Date: Nov. 2, 2014
Event: AAA Texas 500 (Round 34 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports in a green-white-checkered finish (Chevrolet)
SHR Finish:
Kevin Harvick (Started 5th, Finished 2nd / Running, completed 341 of 341 laps)
Kurt Busch (Started 4th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 341 of 341 laps)
Tony Stewart (Started 6th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 341 of 341 laps)
Danica Patrick (Started 27th, Finished 36th / Running, completed 332 of 341 laps)
SHR Points:
Kevin Harvick (8th with 4,054 points, 18 out of first)
Kurt Busch (14th with 2,192 points)
Tony Stewart (25th with 774 points)
Danica Patrick (28th with 687 points)
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, led the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth by finishing second in the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. It was Harvick’s 12th top-five of 2014 and his fourth top-five in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished eighth after leading 15 laps, bringing his laps-led total at Texas to 415. It was his 10th top-10 of 2014 and his 13th top-10 in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 11th. It was his 14th top-15 of 2014.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 36th. It was Patrick’s 80th career Sprint Cup start and her fifth at Texas.
Jimmie Johnson won the AAA Texas 500 to score his 70th career Sprint Cup victory, his fourth of the season and his fourth at Texas.
Harvick finished .513 of a second behind Johnson in the runner-up spot, while Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 13 caution periods for 61 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 341-lap race, which was extended seven laps by a green-white-checkered finish.
Harvick is representing SHR in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He is among the eight drivers of the original field of 16 who advanced to the Eliminator Round. Harvick is vying for a spot in the final elimination round, which will be determined following the Nov. 9 race at Phoenix International Raceway. Only the top-four Chase drivers in points leaving Phoenix will be eligible for the Sprint Cup championship, setting up a four-driver, one-race showdown for the title in the season finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick leaves Texas eighth in the Chase standings, 18 points behind Chase leader Joey Logano.
With only one race remaining before the Chase field is whittled down to four drivers for the title fight at Homestead, the top-eight drivers still competing for the title rank as follows:
1. Joey Logano (4,072 points) +2 positions
2. Denny Hamlin (4,072 points) +3
3. Ryan Newman (4,070 points, -2) -1
4. Jeff Gordon (4,060 points, -12) -3
5. Matt Kenseth (4,059 points, -13) -1
6. Carl Edwards (4,059 points, -13) +/-0
7. Brad Keselowski (4,055 points, -17) +/-0
8. Kevin Harvick (4,054 points, -18) +/-0
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the ninth race of the 10-race Chase – is the Phoenix 500k on Nov. 9 at Phoenix International Raceway. The penultimate race of the season begins at 3 p.m. EST, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a prerace show at 2 p.m.
