Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, led the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway by finishing second in the Irwin Tools Night Race.

Harvick started seventh and was in position to score his third victory of the season before having to settle for his 12th top-two finish of the year. The top-five result was Harvick’s 17th this season, and it marked a single-season career high, eclipsing his 16 top-fives earned in 2010. This was also Harvick’s 250th career top-10 in his 526th Sprint Cup start.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 14th. It was Busch’s 17th top-15 in 20 Sprint Cup starts this season.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 19th to earn his 10th top-20 of the year.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 27th.

Joey Logano won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 11th career Sprint Cup victory, his third this season and his second at Bristol.

Harvick finished .220 of a second behind Logano, while Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five. Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 52 laps with four drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race around the .533-mile oval.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 908 points, 43 ahead of second-place Logano. Kurt Busch is eighth with 713 points, 195 out of first. With two wins apiece, Harvick and Busch are locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Patrick is 21st with 525 points, 95 out of 16th, the cutoff position to make the 16-driver Chase field on points. Stewart is 26th with 466 points, 154 out of 16th.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action Sept. 6 with the 66th annual Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The second-to-last race before the Chase starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.

-SHR-

Photo credit kevinharvick.com

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