Kevin Harvick led all but two of the 250 laps and turned in one of the most dominating performances in NASCAR history to claim the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. The win came in Harvick’s first Camping World Truck Series start with Richard Childress Racing after merging his three-time championship-winning Kevin Harvick, Inc. operation with his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner during the off season. The dominant performance began earlier in the day as the 36-year-old driver claimed his first Camping World Truck Series pole position of the season in the No. 2 Kroger/Tide Chevrolet. Once the green flag flew on the 250-lap event, the Marcus Richmond-led team never looked back. With the luxury of a strong-handling Tide Chevrolet, the No. 2team was able to make minor adjustments during Harvick’s two visits to pit road and maintain the lead in the process. Harvick paced the field as the laps ticked away and saved his equipment for the end of the 250-lap affair. The Bakersfield, Calif., native pulled away on the final restart with six laps remaining to cross the finish line ahead of his RCR teammate Ty Dillon and claim his third Camping World Truck Series victory at Martinsville Speedway and 14th win of his career.
Start - 1 Finish - 1 Laps Led - 248 Owner Points - 6
IN HARVICK QUOTE:
“It’s been a long time since we’ve dominated like that and actually won. We made a lot of changes over the offseason, moving teams to RCR, and this is what we’d hope for—to make what was a good Camping World Truck Series team even better.”
“I knew we had a little bit better truck than what they (Ty Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet team) had but I didn’t want him to get hung on the outside. They’re racing for a championship, and it’s our job as the No. 2 team to go out there and help them and try to make sure they win the championship and we win races.”