AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Harvick dominated the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 NASCAR race at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday, earning him the win and a ticket to the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It was Harvick’s sixth career win at Phoenix and his third straight at the venue.
Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman also survived in the Chase by virtue of points.
Jeff Gordon finished the race second. He and Harvick were tied in points for the final Chase transfer spot, but Harvick won the spot by winning the race.
Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski finished third and fourth, but those top-five finishes were not enough to keep them championship-eligible. Hamlin rounded out the top five in Sunday’s race.
Carl Edwards was the other driver who was eliminated from the race for championship.
On the final restart of the race with 12 laps to go, seven of the eight Chase drivers were in the top 10, with the top five being Harvick, Gordon, Kenseth, Keselowski and Hamlin.
Harvick took the lead for the first time on lap 44 of the race and built up sizable leads on each green-flag run. He was about eight seconds up on the race field by the time the yellow flag waved for the second time in the race on lap 81.
Just before a lap 186 caution, Harvick had a lead of nearly seven seconds. Green-flag runs were shorter through the remainder of the race with more frequent cautions, except for the final run. In all, the yellow flag waved 12 times in the 312-lap event.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. held the lead temporarily by taking only two tires during the lap 81 yellow flag. But as soon as the race restarted, Harvick retook the top spot and Earnhardt drifted back through the field. Harvick led the rest of the way.
Gordon took over the second spot by getting off pit road second to Harvick during a caution with just under 74 laps remaining, overcoming an issue with a broken jack earlier in the race.
Hamlin and Logano both led laps early, with Hamlin starting on the pole and leading the first 24 laps. After a three-way battle among Hamlin, Logano and Harvick on lap 25, Logano came away with the lead until Harvick moved up front for the first time.
Both Hamlin and Logano wound up going a lap down, though. Hamlin had to make an extra pit stop during the first caution of the race on lap 31 because of a cut-down right-rear tire, and as a result, restarted in the back. By lap 81, he was off the lead lap. Hamlin got back on the lead lap, only to be put back a lap down by Harvick around the halfway point of the race.