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FIELDS Driver Scored Fifth Top-10 Finish of 2017 XFINITY Series Season​

Date: Aug. 5, 2017

Event: Zippo 200 at The Glen (Round 20 of 33)

Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series

Location: Watkins Glen International (2.45-mile road course)

Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/42 laps)

Start/Finish: 10th/6th (Running, completed 82 of 82 laps)

 

Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Paul Menard of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

 

Stage 1 Recap (Ends on Lap 20):

• Started 10th, finished 12th.
• Kevin Harvick battled a loose-handling condition at the start of the 200-mile race, but pitted during the first caution to correct the issue.
• The No. 41 FIELDS Ford Mustang team made an early strategy play as they were the first team of the race to come down pit road.
• Harvick restarted 31st on lap seven, but by lap 12 had already made his way into the top 20 though he was still battling a loose condition.
• The FIELDS Ford crosses the line 12th at the conclusion of Stage 1.

Stage 2 Recap (Ends on Lap 40):  

• Started third, finished 27th.
• Harvick restarted third after electing to stay out after Stage 1, but spun getting into Turn 1 on lap 24 falling back to 18th.
• The FIELDS team continued to battle a free-handling car through the majority of Stage 2.
• On lap 35 Harvick pitted for tires fuel and adjustments, but due to an uncontrolled tire the team received a pit road penalty forcing Harvick to restart from the tail of the field. Thus, he pitted twice more to top off with fuel prior to the restart.
• Came to pit road for fuel only following Stage 2.

Final Stage Recap (Ends on Lap 82):           

• Started 29th, finished sixth.
• The FIELDS Ford came to pit road for fuel only on lap 51, while scored in the 14th position.
• Harvick and the No. 41 team returned to the top 10 on lap 58.
• He raced his way up to the seventh position with 10 laps to go.
• Harvick was racing in the seventh position when the caution flag waved on lap 76.
• The No. 41 FIELDS team restarted sixth on lap 79 and Harvick maintained his position until the checkered flag.

Notes:                   

• Harvick scored his eighth top-10 finish in seven NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International
• It is his 255th top-10 finish in 340 XFINITY Series starts.
• This is Harvick’s fifth XFINITY Series start for Stewart-Haas Racing.
• The race featured eight lead changes among five drivers and five cautions for 15 laps.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 41 FIELDS Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It was an eventful day for sure. We were just way, way, way too loose to start the day. We were able to get it better but restarts weren’t better for us. The longer we ran the better we were. We were just lacking a lot of rear grip out there today and that was our undoing.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Mid-Ohio Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on Saturday, August 12. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN. Harvick’s next and final time behind the wheel of the No. 41 Ford Mustang for 2017 will be Saturday, September 2 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200.

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