Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski win stages at Atlanta
Staff Report
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
RELATED: Stage 1 results
Kevin Harvick won Stage 1 of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 64 of the 85 laps in the first stage. Harvick was one of three drivers credited with leading laps during the stage as the front row tandem of polesitter Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman also led circuits.
Harvick, the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, won Saturday afternoon's Xfinity Series race and has led 734 laps in the last four Atlanta Monster Energy Series races entering today.
Stewart-Haas Racing placed all four of its cars -- Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola -- inside the top eight during the opening 85 laps.
A competition caution was waved on Lap 30 due to rain earlier in the day.
Finish
Driver
Team
Race points
1
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
10
2
Clint Bowyer
Stewart-Haas Racing
9
3
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
8
4
Martin Truex Jr.
Furniture Row Racing
7
5
Aric Almirola
Stewart-Haas Racing
6
6
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
5
7
Kyle Larson
Chip Ganassi Racing
4
8
Kurt Busch
Stewart-Haas Racing
3
9
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
2
10
Joey Logano
Team Penske
1
Stage 2 recap | Results
Brad Keselowski won the race off pit road following a late caution in Stage 2 and that was the advantage he needed to wrestle the stage away from Stage 1 winner Kevin Harvick at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The stage wins give Keselowski and Harvick each a playoff point.
Harvick drove up through the field following trouble with the air gun on a pit stop under caution at the end of Stage 1. He then came back down pit road to make sure all the lug nuts were tight on his No. 4 Ford. Harvick restarted in 19th and then proceeded to drive up to the lead on Lap 126. After a round of green-flag pit stops, Harvick came out with the lead and didn't give it up until the race off pit road on Lap 161. As was the case in Stage 1, all four Stewart-Haas Racing Fords earned stage points.
A caution came out on Lap 159 for a spin involving Jimmie Johnson, a five-time winner at Atlanta. During that round of pit stops, the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing pit crew had trouble with the air gun when Martin Truex Jr. came to pit, leading to a slow stop that dropped him from sixth (before the caution) to 15th. Truex, the reigning Monster Energy Series champion, finished Stage 2 in 13th.