When the season started, there were some concerned that Kevin Harvick would not have a good season after announcing that he would leave Richard Childress Racing at season's end to make the move over to Stewart-Hass Racing.
Kevin Harvick ran two very impressive practice sessions in preparation for the Sprint Unlimited this evening. He was the fastest in the first session and backed up that speed with a fourth quickest time in the final practice for the race to put his average at 2.5 for the weekend.
With a thrilling block on the last lap, Kevin Harvick would take the victory in the Sprint Unlimited as he heads into his final season with Richard Childress Racing.
Johnson was leading the race and the championship until lap 213 during a schedules green flag pit stop. The pit crew left off a rear lug nut and Johnson had to come back in to pit again. Johnson lost a lap and the title started fading at that point. Then on lap 226 Johnson slowed and went to the pits for repairs……the championship was over for Johnson and the No.48 team.
The race was dominated for most of the event by the 18 of Kyle Busch. He won the pole on Friday evening and led all three practice sessions on Saturday morning. The tide turned when the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson blew a right-front tire off turn 4 and slammed the wall
Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway with a lap of 191.076 MPH (28.261 SECS). Johnson also captured the pole last week at Martinsville and won the race.
In 31 previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (DIS), Spire Motorsports has one win, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
The four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion from Semora, North Carolina, will pilot Peterson Racing's No. 87 entry at Las Vegas and Martinsville in October before campaigning on a full-time O'Reilly Auto Parts Series basis in 2027.
Ford Racing comes into this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway on a hot streak after Ryan Blaney won on Sunday in New Hampshire.
