Harvick Cruises to Richmond Nationwide Series Win

Photo Credit: Pool

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 10, 2010)
RICHMOND, Va.—Polesitter Kevin Harvick held off Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski during a 40-lap run to the finish to win Friday night's Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
In the first race at Richmond and third overall with NASCAR's new Nationwide car, Harvick crossed the finish line .256 seconds ahead of Keselowski, who extended his championship lead to 373 points, over Carl Edwards, who ran 10th. Trevor Bayne finished third, tying his career best. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fourth, followed by Reed Sorenson.
The victory was Harvick's third of the season and 37th of his career, third all-time in the series. The owner/driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. led 170 of the 250 laps and was elated with the progress his No. 33 team had made with the new car.
"This is the future of our company, so we put a lot of effort into this program, knowing that all the other cars were going to go away, and knowing that we had to be good with this car," said Harvick, who gets his new chassis from Richard Childress Racing and his power from Earnhardt-Childress engines.
"RCR's been a big part of this as well, with the engines, the chassis and the engineering. Everybody's been working together. It's easy when you get started in the right direction to keep it going that way."
Keselowski likewise was pleased with his No. 22 Dodge team's progress with the new car, which is being phased in this year—with plans for full-time use in 2011.

"I was just glad that we were able to work on the car and make it better," Keselowski said. "That's been one of our larger struggles all year with this particular chassis. So I'm glad that we were able to do that—just a real good show for the new car on the short tracks.

"I think that's something to be proud of for the series. I think we can continue to work and make things better, but this was a great start."

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch and Edwards completed the top 10. A snafu in the pits cost Busch a chance for a record 11th win this season. Under caution on Lap 205, the quick-fill nozzle on one of Busch's fuel cans broke off and remained attached to the car as Busch left pit road.

Penalized for taking equipment from the pits, Busch restarted 21st on Lap 211 and worked his way up to ninth before the race ended.

Armirola Wins in Michigan; his 2nd NASCAR Truck Series Race

Photo Credit: Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 12, 2010)

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Aric Almirola passed Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch three-wide through the middle with seven laps left in Saturday’s VFW 200 and held on to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Bodine finished second and retained his series lead by 55 points over Almirola, who won for the second time this season in Billy Ballew’s No. 51 Toyota. Busch ran third, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. and polesitter Austin Dillon, who overcame a late pit-road penalty to post his second straight top five.

“I didn’t think it was the greatest place to be,” Almirola said of his middle position after a restart on Lap 93 of 100. “But I knew we were going to run wide open through the corner. We were either going to crash, or we were going to make it out the other side—because I knew how important clean air was.

“I knew that was my only shot to get out in the lead, and if I didn’t get out in the lead, there was no chance of us winning the race. So I went down in Turn 1, and I knew I was going to run a shorter distance than Todd (who was on the outside), so I just tried to hang tight on Kyle’s door and get him loose, which I did.

“By the time we got off Turn 2, I was almost clear of Todd, and then when we went through (Turns) 3 and 4, I cleared him. So I think that was the move of the race, as far as I’m concerned.”

In a race that featured a track-record 20 lead changes, Almirola didn’t go to the front until his pass on Lap 93. Bodine had held the lead for a restart on Lap 89 and had begun to pull away when Nelson Piquet Jr. spun through the frontstretch grass to bring out the fifth and final caution of the afternoon.

“Maybe it caught me a little off guard,” Bodine said of Almirola’s pass for the lead. “Aric’s a hell of a racer, and they had a good truck when it counted. On a short run like that—especially as many laps as we rode around under caution, with the tires cooling down—everybody’s handling pretty good for three or four laps, five laps.

“I really believe that, if this race was 10 laps longer, I probably would have beat him—but, guess what, there weren’t another 10 laps.”

Notes: The race was red-flagged for 40 minutes, 12 seconds because of a rain shower that caused the third caution on Lap 34. … Timothy Peters finished sixth and remained third in the standings, 165 points behind Almirola. … Matt Crafton retired after 83 laps with an engine failure and fell three spots to 10th in points.

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR