Luck finally on Kevin Harvick's side in Darlington G-W-C win (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

It had been a tough month and change for Kevin Harvick after his win in March at Phoenix. But it’s all water under the bridge as he’s now fully cemented himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Like Joey Logano last Monday at Texas, Harvick was forced to fight in Green-White-Checkered after dominating tonight’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

And like Logano, he came through in the clutch, going from third to first over two G-W-C attempts to become the first repeat winner of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

“We’ve had to overcome a lot over the last several weeks, but we’ve had really fast cars,” Harvick said in Victory Lane to Fox Sports. “We just kept our heads down and kept doing what we had to do.”

Harvick ultimately led seven times for a whopping 238 laps, marking the fifth time in his career that he’s led at least 200 laps in a single race (he’s now won in four of those five instances).

But he had to go through one last scrap for the trophy when Logano slowed down with an apparent problem to bring out the yellow with 10 laps remaining.

That brought the leaders to the pits to load up on fresh rubber, and while Harvick took four tires, he was dropped to fifth behind Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon – all of whom took two.

A restart ensued with five laps to go, and Harvick was able to get to third place behind Johnson and Earnhardt before debris was spotted in Turn 3 to bring out another yellow with three laps left.

That put the race into G-W-C mode and on the first attempt, Earnhardt and Harvick took advantage of a bad start from Johnson to take first and second before Kurt Busch was tagged from behind by Clint Bowyer in Turn 2.

Busch was sent skidding into the inside retaining wall on the backstretch, forcing the second of a possible three G-W-C attempts.

When G-W-C No. 2 got underway, both Earnhardt and Harvick were able to sail off from Johnson. But as the two headed to Turn 3, Harvick went to the outside and then powered by Earnhardt in Turn 4 to take the lead at the white flag.

It proved to be the race-winning pass as Harvick went on to beat Earnhardt by .439 of a second to earn his inaugural triumph at “The Lady in Black.”

“I needed those Green-White-Checkers,” Harvick said. “The last one is probably the one I needed the most just for the fact that I was able to get really good restarts and able to time the restarts really well – and those guys had older tires and were spinning the tires.

“I knew if I could make it through [Turns] 1 and 2 and close to [Earnhardt], I knew I had the top line down [in Turns 3 and 4] and they were on the bottom.”

As for Earnhardt, he settled for his third runner-up finish of the season, which was still a great bounce-back after crashing out early in Fort Worth.

“[Harvick] had the best car and the best tires,” Earnhardt admitted. “I wasn’t lookin’ in the mirror to tell where anybody was – [spotter] TJ [Majors] said he was coming. I maybe should have run the top there in [Turns] 3 and 4 coming to the white and made him work the bottom to get around us.

“We had a great car. Best finish I’ve had here – I don’t really run that great here, so the guys had to prepare a really good car for us to run that well. I gotta give the National Guard team a lot of credit.”

Johnson, who qualified 26th, rallied from running as far back as 31st in the opening stint of the race to claim a third-place finish at the track where he’s won three times.

Also performing well after a tough qualifying run was Matt Kenseth, who turned in yet another steady ‘Matt Kenseth race’ by finishing fourth after starting from 25th.

Greg Biffle was also sharp tonight, placing fifth for his best result at Darlington since claiming back-to-back wins there in 2005 and 2006.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – DARLINGTON RACEWAY
Bojangles’ Southern 500
Unofficial Results

1. Kevin Harvick, led 238 laps
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., led 5 laps
3. Jimmie Johnson, led 8 laps
4. Matt Kenseth, led 12 laps
5. Greg Biffle, led 5 laps
6. Kyle Busch
7. Jeff Gordon, led 8 laps
8. Kyle Larson
9. Tony Stewart
10. Ryan Newman
11. Austin Dillon
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Carl Edwards
14. Marcos Ambrose
15. A.J. Allmendinger
16. Jamie McMurray
17. Brad Keselowski, led 4 laps
18. Casey Mears
19. Denny Hamlin, led 3 laps
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. Josh Wise
22. Danica Patrick
TWO LAPS DOWN
23. Justin Allgaier
24. Aric Almirola
25. Landon Cassill
THREE LAPS DOWN
26. Brian Vickers, led 30 laps
27. Martin Truex Jr.
FOUR LAPS DOWN
28. David Gilliland
FIVE LAPS DOWN
29. Alex Bowman
30. Parker Kligerman
31. Kurt Busch, Lap 368, Accident
SEVEN LAPS DOWN
32. David Ragan, led 1 lap
33. Travis Kvapil
EIGHT LAPS DOWN
34. Joe Nemechek
—
35. Joey Logano, led 37 laps, Lap 359, Front Hub
36. David Stremme, Lap 326, Brakes
37. Kasey Kahne, led 23 laps, Lap 323, Accident
38. Cole Whitt, Lap 301, Running
39. Reed Sorenson, Lap 289, Overheating
40. Ryan Truex, Lap 274, Running
41. Paul Menard, Lap 270, Running
42. Michael Annett, Lap 101, Accident
43. Dave Blaney, Lap 65, Brakes

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Jett Lawrence remains perfect in the Pro Motocross series after recording another perfect round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California. In his second start on a 450, Lawrence won his second National with his fourth consecutive moto win. It is getting increasingly difficult to find the right superlatives to describe the exploits on the reigning 250 West Supercross champion.

