Kevin Harvick Qualifies for NASCAR Championship

As the leader of the race when the final yellow of the night came out for a crash on the backstretch with four laps to go, Kevin Harvick in his Mobil1 Ford had a big decision to make as to which row to start from. He had been starting from the bottom row all day long as had all the other drivers, but Harvick had lost the lead to Ryan Blaney and his Team Penske Ford on the previous restart because the top groove appeared to be taking rubber and becoming a viable option.

I say 'appeared' because with playoff points on the line, no playoff driver wanted to test it; and certainly no other driver wanted to be the driver that caused a wreck that took out one maybe two playoff contenders. Except one. Blaney was the one. Blaney had unloaded fast and proved it by winning the pole with the second fastest speed ever at the track for a Cup car at 200.505 mph.

Blaney had also shown with the two previous restarts against Harvick that the top row was a very viable option. The first restart chance came with 32 laps remaining. Blaney was able to get out in front of Harvick coming out of turn two, but Harvick was able to side draft him and catch him before he entered turn three. The next restart, with 24 laps to go, Blaney got through 1 and 2 even faster and was able to lead Harvick out of 2 and get away down the backstretch for the lead. It took Harvick five laps to run Blaney down, pass, and retake the lead from him.

The final restart of the night was going to be a three-lap green-white-checkered finish because the race had gone into overtime because of a late wreck. Blaney had nothing to lose. He wasn't racing for playoff points. He was only there for a win for his team and sponsors, so he could throw caution to the wind and go for it. It was the perfect scenario for a driver to steal a win from a playoff contender.

When the final caution flag came out, Harvick told his spotter we are taking top. He discussed his decision in the media center after the race stating, At that particular time, I was like we're not taking the bottom any more, we're going to take the top, see what happens. Obviously it worked out a little bit better - being on the outside and the side draft, after you get past the start/finish line. Nice to see the second groove was rubbered up as much as it was.

Tony Stewart, owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, was asked about Kevin's decision to take the outside row on the restart and stated, I think the restarts that he had led all day, every time he took off on the bottom, it worked out all right. I think as the race went on, that second groove got better and better. It was realistically kind of a no-brainer decision that you just have to make that decision to change whether you're comfortable with it or not ... I'm sure there's a little apprehension from his standpoint of not restarting in that lane all day and not really knowing what exactly to expect. What, the second restart before that, Ryan almost cleared. Even in the next restart, he does clear him.

When the green flag was dropped for the final time of the night, Kevin Harvick led the field down into turn one from the outside row and never looked back. He ran the top line like it had been designed and was a car length ahead of Blaney before exiting turn two getting his second win since the track was repaved.

With Kevin Harvick's win Sunday night, Stewart-Haas Racing was able to qualify a car for both the Monster Energy and Xfinity championships at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks. Stewart was asked about Cole Custer's chances to win the Xfinity championship and then also about Harvick's chances.

Last year he missed it by I think three points or three positions on the racetrack, then went out and dominated Homestead ... If they're half as good as they were last year there, they have a very legitimate shot at winning that championship. We're really proud of them. I think Cole just keeps growing and getting better.

Regarding Harvick's chances, Tony Stewart also explained, I don't know that anybody is a favorite really when you get to that final race. There's so much that can happen. But I like the fact that we got Kevin Harvick there. That's a guy that I don't care who he's up against, that's a guy you kind of want with the ball in the bottom of the ninth. I feel like we got three other guys that may not be exactly that guy, but they're really close. They've closed that gap from last year to this year. I'm comfortable with who we have in so far. I feel like if we can get one of those other three in, they have just as good a shot going into Homestead as Kevin does.

Point Standings after Texas Motor Speedway

Kevin Harvick | 4143 Points | 8 Race Wins | 18 Stage Wins | 54 Playoff Points

Kyle Busch | 4128 Points | 7 Race Wins | 5 Stage Wins | 55 Playoff Points

Martin Truex | 4125 Points | 4 Race Wins | 10 Stage Wins | 38 Playoff Points

Joey Logano | 4119 Points | 2 Race Wins | 5 Stage Wins | 15 Playoff Points

Below Cut Line

Kurt Busch | 4100 Points | 1 Race Wins | 3 Stage Wins | 15 Playoff Points

Chase Elliott | 4086 Points | 3 Race Wins | 3 Stage Wins | 18 Playoff Points

Aric Almirola | 4068 Points | 1 Race Wins | 1 Stage Wins | 6 Playoff Points

Clint Bowyer | 4052 Points | 2 Race Wins | 1 Stage Wins | 15 Playoff Points

Updated After Tech Inspection:

No. 4 team assessed L1-level penalty, docked 40 points

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team has been issued an L1-level penalty following driver Kevin Harvick's win Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, an infraction that carries major championship implications in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team violated Section 20.4.12 of the NASCAR Rule Book that is specific to spoilers. Spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer and not altered. The infraction was discovered in post-race tear down at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Read more about penalty.