Kevin Harvick cruised his 3rd 2010 Sprint Cup victory at Michigan International Speedway after winning ahead of Denny Hamlin at Carfax 400. Staying out on old tires under the final caution of the race was the key in order Harvick to remain on the top of the field and with 10 laps to go he tracked down Denny Hamlin and pulled away him to the finish line by 1.731 seconds. Harvick extended his series lead to 293 points over Jeff Gordon and became the first driver to clinch a spot in the Chase.
After the final yellow caution due to debris on Lap 167, Harvick restarted 2nd behind Tony Stewart on Lap 173. But Hamlin, who restarted 3rd, took the top spot from Stewart on Lap 178, with Harvick following. Running the top of the 2-mile track, Harvick passed Hamlin through Turns 3 and 4 after Hamlin's Toyota began to lose grip on the bottom.
The victory was Harvick's first at Michigan. Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth claimed positions three through five as they were teamed to block Stewart who risked like Harqvick and Hamlin not to change tyres but lost a lot of time during the final laps. Juan Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Elliott Sadler and Joey Logano completed the top 10.
Harvick commented:
"The biggest concern I had was the tires. Once we got through those first three or four or five laps, the new tires kind of evened out. Our car was so good up on the top. We were a little off on the restarts, but what a great day. This hasn't been the best track for us."
Harvick's pass of Hamlin represented a 20-point swing in bonus points to start the Chase. Harvick now has 30, 10 for each win, and prevented Hamlin from adding to his 50-point total. The bonus points will kick in after the Chase field is set at Richmond.
Hamlin, who also stayed out during the final caution, said he wasn't sure whether the strategy would serve him well until the last restart.
"We didn't know whether the guys with four tires were going to eat us up or not. I think five laps into that [run] when me, Harvick and Tony started pulling away, I realized it was a three-car race for the win at that point.
But really it just seemed like whoever could get their car up front was pretty strong. You lose one spot, next thing you know your car handles a little worse and you lose more. It's a tough balance out there to try to get track position, but you got to have everything working right for you to get that track position. Once you get it, obviously the fastest car won [Sunday]. So it was at least good to see that."
In the race within a race, Mark Martin dealt a blow to his chances to qualify for the Chase in the opening laps. Racing in dirty air in close quarters with Edwards, Martin scraped the outside wall, damaged the right-front of his No. 5 Chevrolet and crippled the handling of the car.
Martin finished badly back to 28th and seems he might lose the 12th final chase position in the standings to Clint Bowyer, who came home 13th. Martin trails Bowyer by 35 points with three races left before the Chase field is set.
Moreover the rest of champion Hendrick Motorsports drivers had a very bad race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was completely in shadows finished 19rh, Jeff gordon after a tyre failure was dropped back 27th and Jimmie Johnson just managed to finish a team best at 12th position.