“The track was so brutal out there,” Lawrence told NBC Sports Jason Thomas. “The bike handles amazing even when it’s not too friendly. You had to be really patient; you couldn’t take too much. I didn’t eat enough before that second moto. I kind of lost energy halfway through, but luckily I could use technique and balance and just keep that flow going.”

Lawrence leaves Hangtown with an 18-point advantage over Ferrandis in the 450 Motocross standings, but perhaps more importantly, he climbed to 19th in the SuperMotocross standings and should he stay there, he has an automatic invitation to the Main events in the SMX Championship.

“On this track, you just have to manage,” Lawrence continued. “If you try to take too much and not respect the track, it will bite you very quickly. It was humbling on the first few laps. I got kicked on the cutout at the start of the third section, the tabletop going to the left. I had to get my focus because the boys were coming.”

Still in his first few races since returning from a concussion suffered at Houston in the Supercross series, Dylan Ferrandis finished second with results of third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2. While Ferrandis was happy with the result, he remains hopeful that he will contend for victory shortly.

“The first moto was very hard for my physically, Ferrandis said. “I got arm pump and when you get arm pump your body gets tired. But I’m very happy because we made a big change for the second moto. We tried stuff every session today and in the last moto the bike was much better, but unfortunately I wasn’t sure what I could do with this bike because the track was very hard and difficult to pass.”

RESULTS: How they finished in the 450 Overall at Hangtown

With the rash of injuries at the end of the Supercross season, the podium was filled with heartwarming stories. Cooper Webb returned to action last week in Pala and failed to make the podium. He is steadily improving with a third-place finish in Hangtown. after finishing with a 4-2.

“It’s incredible what seven days can do,” Webb said. “Last week I felt like I was going to get lapped in the second moto. This week, I could see the leader. It was nice. I fought hard, learned how to suffer again there and that felt nice.

Moto 2 wasn’t pretty for Lawrence. On several occasions in the opening laps, he nearly high sided as he rode the front wheel through the ruts. The reward was worth the risk. By the halfway point, Lawrence had 4.5-second lead over Webb, who was embroiled in a tight three-rider battle for second with his teammate Aaron Plessinger pressuring him and Ferrandis ready to take advantage if those made contact.

It took 20 minutes for Plessinger to get around Webb and once he did, he trailed Lawrence by four seconds. But then, with three minutes remaining, Plessinger crashed and had difficulty restarting the bike, handing second back to Webb who has seven seconds behind Lawrence. Plessinger fell to fourth with results of third and sixth.

Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the top five with a 5-4.

Heartbreak for Aaron Plessinger as he was charging forward 💔#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/vQtKIsuhVg

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 4, 2023

Last week Hunter Lawrence won the overall with a 3-1. He repeated that feat in Hangtown in an exact replica of his Fox Raceway results last week. In Moto 1, Lawrence got off to a slow start and lost 10 seconds in the opening laps. Forced to overcome a sixth-place position in the race at the end of Lap 1, he once again caught the riders ahead of him when the field hit heavy traffic. For the second week, scored another 3-1 for the Hangtown National win.

“The start was crucial’ I knew I had to go,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “They laid a lot of water down, so I didn’t want to be behind any longer than [I was]. First hot one of the year, was a bit of a wakeup call, so I’m happy to get out of here safe and healthy.”

Lawrence’s third-place finish in Moto 1 featured a fierce battle for final spot on the podium when he caught Spain’s Guillem Farres and France’s Tom Vialle. With Lawrence hailing from Australia, the international nature of the sport was highlighted.

Lawrence left Hangtown with a 10-point advantage over Haiden Deegan in the Pro Motocross championship battle.

Click here for 250 overall results

Justin Cooper finished second in both motos to finish second overall. Hangtown represented a huge improvement from Fox Raceway where he finished fifth overall with a 5-4 finish in the two motos. Cooper pressured Haiden Deegan in the second half of Moto 1 and he earned the holeshot in the second moto and stayed within three seconds of Lawrence in that race.

“He was following me a little bit, checking out my lines, seeing where he was better,” Cooper said. “It’s disappointing to give up the lead like that but it was way better than last weekend. I will definitely take two seconds. I want to be on the top of the step. I feel like I get close to the top step but I never get it done. That’s building up the frustration – the fire. I really want to get one of these wins, so it’s time to start digging.”

Haiden Deegan earned the first holeshot of his career in Moto 1 and rode away from the field, building a four-second lead in the opening laps. Cooper trimmed the lead at the halfway point and for a while it leveled off at two seconds. Then Cooper made another charge with three to go and closed to within a second. Deegan was biding his time, however.

“I was saving a little. I knew at the end Justin was going to try and put a charge on. I let him get up close and then sent it super hard at the end to break him a little at the end.”

Deegan’s first moto win comes in only his fourth National and he remains perfect in regard to podiums this year.

“This was a dream since I was a little kid, to win,” Deegan said. “And in my fourth race, it’s gnarly. I was just sending it. I was getting a little tired at the end becasue I left my mouth open the whole time. It’s unreal; I’m so hyped. I wanted to win bad and I proved it to you guys.”

Chaos erupted in turn 1 in Moto 2 Jeremy Martin went and another rider ran over his arm. Michael Mosiman crashed further down the track on that same lap. Both riders were helped off course by the Alpinestars Medical team.

Deegan grabs his first 250 Mx moto win!1️⃣#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/1FH5s1ZHfn

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 3, 2023