Kevin Harvick surged past Alex Bowman on the final restart to take the lead, pulling away to earn the victory in The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway. The win is Harvick’s 50th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and second win in Darlington.
“It’s a pretty big honor to win 50 races in this deal,” said Harvick after winning The Real Heroes 400.
In the first race back since March 8th when racing went on a hiatus due to Covid-19, uncertainty was widespread throughout the garage as the teams prepared for their first race back. NASCAR did not hold a practice or qualifying session for the event, forcing teams to make their best predictions for how the car will handle without testing and fine-tuning throughout the weekend.
While Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team cruised to take the checkered flag, other drivers were not so fortunate in their effort to conquer the “Lady in Black.”
The Lady in Black Strikes in The Real Heroes 400
On Lap 1, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went four wide exiting the corner and made contact, spinning into the inside wall and making heavy contact before completing a single lap.
On the final lap of Stage 1 while leading, Jimmie Johnson misjudged Chris Buescher’s speed exiting Turn 2, colliding with the No. 17 and crashing hard into the outside wall. A promising start for the No. 48 team ended in the garage before finishing Stage 1.
“Gosh what I would do to get that corner back to do it over again,” said Johnson after crashing out of the race. “I felt like I was going to be able to exit the corner side by side with (Buescher), and things just went horribly wrong there.”
Johnson posted a message to Twitter after exiting The Real Heroes 400.
Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron went on to win Stage 1. However, on the following restart, a flat right rear tire caused the No. 24 car to lose control into the outside wall, receiving enough damage to take the driver out of contention.
Short Turnaround for Teams Preparing for Wednesday’s Race
With a compressed schedule ahead, the NASCAR teams must head back to Charlotte and prepare for another race at Darlington Raceway this Wednesday. The NASCAR Xfinity Series joins the Cup Series for their race at Darlington on Tuesday the 19th.
Harvick’s Crew Chief Rodney Childers stated “it’s a real possibility” on bringing the winning car back for the Toyota 500(k) on Wednesday, as they head back to assess the condition of the car following Sunday’s 400 mile race.
Overall it was a successful day for NASCAR in an unprecedented situation. A quiet day at the track without fans was different, however it is a great time to be a racing fan, with many races to follow in the upcoming month and a half.
