Kevin Harvick joined Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in the history books on Sunday afternoon, becoming one of the only drivers to win the Brickyard 400 in back-to-back seasons.
It was fitting for Harvick, seeing as how Johnson wasn’t in the race and Busch might as well had not been as the 2020 struggles continued for the defending champion.
The win for the 4 team, though, came laps after Denny Hamlin saw a tire failure take him out of the race from the lead spot. Hamlin was looking for the first Brickyard victory of his career.
The hit Denny Hamlin takes here, wrecking from the lead just seven laps short of winning his first career Brickyard 400. #NASCAR
🎥 @ChuckTamato pic.twitter.com/eGOc4ULqVp
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) July 6, 2020
The race saw a plethora of failures alike, though. Erik Jones and Alex Bowman were both taken out of the race with tire issues as well as William Byron.
It was as historically bad a day that Goodyear has had in recent memory, at least at the initial reaction.
Harvick found clean air on the final restart to get the win, finishing ahead of runner-up Matt Kenseth, who had by far his best performance in the No. 42 car.
Aric Almirola took home a P3 finish – his fifth straight top five – in front of Brad Keselowski.
Cole Custer rounded out the group with the best finish of his career.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the track on Sunday at Kentucky Speedway, racing on Fox Sports 1 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Brickyard 400 Results
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Aric Almirola
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Cole Custer
6. Kyle Busch
7. Michael McDowell
8. Tyler Reddick
9. Bubba Wallace
10. Joey Logano
11. Chase Elliott
12. Christopher Bell
13. Kurt Busch
14. Ty Dillon
15. John H. Nemechek
16. Clint Bowyer
17. Ross Chastain
18. Austin Dillon
19. Matt DiBenedetto
20. Danial Suarez
21. J.J. Yeley
22. B.J. McLeod
23. Quin Houff
24. Garrett Smithley
25. Josh Bilicki
26. Joey Gase
27. William Byron
28. Denny Hamlin
29. Timmy Hill
30. Alex Bowman
31. Chris Buescher
32. Ryan Blaney
33. Erik Jones
34. Ryan Newman
35. Brennan Poole
36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
37. Justin Allgaier
38. Martin Truex Jr.
39. Corey Lajoie
40. Ryan Preece
