NASCAR Federated Auto Parts 400: Harvick wins at Richmond

The NASCAR Cup Series‘ August schedule continued in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday, as Kevin Harvick won the Federated Auto Parts 400 — his 60th Cup career win.

It was Harvick’s second consecutive victory, having snapped a 65-race winless streak by holding on to win last week’s FireKeepers Casino 400, moving into position for a NASCAR playoff berth.

The 400-lap race was made up of three stages — 80-155-165 — on a D-shaped short track. Despite some issues exhibited by the Next Gen car during its first short track races this spring, no changes were made to the Next Gen car’s aerodynamic package for Richmond, per FOX Sports NASCAR Insider Bob Pockrass.

Here are the top moments from Richmond Raceway:

Green!

Just as things got underway in Richmond, the caution came out when Tyler Reddick took an early spin.

Reddick’s car was a talking point in Sunday’s race because NASCAR allowed it to showcase a leaf image, a symbol for his anchor sponsor — 3CHI. The image wasn’t allowed until last week and will be approved on a race-by-race basis.

All the moves

As the first stage continued, more drivers started testing how much they could get away with on the outside. Joey Logano came out aggressively on the restart, going four-wide to try to make something happen.

Stage 1

Denny Hamlin was hot on Ross Chastain‘s tail as the opening stage came to a close, but Chastain was able to hold him off and pick up the first stage win — his fifth stage win of the year.

Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and William Byron rounded out the top five in Stage 1.

No. 22 to the front!

The green flag was back out at Lap 79, as the second stage got underway — and things got heated quick. 

Logano challenged Chastain early and was able to take the lead after passing him off Turn 4. Meanwhile, Larson took second and sent Chastain back to third with ease.

Back and forth

There was some contact between Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs, as the two drivers went at it to pass one another.

Eyes on the prize

Elsewhere, Aric Almirola — who was fourth-fastest in Saturday’s practice but had a costly mistake in qualifying that prevented him from getting a better starting spot — made up a lot of ground in the second stage.

Disaster strikes

Chaos ensued for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. when he slid into the side of Martin Truex Jr. while trying to get to pit road, followed by a speeding penalty.

Racing hard

With playoff points on the line, Ryan Blaney wasn’t letting up on Almirola as the second stage wound down.

Stage 2

Logano dominated the second stage and sealed his performance with a win headed into the final stage. He was followed by Larson, Hamlin, Harvick and Blaney to round out the top five finishers in Stage 2.

Starting off with a bang

The green flag was back out on Lap 240, but that didn’t last long, as Chastain got into Busch early in the third and final stage.

Erik Jones, who made hard front contact with both Chastain and Truex Jr., got the worst of it, suffering major suspension damage that ended his race early and sent him to the garage as the second car out of the race.

Spin off Turn 4!

Another quick caution came out — the fifth of the day — when Christopher Bell got caught up and sent his car sideways and around on the exit of the corner. The green flag returned at Lap 257.

Elsewhere, it was a tough break for Chase Briscoe, who had to go back to pit road due to a fire in his cockpit.

Closing time

Harvick took the lead with 67 laps to go after passing Logano and held off the rest of the field to win it all.