RELATED: Full Kentucky race results
SPARTA, Ky. -- It was the Kevin Harvick - Martin Truex Jr. show for approximately 200 laps on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway as the pair battled back-and-forth inside the top two until a couple of unrelated miscues stole their limelight.
Misfortune began first for Martin Truex Jr. after Landon Cassill brought out the night's 11th and final yellow flag on Lap 195 -- matching Kentucky's caution record. During the cycle of pit stops that followed, Truex was penalized for passing on pit road entry, forcing him to line up 22nd for the Lap 200 restart.
"Everybody does it," a visibly disappointed Truex said on pit road. "I've had people pass me the same way at Bristol and Martinsville. They'll drive right by you through the pit. Everybody does it, so I don't know why all of a sudden they're making an example out of me.
"It's frustrating when you don't win. I feel like I've had a lot not go the right way the last couple years, especially. It is what it is. We'll move on."
The Furniture Row Racing wheelman entered pit road second, behind Harvick, and won the race off pit road before receiving the infraction.
Harvick's downfall came during the same restart where he lined up first and quickly fell to third as eventual race winner Brad Keselowski took first and Joe Gibbs Racing's Matt Kenseth went around him for second.
At the time, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver told his crew, "I'm just trying not to wreck it's so loose."
As the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts hit its waning laps, Harvick was then forced to pit with 16 laps to go.
"We just had to put left-side tires on there," the 2014 Sprint Cup champion explained. "(We) couldn't put rights on and then the car went away really bad. That was really kind of the straw that broke the camel's back.
"All in all it just came down to fuel mileage and we couldn't make it till the end and some guys could and that's just part of it."
Following Harvick's lead, Truex pitted -- for right-side tires and fuel -- with 10 laps to go. Truex had bounced back from 22nd to climb inside the top three before pitting.
Harvick and Truex collectively led the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts for 174 laps in the 267-lap event, but walked away ninth and 10th, respectively, with the SHR driver leading the series in points. Truex, meanwhile, is seventh in points.