Kevin Harvick has opened his 2015 NASCAR account with victory in Las Vegas
Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick has scored a dominant win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Harvick led 142 of the 267 laps in the Kobalt Tools 400 to win to go with his two second place finishes to start the season.
Despite starting in 18th, he worked his way to the front and proved the class of the field.
In a town where luck is everything, Harvick reported a vibration over the closing laps before taking the chequered flag, his celebration causing a left rear tyre to shred.
A great run from Martin Truex Jr. Saw him finish second just 1.6s behind.
Ryan Newman came home third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger.
Harvick’s hot start to the season has every chance of being extended next weekend at one of his most successful tracks – Phoenix.
“It’s so cool to win here in Las Vegas, and to start this West Coast swing off this way is pretty awesome,” Harvick said.
“Just to be in front of all these fans I’ve raced in front of since about the mid-‘90s… it’s pretty special to win here.”
The victory vaulted Harvick into the lead in the series standings by nine points over Earnhardt, who has finished with a pairs of thirds and a fourth in the first three races of the season.
VIDEO: Harvick wins at Vegas
VIDEO: Harvick in Victory Lane
RESULTS: Kobalt Tools 400 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
POS.
CAR #
DRIVER
MANUFACTURER
STARTING POS.
LAPS
LAPS LED
FINAL STATUS
POINTS
BONUS POINTS
1
4
Kevin Harvick
Chevrolet
18
267
142
Running
48
5
2
78
Martin Truex Jr
Chevrolet
8
267
3
Running
43
1
3
31
Ryan Newman
Chevrolet
7
267
14
Running
42
1
4
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Chevrolet
4
267
4
Running
41
1
5
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
19
267
0
Running
39
0
6
47
AJ Allmendinger
Chevrolet
22
267
0
Running
38
0
7
2
Brad Keselowski
Ford
11
267
9
Running
38
1
8
42
Kyle Larson
Chevrolet
5
267
0
Running
36
0
9
20
Matt Kenseth
Toyota
6
267
1
Running
36
1
10
22
Joey Logano
Ford
2
267
47
Running
35
1
11
1
Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet
10
267
0
Running
33
0
12
27
Paul Menard
Chevrolet
24
267
0
Running
32
0
13
33
Brian Scott
Chevrolet
23
267
0
Running
0
0
14
16
Greg Biffle
Ford
16
267
0
Running
30
0
15
55
Brian Vickers
Toyota
28
266
0
Running
29
0
16
41
Regan Smith
Chevrolet
34
266
0
Running
0
0
17
5
Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet
3
266
0
Running
27
0
18
24
Jeff Gordon
Chevrolet
1
266
0
Running
26
0
19
21
Ryan Blaney
Ford
30
266
0
Running
0
0
20
3
Austin Dillon
Chevrolet
25
265
0
Running
24
0
21
15
Clint Bowyer
Toyota
20
265
0
Running
23
0
22
18
David Ragan
Toyota
13
265
0
Running
22
0
23
38
David Gilliland
Ford
37
265
0
Running
21
0
24
9
Sam Hornish Jr
Ford
29
265
0
Running
20
0
25
13
Casey Mears
Chevrolet
17
264
0
Running
19
0
26
43
Aric Almirola
Ford
15
264
0
Running
18
0
27
10
Danica Patrick
Chevrolet
21
264
0
Running
17
0
28
6
Trevor Bayne
Ford
35
264
0
