NASCAR at Charlotte: Results, highlights from Kevin Harvick's 2018 All-Star win

Kenan Goyette

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NASCAR at Charlotte: Results, highlights from Kevin Harvick's 2018 All-Star win image

CONCORD, N.C. — Kevin Harvick just keeps on winning. There was no stopping the No. 4 car Saturday night as Harvick captured the 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his sixth win of the Monster Energy Cup Series season and his third win in a row.

"Everything is going our way," Harvick said after the race. "We've got really fast cars and everybody is executing. The pit crew didn't have a great first stop with the tire getting hung in the fender but they remounted with a great pit stop on the next stop and gained a spot or two there.

"That's what you want out of an experienced team, whether it's the pit crew, the crew chief, the driver, when something goes wrong you have to be able to overcome it, refocus and move forward."

Harvick, who started the night in the fourth position, took the first- and third-stage checkered flags. He lost positions after a long late-race pit stop but managed to work his way back up and overtook Daniel Suarez on the final lap of the race to secure the overtime victory and the $1 million prize.

This was Harvick’s second career win in the All-Star Race, which is officially considered an exhibition. His first came 11 years ago in 2007.

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The new aero package that was set up to decrease horsepower, increase drafting and make the race more competitive did just that. The first three stages featured plenty of movement in the middle of the pack and no stage winners led for the entire stage.

It also led to action in the middle of the pack that caused a few minor wrecks and one major one, with two laps to go in the final stage that knocked out contenders Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer.

Harvick mentioned that it would take some time to get all parties on the same page with the new race package to give everyone more time to prepare, but he was also complimentary of the changes.

"Tonight's race was very aggressive and this is the perfect spot to try stuff like this," he said. "I think that when you look at NASCAR races in five years you'll look back at tonight and say it looks like this and it all started here."

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Below are results and highlights from the 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race. (All times Eastern.)

Material from the NASCAR Wire Service were used in this report.

NASCAR All-Star Race: Results, highlights from Charlotte Motor Speedway

Finishing positon, car number, driver, manufacturer, laps run  

               1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 93.
               2. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 93.
               3. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 93.
               4. (14) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 93.
               5. (21) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 93.
               6. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 93.
               7. (16) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 93.
               8. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 93.
               9. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 93.
               10. (17) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 93.
               11. (2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 93.
               12. (9) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 93.
               13. (12) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 93.
               14. (1) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 93.
               15. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 93.
               16. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 93.
               17. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Accident, 75.
               18. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, Accident, 74.
               19. (3) Clint Bowyer, Ford, Accident, 74.
               20. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 74.
               21. (18) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 68.
 
Average speed of race winner: 84.688 mph.
Time of race: 1 hour, 38 minutes, 50 seconds. Margin of victory: 0.325 seconds.
Caution flags: Eight for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among seven drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Stenhouse Jr. 1-5; K. Harvick 6-30; M. Truex Jr. 31; Kyle Busch 32-50; B. Keselowski 51; M. Truex Jr. 52; B. Keselowski 53-54; M. Truex Jr. 55-69; K. Larson 70-74; D. Hamlin 75-81; K. Larson 82; K. Harvick 83-93.
Leaders summary (Driver, times led, laps led): K. Harvick two times for 36 laps; Kyle Busch one time for 19 laps; M. Truex Jr. three times for 17 laps; D. Hamlin one time for seven laps; K. Larson two times for six laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. one time for five laps; B. Keselowski two times for three laps.
Stage 1 winner: Kevin Harvick, No. 4
Stage 2 winner: Kyle Busch, No. 18
Stage 3 winner: Kevin Harvick, No. 4

10:05 — Celebration time for the No. 4 team.

9:57 — Kevin Harvick can't stop winning. He takes the checkered flag here in Charlotte for the 2018 All-Star Race. 

9:55 — Green flag. Two laps. $1 million. Let's do it.

9:52 — A couple drivers hit pit road during the red. This race needs 10 green flag laps to be completed. There'll be two to go once they go green again.

9:49 — Down to two laps but the caution comes out after Logano and Larson make contact and Larson goes spinning into the grass.

9:47 — Harvick has had the lead for the first five but Suarez isn't far off. The final five should be a wild ride here.

9:44 — Ten laps to go!

9:36 — Harvick pushes past Suarez on Turn 4 and takes Stage 3!

9:35 — Quickly back to green for two laps.

9:29 — Kurt Busch, Truex, Bowyer and Keselowski all headed to the garage. Kyle Busch should be good to continue.

9:26 — And we have a wreck. A LOT of cars involved. Truex, Bowyer, Keselowski and the Busch brothers all dinged up. They were four wide at the time of the crash.

9:25 — Green again for this Stage 3 shootout.

