DOVER, DE – August 24, 2020 – Kevin Harvick swept the Dover Drydene 311 Sunday by sweeping the stages and winning his seventh race of the year. In addition, Harvick clinched the regular season NASCAR Cup Series championship and Ford Performance’s 700th NASCAR win.
“Congratulations to Edsel {Ford} and Ford on their 700th NASCAR Cup win,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “It has been a blessing to be partners with Ford Performance since 2004 and to see our team compete at the highest levels of motorsports. Kevin and Chase’s {Briscoe} victories are a testament to the hard work and dedication that everyone puts into the Ford program and competing for a championship every week. We are proud to be part of the Ford family.”
Ford Performance dominated the Drydene 311, leading a total 308 laps out of the 311-lap race. Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Mustang led 223 laps on the way to collecting his third win in the last five Cup races and his 56th career Cup win.
The race came down to the last round of pit-stops, as all the lead lap cars came down pit road one final time. The No. 4 crew put Harvick in position to win with four fresh tires. The No. 4 Ford Mustang took the lead and never looked back, building a 3.525 second lead on the field to take the checkered flag.
“Congratulations to Ford on their 700th Cup win. I want to thank everyone on this team,” commented Harvick in Victory Lane. “I love the grit of our race team. I think that is what Gene Haas and Tony Stewart have built at Stewart-Haas Racing. A team with a lot of grit. Sometimes we don’t have the fastest car, but we have guys willing to suck it up and when we have a weak link that day someone else will carry the team. I am really proud of that and that is what it is all about. You are only as good as the people around you and we have great people.”
Five Ford Mustangs finished in the top-10. Following Harvick was Ford teammates Joey Logano in P6 and Aric Almirola in P7, Brad Keselowski in P8 and Cole Custer in P10.
After a disappointing run on Saturday, Chase Briscoe called his shot, saying he would win Sunday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Dover. Starting from the rear in a back-up car, due to a spin out on Saturday’s race, Briscoe patiently advanced through the field. Briscoe took over the lead on lap 71 and led 19 laps to win Stage 2.
The third and final stage was set up to be a duel between Ford Performance teammates Briscoe and Austin Cindric as they lined up first and second to start the final stage. Briscoe took the lead and finished the race leading 107 laps out of 200 lap race and crossed the finish line 2.463 seconds ahead of Ross Chastain. Briscoe recorded his sixth win of the season and Stewart-Haas Racing’s 18th career win in the Xfinity Series.
“As soon as we took the green, I knew that I was going to be really good,” commented Briscoe in Victory Lane. “The car was way better than what it was yesterday and was really what I was looking for. We were able to finish sixth in the first stage from the back and I knew if we could get clean air I was going to be in really good shape I am super happy to get HighPoint.com back in victory lane. It feels like it has been forever, but it has only been a month and a half. Hopefully, we can carry the momentum into the playoffs.”
Cindric drove a great race and finished third overall, and continues to lead in the overall driver’s points standings with Briscoe 62 points behind him in second.
Heading into the last week before the NASCAR Cup playoffs, Ford continues to lead all manufacturers with 14 NASCAR Cup Series wins and 11 Xfinity Series wins. Stewart-Haas Racing and Harvick continue to lead the NCS owner and driver points standings while Cindric along with Team Penske lead the owner and driver points standing in Xfinity.
Seb Priaulx and Scott Maxwell finished P4 in the No. 22 Ford Mustang GT4 and Ford teammates Drew Staveley and James Pesek in P15 at the Virginia International Raceway in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Countdown to the last race of the regular season at Daytona International Speedway. It’s all or nothing to get into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs this coming weekend. The NXS Series continues its regular season at Daytona with five races remaining in the regular season. In addition, the next IMSA Michelin Pilot race will be held at Road Atlanta on September 4-5.
27 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 404 WINS – 360 POLES!
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.
Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.
3 Series – 22 Teams – 81 Races