Running
16
0
29
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ford
31
264
0
Running
15
0
30
95
Michael McDowell
Ford
32
264
0
Running
14
0
31
51
Justin Allgaier
Chevrolet
26
263
0
Running
13
0
32
35
Cole Whitt
Ford
38
262
0
Running
12
0
33
14
Tony Stewart
Chevrolet
12
262
0
Running
11
0
34
98
Josh Wise
Ford
39
261
0
Running
10
0
35
40
Landon Cassill
Chevrolet
42
261
0
Running
0
0
36
23
J.J. Yeley
Toyota
40
260
0
Running
0
0
37
34
Brett Moffitt
Ford
36
260
0
Running
7
0
38
62
Brendan Gaughan
Chevrolet
43
258
0
Running
0
0
39
46
Michael Annett
Chevrolet
33
257
0
Running
5
0
40
26
Jeb Burton
Toyota
41
254
0
Running
4
0
41
48
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet
9
236
45
Running
4
1
42
19
Carl Edwards
Toyota
14
227
2
Running
3
1
43
7
Alex Bowman
Chevrolet
27
28
0
Engine
1
0
STANDINGS
POS
DRIVER
POINTS
BEHIND
STARTS
WINS
TOP 5
TOP 10
DNF
1
Kevin Harvick
134
Leader
3
1
3
3
0
2
Dale Earnhardt Jr
125
-9
3
0
3
3
0
3
Joey Logano
123
-11
3
1
2
3
0
4
Martin Truex Jr
118
-16
3
0
1
3
0
5
AJ Allmendinger
100
-34
3
0
0
2
0
6
Kasey Kahne
92
-42
3
0
0
1
0
7
Jimmie Johnson
91
-43
3
1
2
2
0
8
Denny Hamlin
87
-47
3
0
2
2
0
9
Casey Mears
87
-47
3
0
0
1
0
10
Matt Kenseth
85
-49
3
0
1
2
0
11
Greg Biffle
84
-50
3
0
0
1
0
12
Ryan Newman
82
-52
3
0
1
2
0
13
Paul Menard
82
-52
3
0
0
0
0
14
Clint Bowyer
81
-53
3
0
0
1
0
15
Aric Almirola
80
-54
3
0
0
0
0
16
Brad Keselowski
77
-57
3
0
0
2
1
17
David Gilliland
77
-57
3
0
0
0
0
18
Sam Hornish Jr
75
-59
3
0
0
0
0
19
David Ragan
75
-59
3
0
0
0
0
20
Danica Patrick
68
-66
3
0
0
0
0
21
Kyle Larson
64
-70
3
0
0
1
1
22
Austin Dillon
59
-75
3
0
0
0
0
23
Carl Edwards
57
-77
3
0
0
0
0
24
Trevor Bayne
55
-79
3
0
0
0
0
25
Jamie McMurray
54
-80
3
0
0
0
1
26
Michael Annett
52
-82
3
0
0
0
0
27
Brett Moffitt
44
-90
2
0
0
1
0
28
Justin Allgaier
44
-90
3
0
0
0
1
29
Michael McDowell
44
-90
3
0
0
0
0
30
Jeff Gordon
42
-92
3
0
0
0
1
31
Cole Whitt
41
-93
3
0
0
0
1
32
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
38
-96
3
0
0
0
1
33
Brian Vickers
29
-105
1
0
0
0
0
34
Tony Stewart
27
-107
3
0
0
0
1
35
Alex Bowman
22
-112
2
0
0
0
1
36
Josh Wise
22
-112
2
0
0
0
0
37
Bobby Labonte
20
-114
1
0
0
0
0
38
Michael Waltrip
18
-116
1
0
0
0
0
39
Jeb Burton
13
-121
2
0
0
0
0
40
Reed Sorenson
12
-122
1
0
0
0
0
41
Mike Wallace
8
-126
1
0
0
0
0
42
Ron Hornaday Jr
2
-132
1
0
0
0
1
43
Brian Scott
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
44
Regan Smith
0
-134
3
0
0
0
0
45
Matt Crafton
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
46
Ryan Blaney
0
-134
2
0
0
0
1
47
Johnny Sauter
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
48
Brendan Gaughan
0
-134
2
0
0
0
0
49
Ty Dillon
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
50
Mike Bliss
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
51
Joe Nemechek
0
-134
1
0
0
0
0
52
J.J. Yeley
0
-134
3
0
0
0
0
53
Landon Cassill
0
-134
3
0
0
0
2
54
Matt DiBenedetto
0
-134
0
0
0
0
0
55
Justin Marks
0
-134
0
0
0
0
0
56
Travis Kvapil
0
-134
0
0
0
0
0
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