Motorsports took home the MAHLE CLEVITE Engine Builders of the Race Award and Kevin Harvick was named the Mobil One Driver of the Race.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sam Good 500 Final Results:
1. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 hrs, 45 mins, 53 secs after 313 laps
2. Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota + 0.010s
3. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota + 0.370s
4. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota + 0.478s
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet + 0.647s
6. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet + 0.705s
7. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota + 1.065s
8. Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet + 1.272s
9. Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet + 1.429s
10. Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford + 1.535s
11. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet + 1.718s
12. Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet + 2.051s
13. Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford + 2.571s
14. Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota + 2.725s
15. Ty Dillon Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet + 2.764s
16. Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet + 2.914s
17. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet + 5.686s
18. Joey Logano Team Penske Ford + 1 lap
19. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet + 1 lap
20. Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota + 1 lap
21. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford + 1 lap
22. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet + 1 lap
23. Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford + 2 laps
24. David Ragan BK Racing Toyota + 4 laps
25. Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford + 5 laps
26. Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet + 5 laps
27. Brian Scott Richard Petty Motorsports Ford + 5 laps
28. Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet + 5 laps
29. Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford + 6 laps
30. Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports Ford + 6 laps
31. Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet + 6 laps
32. Joey Gase Go FAS Racing Ford + 8 laps
33. Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet + 10 laps
34. Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet + 10 laps
35. Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet + 45 laps
36. Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet + 77 laps Overheating
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford + 152 laps Accident
38. Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet + 209 laps Accident
39. Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet + 262 laps Accident
2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Point Standings:
1. (+2) Kevin Harvick * 154pts
2. (-1) Kyle Busch 154pts (0pts)
3. (-1) Jimmie Johnson * 140pts (-14pts)
4. (+1) Kurt Busch 137pts (-17pts)
5. (+2) Carl Edwards 136pts (-18pts)
6. (+2) Denny Hamlin * 131pts (-23pts)
7. (-3) Joey Logano 127pts (-27pts)
8. (+2) Austin Dillon 122pts (-32pts)
9. (–) Martin Truex Jr. 117pts (-37pts)
10. (+2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 115pts (-39pts)
11. (-5) Brad Keselowski * 110pts (-44pts)
12. (+2) Ryan Blaney # 104pts (-50pts)
13. (+2) Aric Almirola 100pts (-54pts)
14. (-1) Kasey Kahne 96pts (-58pts)
15. (+1) Jamie McMurray 94pts (-60pts)
16. (+6) Matt Kenseth 90pts (-64pts)
17. (+3) Kyle Larson 85pts (-69pts)
18. (-7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 83pts (-71pts)
19. (+2) Greg Biffle 76pts (-78pts)
20. (+5) Aj Allmendinger 75pts (-79pts)
21. (+7) Chase Elliott # 74pts (-80pts)
22. (+1) Trevor Bayne 74pts (-80pts)
23. (-4) Regan Smith 70pts (-84pts)
24. (+2) Danica Patrick 69pts (-85pts)
25. (-8) Ryan Newman 68pts (-86pts)
26. (-8) Paul Menard 65pts (-89pts)
27. (-3) Casey Mears 60pts (-94pts)
28. (-1) Brian Scott # 56pts (-98pts)
29. (+2) Landon Cassill 52pts (-102pts)
30. (–) Michael McDowell 51pts (-103pts)
31. (+2) David Ragan 48pts (-106pts)
32. (-3) Michael Annett 45pts (-109pts)
33. (+2) Matt Dibenedetto 44pts (-110pts)
34. (-2) Clint Bowyer 43pts (-111pts)
35. (-1) Chris Buescher # 41pts (-113pts)
36. (–) Brian Vickers 20pts (-134pts)
37. (+3) Josh Wise 15pts (-139pts)
38. (-1) Michael Waltrip 12pts (-142pts)
39. (+2) Cole Whitt 12pts (-142pts)
40. (-2) Bobby Labonte 11pts (-143pts)
41. (-2) Jeffrey Earnhardt 11pts (-143pts)
42. (+5) Joey Gase(I) 9pts (-145pts)
43. (-1) Robert Richardson Jr. 3pts (-151pts)
44. (-1) Ty Dillon(I) 0pts (-154pts)
45. (-1) David Gilliland 0pts (-154pts)
46. (-1) Reed Sorenson 0pts (-154pts)
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