Harvick holds off Edwards to win, advance

[October 17, 2016]  KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kevin Harvick won the Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, joining Jimmie Johnson as race winners in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a guaranteed spot in the next round.

"Well, the first thing I want to do is thank everybody on the No. 4 team," Harvick said. "These races are so hard to win, and these guys are so good at the details. You put their backs against the wall, and they get better. Really proud of them."

Harvick took the lead for the final time by passing Carl Edwards on a restart following the eighth yellow flag of the race that waved with 34 laps remaining. Edwards then temporarily lost second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch before the two battled for second for several laps as Harvick drove away in the lead.

"I just got two good restarts against the No. 19 (Edwards)," Harvick said. "( Johnson, who restarted behind Edwards) didn't have a car quite as close to him, and I was able to break that draft before I got to the middle of one and two and got away from him, so that was pretty awesome. I just needed to go for it, and that is really the mindset we go into every race in the Chase was to go for, and we did."

Edwards got back past Busch to take runner-up honors. Joey Logano and Johnson also passed Busch to finish third and fourth, respectively. Busch rounded out the top five.

Matt Kenseth dominated the first half of the 267-lap race after starting on the pole. He led 115 of the first 125 laps before Harvick made the first on-track pass for the lead on lap 126. Kurt Busch stayed out one lap longer than other lead-lap drivers during the first debris caution of the race on lap 29 to lead one lap.

The other nine laps not led by Kenseth before he was passed by Harvick were led by a handful of other drivers during a cycle of green-flag pit stops that started just past lap 80.

After the strong start, Kenseth was outside the top five just past the halfway point of the race.

Chase Elliott took the lead from Harvick with just under 100 laps remaining, but after leading only four laps, he experienced a tire problem as he headed for pit road for a green-flag pit stop. Elliott eventually got back on the lead lap but encountered another tire problem in the final 30 laps.

"We really don't know (what happened)," Elliott said. "I don't know if we got the left rear getting up on the race track, or something, and it got into the fender and cut it down. I don't know what to do, man; we were trying as hard as we can. We had such a good car today, again. I don't know what to do. Just keep after it and try to move on."

Harvick, meanwhile, encountered a slow stop of nearly 20 seconds during the green-flag cycle, allowing Edwards to claim the race lead when the yellow flag waved a few laps later. Harvick recovered, though, racing back up to second on the restart.

Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (4) takes the checkered flag during the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Elliott wasn't the only Chase competitor to have problems in the second half of the race.

Brad Keselowski wrecked as a result of a left-rear tire issue on lap 190. After spending several laps in the garage, he returned to the track and made one lap before his engine blew, retiring him from the race for good.

"My guys busted their butt on this Miller Lite Ford to get it back out," Keselowski said. "They were working like crazy; there was a fire at one point. They worked their guts out. If my team keeps putting up this kind of effort, I don't worry about today. We will win another race. We will win Talladega and other races and be fine."

The Hollywood Casino 400 was the second race in the Round of 12, the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson won the first race of the round a week ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, clinching a spot in the third round of the Chase. It is his first year advancing to the Round of eight since the implementation of the elimination format in 2014. The round ends Oct. 23 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

NOTES: Joe Gibbs Racing claimed the top three spots on the starting grid in Friday's qualifying session, led by Matt Kenseth on the pole. Toyota swept the top four starting spots, with Martin Truex Jr. starting fourth after Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. ... Kyle Busch dominated and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, leading 150 laps of the 200-lap race to claim his ninth Xfinity win of the season and his third straight series win at Kansas. ... Joey Logano won the 2015 Hollywood Casino 400, but Kyle Busch was the winner the last time the Sprint Cup Series visited Kansas Speedway on May 7. ... Kurt Busch started Sunday's race in the back in a backup car after a wreck in practice on Saturday. ... The Hollywood Casino 400 was Truex's 400th career Sprint Cup Series start.

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