The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series made its first visit to a road course this year, and Kevin Harvick made his first visit to victory lane.
The win was Harvick’s first since Kansas in October of last year.
Harvick won the race under caution after Kasey Kahne made a vicious impact with the jersey barriers between the finish line and the first turn. The barriers were moved three feet from the impact.
That part of the track did not have SAFER barriers, but Kahne was able to walk away from the accident without injuries.
Martin Truex won the first stage and led the most laps in the race before his engine expired on lap 86, relegating him to a 37th place finish of the 38 drivers in the race, finishing ahead of only Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Stenhouse retired on lap 30 after an accident which also involved Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick.
Polesitter Kyle Larson finished in 26th position, one lap off the pace.
A few drivers made their first starts in the top series : Billy Johnson, subbing for Aric Almirola in Richard Petty Motorsports’ 43 car, Kevin O’Connell and Tommy Regan, both who drove for Jay Robinson’s program, Josh Bilicki in the Rick Ware No. 51 entry and Alon Day, who drove the No. 23 for BK Racing.
Day made history as the first driver born in Israel to start a race in NASCAR’s top series.
Out of the five drivers who made their debuts, Johnson fared the best of them with a 22nd place finish.
Despite finishing 26th, Larson was able to extend his point lead over Truex from five to 13 points.
Jimmie Johnson leads the Chase standings with three wins, despite being 7th in points.
The Cup series will return to Daytona for the beginning of the second half of the season for the Coke Zero 400 July 1. The race is scheduled to start at 7:30 in the evening.
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