Kevin Harvick used his experience to win at Darlington Raceway in NASCAR’s return.
Harvick, who entered the event without a win in 2020, dominated the race to extend his points lead.
Harvick led 159 of the 293 laps, holding off Alex Bowman by 2.154 seconds and remains the only driver to finish in the top 10 in every race this season.
This win marks the 50th in his career, tying him with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th-place all-time.
Kurt Busch finished in third while Chase Eillott and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.
The top ten comprised of Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, and Matt Kenseth – who was making his first appearance in 2020 after subbing for Kyle Larson.
STAGE 1
William Byron picked up the first stage win after leader Jimmie Johnson ran into the back of Chris Buescher on the final lap.
After fighting to stay on the lead lap, the two tangled allowing Byron to slip by and take the stage win.
STAGE 2
Truex rebounded from earlier difficulties to finish in third, with Harvick fourth and Clint Bowyer rounding out the top five.
Both Elliott and Newman were penalised for speeding on pit road and had restart from the rear of the field.
On lap 110, Byron got loose and tagged the wall, causing him to spin off turn 2, bringing out the caution.
On the restart, Harvick led away from Bowman and Keselowski.
Harvick started to build a lead over Busch, until lap 124 when Daniel Suarez spun off turn 4 after suffering a flat tyre.
Harvick once again led the race off pit road and led away on the safety car restart.
Debris from a sponsor banner got loose and drifted onto a couple of cars before a caution was thrown on lap 155.
Both Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola were penalised for having uncontrolled tyres during the respective pitstops and were relegated to the rear of the field.
Christopher Bell spun off turn 4 on lap 173, causing another caution.
Brad Keselowski took the lead off pit road following a late caution and held off Bowman for the Stage 2 win.
STAGE 3
Bowman was the first off pit road and led the way when the race returned to green on lap 193.
Keselowski powered past Bowman off turn 2 to reclaim the lead after the restart. He would maintain the lead until lap 213, when Buescher spun on the front straight.
A strange occurrence around this time was a small grass fire behind turns 1 and 2.
All of the lead-lap cars pit with Harvick the first off pit road and he reclaimed the lead on the restart on Lap 218. The smoke from the fire soon dissipated.
With 50 laps remaining, Harvick had moved out to a more than 2-second lead over Bowman. Elliott had moved up to third, 5.1 seconds behind the leader.
Ryan Newman spun in Turn 1 to bring out a caution with 41 laps remaining. All of the lead-lap cars pit and Harvick once again exited first to retain the race lead.
On the restart on Lap 260, Harvick was followed by Bowman and Elliott. Kurt Busch was fourth and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
While running fifth, Kyle Busch was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 267 with what appeared to be a loose wheel. When he returned to the track he was running 28th and one lap down.
Harvick meanwhile maintained the lead to the line to win the Real Heroes 400.
The Xfinity Series will hold their race in two days. The Cup Series will compete the following day before NASCAR moves back to Charlotte on May 24.
