Kevin Harvick held off Alex Bowman by just over two seconds on Sunday evening to win the Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway, as NASCAR made their return for the first time since March 8.
Harvick won his first race of 2020, and extended his overall top spot in championship points to 28 over Bowman with the 2.154 second victory. It also marked the drivers 50th career NASCAR Cup win, and his first win at Darlington since 2014 when he was in the pole position and the same year he won the series championship. Taking home the checkered flag on Sunday tied him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Jed Johnson and Ned Garrett on the all time wins list. Overall he led 159 of the 293 laps. Amidst the pandemic, all drivers wore face coverings and crew members and on track personnel were limited.
Bowman, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five while six through 10 went to Martin Truex, Jr, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, and Matt Kenseth. It was the best finish and first top 10 of the season for the rookies Nemechek and Reddick. Kenseth was making his first start in a NASCAR Cup series race since the finale of the 2018 season in Miami.
Ryan Newman who was involved in the horrific last lap crash at the Daytona 500, earned points in the opening stage and was 10th at the midway point and finished 15th in his return. NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell was proud and encouraged with what he saw on the track Sunday, and hoping it bodes well for the rest of a compressed schedule that includes 20 more races from now until the third week of June. The schedule will consist of all three of NASCAR’s premiere series that includes the Cup Series, XFinity Series, and the Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series. XFinity is next up and takes center stage at Darlington as well under the lights at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night on Fox Sports One.
