Kevin Harvick won Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event at Sonoma Raceway That was like taking candy from babies. But Harvick mixed it up with the big boys in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, and the outcome was the same. Executing an ideal strategy for the long green-flag run that consumed the second half of the race-minus roughly 200 yards-Harvick won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event for the first time this season, the first time at Sonoma and the first time in a Ford, after Stewart-Haas Racing made an offseason switch from Chevrolet. In winning for the 36th time in 590 career starts, Harvick took the checkered flag under caution after Kasey Kahne’s Chevrolet clobbered the concrete Jersey barriers near the start/finish line. By then, Harvick had a comfortable lead of more than eight seconds-and just enough fuel in the tank of the #4 Ford Fusion to complete a celebratory burnout on the frontstretch. ‘I’m so excited, Harvick said in Victory Lane. ‘I think, as you look at it, getting our first win with Ford, this has been a great journey for us as an organization and team. (Teammate) Kurt (Busch) winning the Daytona 500, and we have run well. It’s a great day. It finally all came together, and we were able to not have any cautions there at the end. Rodney had great strategy, and I was able to take care of the car and get out front. I felt like the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was the car we had to race, and then he had problems and from there we were in control. Five drivers made their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debuts on Sunday. Subbing for injured Aric Almirola, Billy Johnson ran 22nd in the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. Israeli driver Alon Day was 32nd, Kevin O’Connell 33rd, Tommy Regan 34th and Josh Bilicki 36th.(NASCAR Wire Service)[Read More Here]