9:20 — Jimmie Johnson gets dinged with a penalty for speeding on pit road.

9:19 — About half of the field decides to pit here under yellow.

9:17 — Two laps left in the stage and Alex Bowman gets loose, spins and brings the caution out. There'll be overtime to decide Stage 3. Bowman's day is done.

9:15 — Five laps to go and it's a battle up front. Truex, Larson, Suarez and Logano all there.

9:09 — A couple of drivers, including Harvick, head down pit road during this caution. These stops could add an interesting wrinkle to the final stage finishes here.

9:07 — Kasey Kahne gets into the wall and brings out the caution flag.

9:04 — Restarting here for Stage 3. Another 20 laps here and 10 in the final stage.

9:01 — Keselowski takes just two new tires and leads the pack off pit road.

8:55 — Stage 2 belongs to Kyle Busch! Half the stages down and just 30 laps left tonight.

8:53 — And Allmendinger has some trouble with a tire. He's forced to head down pit road.

8:51 — A.J. Allmendinger has been in this from the start. That No. 47 car is racing pretty well tonight.

8:50 — Kyle Busch up front with 10 to go in Stage 2. He briefly lost P1 to Truex early on but has been in the lead since. Jimmie Johnson and Daniel Suarez fighting it out behind him.

8:45 — Green again for the start of Stage 2.

8:41 — Kyle Busch makes it first out of the pits. Harvick drops back a bit but I wouldn't expect him to be there for long.

8:40 — Everybody heads to pit road now.

8:36 — Kevin Harvick is the Stage 1 winner. Truex, Kyle Busch and Allmendinger gave him a good run.

8:34 — Five to go in Stage 1 and Harvick is still holding the field off up front.

8:29 — Harvick has held P1 for quite a few laps now. Truex and Logano are right on his tail though. As I type this, Kyle Busch moves ahead of Logano — so much movement!

8:25 — This aero package is leading to some wild racing. No has sat in one position for very long.

8:23 — Green again with Harvick, Stenhouse and Kenseth fighting it out up front.

8:19 — Kurt Busch gets loose, goes sideways and we have an early caution here.

8:18 — Here we go. We're green!

8:08 —  The engines are fired! It's All-Star race time in Charlotte.

8:05 —  Potential rain delay ahead? Let's hope not.

7:46 — Jamie McMurray and his No. 1 car are headed to the rear due to an engine change.

7:12 — Some car prep between races for the fan vote winner.

7:08 — About an hour to go until the main event here in Charlotte.

7:03 — Moving on!

6:49 — So it'll be Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and A.J. Allmendinger moving on tonight's race. Chase Elliott wins the fan vote and he'll take the final spot.

6:46 — It's A.J. Allmendinger who grabs Stage 3 to end the Open and advance to the All-Star race.

6:45 — Elliott takes over but them Allmendinger takes it from him. Bubba Wallace fell back but gained some speed and got right back in it. One left.

6:44 — Chase Elliott gaining on Bubba Wallace now with five laps to go in the Open.

6:41 — Back to green for 10 more laps. Bubba Wallace has the top spot for now.

6:39 — Ty Dillon get a too many men penalty.

6:37 — Chris Buescher gets hit with a too many men over the wall penalty on pit road.

6:32 — Stage 2 belongs to Daniel Suarez. He'll move on to the main event.

6:31 — Menard takes a small hit to the wall and falls back a bit.

6:30 — Five laps to go and it's a fight between Elliott and Suarez up front but A.J. Allmendinger isn't far behind.

6:25 — Chase Elliott is fighting his way up to the top. He sits second behind Suarez with 11 to go.

6:24 — Whoa! David Ragan nearly goes sideways but makes a great save.

6:21 — They are green for Stage 2 in Charlotte. A lot of movement already in this first lap. It's Suarez, Almirola and Menard out front for now.

6:18 — Penalties on Michael McDowell (34) for going too fast on pit road and Rick Ware (51) for too many men over the wall and an uncontrolled tire.

6:15 — Bowman comes off during this red flag between stages. All drivers decide to pit except the leader Erik Jones.

6:11 — And it's Alex Bowman who locks up the first extra spot in the All-Star race.

6:10 — Almirola has fallen back and now Erik Jones is right on Alex Bowman's tail as Stage 1 wraps up. Two laps to go.

6:07 — Bowman just took the lead from Almirola. A lot of back and forth racing going on here so far.

6:03 — Aric Almirola started out front and he's still leading with 10 laps down. Menard and Bowman sit behind him.

6:02 — The stages for the Open are broken up at lap 20 and lap 40. The field was set by playoff points after yesterday's rain.

6:00 — The All-Star Open is under way here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kenan Goyette