Sonoma victory is special for Kevin Harvick

The track in the rolling hills of California’s wine country has done so since 1989.

“I mean, to restart after the second stage 33rd and to battle back with no trick strategy or any gimmick to get him back up there, he drove from 33rd to second, I thought was really impressive”, Stewart said.

Lives of others: Six U.S. Olympic athletes – skiers Resi Stiegler and Torin Yater-Wallace, snowboarders Hailey Langland and Alex Deibold, and speed skaters Mitch Whitmore and Joey Manta – were at Sonoma Raceway, getting a taste of NASCAR racing.

The victory gives Ford seven wins in 2017 after posting eight in all of 2017.

Contact with AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski and others couldn’t keep Bowyer from the solid finish.

Busch has been a great road course driver and he should be itching for a chance to showcase his skills today. Martin Truex Jr.(78) captured stage one, his 11th stage win of the year.

Gilliland leads Eggleston by 11 points.

He has nearly three times more stage victories than anyone else but was unable to add to his tally when his engine gave up after 86 laps, with the New Jersey driver admitting he had been running on just seven cylinders for a number of laps before that. Jimmie Johnson captured his first stage win of the year in stage two.

5 drivers made their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in Sonoma.

Denny Hamlin: The 2016 Daytona 500 victor was the first rookie to qualify for the Chase back in 2006 and is no stranger to NASCAR’s playoffs, but without a win yet this season Hamlin finds himself closer and closer to missing out. Only 10 playoff spots are now taken. 3 times for 25 laps; K. Harvick 2 times for 24 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 17 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 12 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 11 laps; K. Larson 1 time for 9 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 4 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 4 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 3 laps; J. McMurray 1 time for 1 lap. Logano now sits in 10th. “I felt like our vehicle was good enough to not chase stage points and go after the win today and it all worked out”. McMurray is seeking his first win of the season. Well, yes, but it doesn’t count toward the playoffs because it was an “encumbered” victory.

It’s back to Daytona and restrictor plate racing next week for the Coke Zero 400 night race on Saturday, which sees the return of NBC television coverage for the remainder of the season. He is now only winless at Texas, Pocono, and Kentucky Speedway. Busch has been right there at the end of so many races recently, it’s ridiculous. “No tricks, noting fancy – he just ran a solid race”.

“I feel good”, said Harvick. There was a time when it seemed he was going to be the driver to bring the No. 5 auto back into vogue for Hendrick Motorsports and make it not just competitive, but title contending worthy. Hopefully I left a good impression. We’ll see if he can close the gap this week. His auto promoted Disney’s Cars 3 movie, and was painted to resemble the cocky car-character competing for the Piston Cup in the Pixar films (the voice is provided by Owen Wilson). In NASCAR, unlike traditional professional sports where the team pays the athlete to compete, race auto drivers are required to pay their teams for the costs associated with their race cars, crew, and support facilities. Bowyer’s vehicle was adorned with the Cars 3 logo on the hood and a Lightning McQueen paint scheme.