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Harvick Wins Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300

Kevin Harvick celebrates in victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway after winning the Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 Nationwide Series race. [Mark Walczak Photo]

For so much of Saturday’s Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 NASCAR Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway, it looked like a familiar script.

Kyle Busch would run and hide from the field. Caution flags would close things up, and in the end Kyle’ Monster Energy Toyota would leave the pack behind for the win.

But that script was turned inside-out today as a four-tire caution flag pit stop by front-runners Busch and Kyle Larson opened the way for Kevin Harvick’s crew to decide to take just two tires; a strategy that got him to the front on lap 161 and let him hold off Larson and Busch for his fourth series’ win of 2014.

“We didn’t have many laps on those tires and taking just two gave us great track position,” noted Harvick, who had changed Goodyear’s just 10 laps prior. “Ernie Cope (crew chief) won the race for us with that strategy.”

“We talked about it and decided two tires would give us track position and it would make them pass us, “explained Cope, who also adjusted a loose handling car and set it up for Harvick’s end-of-the-race charge.

“There were 23 cars on the lead lap before that last stop and that’s why we didn’t take four. We didn’t want to get buried back in the field. We heard that the #54 car (Busch)was taking four and that made us decide for two, “ the winner said. “I wanted to get away from him as far as I could.”

Harvick led Larson to the flag by 2.108 sec and averaged 125.261 mph in a race slowed six times for 35 laps.

Busch, who led a race-high 141 laps, thought that taking four tires on his last stop did him in. “Our pit call…it is what it is. It sucks to not be in victory lane where we should be. We were fast today and deserved to win-but we can’t get through traffic,” said an irritated Busch who restarted in 16th place and finished third on worn tires after chasing Harvick and Larson for the final 39 laps. ”I know that we needed to get tires, but obviously four was the wrong call and put us back behind. I fought my butt off there for that last run and could only get to third because any time the second-place car got in front of me, all I did was knock down the wall—aero issues.”

Larson, whose Colgate Chevrolet was sandwiched between Harvick and Busch, felt that he finished in the right spot, given his team’s decision to also take four tires on their final stop. “We were a top two or three car for the whole race. We were loose early, and then lost track position when we took four. I got a good restart (from fourth spot) but I got into the wall from the oil on the track (caused by Jeremy Clement’s blown engine), but was able to hold off Kyle at the end. If I hadn’t gotten in the wall I might have had something for Kevin.”

Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne finished fourth and fifth, with Bayne being the highest finishing driver in the chase for the Nationwide championship. “I’m glad we didn’t give up early when we were really tight. We worked the whole race to free-up the car and get some track position,” said Bayne who restarted 17th, right behind Busch on the decisive lap 160 restart and bolted to fifth in the final 40 laps. “I watched Kyle put his car in places others wouldn’t dare.”

Blaney dropped to 15th place during the early race action after a slow pit stop on lap 25 put his Discount Tire Ford back in the pack. “We had radio problems and then I slid through our pit box on our first stop. I dropped from fifth to 14th and had to work to get back,” explained the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney.

The win was Harvick’s fourth in the Nationwide Series in 2014 and his 44th in his 314-race Nationwide career.

Chase Elliot, who finished tenth, leads the series standings by 18 points over Regan Smith and is 22 ahead of Ty Dillon.

For Harvick, it was a sponsor-happy victory lane as many company people from his Jimmy John’s sponsor were here tonight to cheer him on. “This was the first time when everyone was here when we won.

“We were faster on those two tires than we were when we changed four and I got as far away from the #54 as I could.”
And to quote his Jimmy John’s sponsor, perhaps you could say he was “Freaky Fast.”

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