LOUDON, NH – July 23, 2018 – Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Fusion won his sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season by winning the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“Congratulations to Kevin, Tony, Gene and everyone at Stewart-Haas,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It was an incredible run by Kevin in those final laps, catching and passing Kyle. I’m so proud our team has the opportunity to provide the power for these Ford Fusions. Racing is our company’s passion and it doesn’t get much better than a win like today. I tell our employees, we get tested every weekend and this Sunday we passed the test.”
Five Ford Fusions finished in the top-10, three from the SHR organization and two from the Team Penske organization. Pole sitter, Kurt Busch lead 94 total laps and finished P8.
SHR teammate Aric Almirola had his best finish of the 2018 season finishing P3, after leading 42 laps.
In addition, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano finished P7 and P9 respectively.
The last 10 laps of the race turned into the epic battle of the Titians. The No. 4 Ford Fusion, powered by the Ford FR9 EFI engine, drove the most meticulous laps of the race. With the No. 18 Toyota in the lead, Harvick consistently narrowed the gap lap-by-lap, until lap 294. Harvick passed the No. 18 on the inside to take the lead and went onto lead the last 6 laps of race to take the checkered flag.
“Winning is important and you’ve got to try to take every opportunity you can,” commented Harvick in Victory Lane. “I felt like my car was better. He was in the lane that I needed to be in and as you get to the end, …., you’ve got to be aggressive and do what you’ve got to do sometimes to win these races. It’s one of those deals and we want to win. Points are everything and getting a “W” is what it’s all about.”
This marked Harvick’s 43rd career win and first time in his career to win six races in a season.
With just six races remaining in the regular season, seven Ford Performance drivers are positioned to be in the Playoffs. Currently Harvick leads the Playoff Standings’ leader board with 32 Playoff Points. Clint Bowyer is in P4 followed by Logano P5, Kurt Busch P8, Brad Keselowski P9, Blaney P11 and Almirola P13.
Team Penske also found success this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). Brad Keselowski piloted the No. 22 Menards Ford Mustang to its fourth pole and marked the eighth overall Ford Performance NXS pole for the season.
The MENCS and NXS split the schedule this weekend. MENCS will be in Pocono and NXS head out to Iowa. Reference the full 2018 schedule on Roush Yates Engines.
