It was the kind of forecast that gave the appearance there would be no NASCAR race Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sometime Monday, maybe even Tuesday if the expected rainstorm that filled the radar with a prominent green blob didn’t let up.
Even Mother Nature proved no match for Kevin Harvick at Atlanta
Kevin Harvick dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, winning his first race of the 2018 season and his first at Atlanta since 2001.
The ominous forecast initially seemed like it was spot on, with rain beginning midmorning and pushing back the start of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 by two hours. But when it was all said and done that was the only delay and the Monster Energy Cup Series race commenced without a hitch.
Instead it was a different kind of storm that struck Atlanta in the form of a virtually unbeatable Kevin Harvick, who laid waste to the competition Sunday. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver led 181 of a possible 325 laps and never did he not appear to have the fastest car.
The only reason Harvick didn’t lead more laps or win by even a more decidedly 2.6-second margin over second-place Brad Keselowski was because of an issue with an air gun during an early pit stop and a late caution that re-stacked the field with 21 laps remaining. In both instances Harvick kept his composure and what could’ve been problematic situations were coolly resolved.
When the air gun malfunction occurred at the end of Stage 1, Harvick had to make an extra pit stop dropping him to 19th on the subsequent restart. He was back in the lead within 38 laps. And the decisive restart with Keselowski to his outside was even less of a hindrance, with Harvick quickly pulling away and building up a comfortable advantage.
Even rivals Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano employing out-of-the-box strategies wasn’t enough to slow Harvick, whose speed over long green-flag runs was too overwhelming. After Hamlin skipped pitting to gain track position and inherited the lead during a late cycle of stops, Harvick simply chased Hamlin and passed him with ease.
“Nobody had anything for Kevin today,” Keselowski said. “Shoot, I think we all threw everything we had at him. He drove a great race and he had a really fast car, and that’s a potent combination. If he hadn’t had the pit road issue today, he probably would have led almost 300‑some laps.”
A complete throttling that ended with the checkered flag in hand is a welcome departure from how recent Atlanta races have unfolded for Harvick. Before Sunday, he had led 100-plus laps in five of the past six races on the 1.5-mile track, yet won none of them.
How last year’s race slipped away especially stung. As dominant as he was Sunday, Harvick was even more superior then, starting on the pole and leading 292 laps. Any chance of winning, however, vanished when he sped on his final pit stop. He finished ninth, while Keselowski stood in victory lane celebrating a gifted win.
“We overcame a lot of things today,” Harvick. “We got a late-race restart that we drove off and won the race with, so there are so many demons that seem to haunt us here for a long time.”
And Harvick not only beat 35 other drivers on Sunday, but Mother Nature to boot.
“I didn’t have any idea that we would even have a chance of running this race today,” Harvick said. “… Very satisfying just for the fact that we were able to overcome so much.”
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