Kevin Harvick didn’t mind a three-hour plus rain delay on Friday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, because the JR Motorsports driver collected his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season in the ToyotaCare 250.
Chase Elliott, the winner of the last two Nationwide Series races entering Richmond finished second in his NNS debut at Richmond, giving JR Motorsports it’s first-ever 1-2 finish in competition.
“Our Tide / Kroger Chevrolet was really good, I just have to thank everyone at JR Motorsports,” said Harvick, who collected his 41st Nationwide victory Saturday morning. “Everyone has put a lot of effort into the car and it just says a lot about the team. It was a lot of fun.”
Elliott, however, chided himself for not giving Harvick more of a battle after a restart on Lap 204.
“We were just a little tight right in the middle of the corner,” Elliott said. “I think he just outdrove me a little bit. Honestly, I felt like some of it was me. I just let him get a little too far out in front of me there on the first few laps.
“I’ve just got to get up on the wheel a little harder the next time we’re in that situation.”
Brian Scott soared to his third career pole Friday afternoon and led the first 43 Laps before the competition caution allowed teams to come to pit road for tires, fuel and chassis adjustments. Scott in his No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet Camaro won the race off pit road, but was quickly challenged on the restart by Harvick. The driver of the No. 5 Tide Chevrolet Camaro led for 85 laps before having to pit under green for tires and fuel.
That gave the lead to Elliott Sadler, before Harvick was able to gain it back two laps later, thanks to a flawless pit stop by his JRM team. “Happy Harvick” would never relinquish the lead again and it was literally game over for the rest of the field. Harvick led 202 laps in posting his series-best seventh win at Richmond and his first of the season.
Behind the JRM duo was Kyle Busch, who was vocal in post-race interview about the tire issues teams experienced during the 250-lap race. “This tire is horrible, it was the wrong tire for here,” offered the driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry in his post-race interview.
The tire issue that the all-time NASCAR Nationwide Series leader referred to stemmed from a new tire that Goodyear brought to the track. Teams voiced concern over the tread following Thursday’s practice session at RIR, but though if the rain stayed away, all would be well. The rain, however, did not stay away and it drenched the 0.75-mile oval on two occasions, almost causing immediate panic Friday night. Tires were wearing so considerably that the entire cords were showing after 40 Laps or so. Thankfully, no drivers crashed because of the issue, but it did cause for tense moments on the track and pawn a sense of alarm for Saturday night’s pending Cup race.
Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole sitter for the Toyota Owners 400 Kyle Larson was fourth followed by pole sitter Brian Scott, notching his best finish of 2014 to round out the top-five.
Elliott Sadler recovered from a late race spin to finish sixth ahead of Chris Buescher, Regan Smith, Ryan Blaney and James Buescher to comprise the top-10.
Other top-20 notables: Trevor Bayne (11th), Ryan Reed (12th), Landon Cassill (13th), Cale Conley (15th), Dakoda Armstrong (17th), J.J Yeley (18th), Daniel Suarez (19th) and Brendan Gaughan (20th).
Outside pole sitter Dylan Kwasniewski had one of his better showings of 2014 on Friday night, but received a late-race kick from Ryan Reed in the No. 16, which sent the No. 31 SEM Products Chevrolet into the outside wall on Lap 187 ending his night. He finished 32nd.
Unofficially, Elliott leads JRM teammate Regan Smith in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings by 19 after eight races. JR Motorsports has won 50 percent of the races this year. Regan Smith started off the year with a triumph at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway followed by Elliott’s back-to-back wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway respectively and Harvick’s first win with JR Motorsports.
Next up for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is the Aaron’s 312 from Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Saturday, May 3.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
Editor’s Note: Reid Spencer of the NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report
