Kevin Harvick wins at Phoenix for third NASCAR Cup victory in a row

Harvick held off Kyle Busch for the victory, the first time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career he has won three consecutive races.

"I've been mad as all get-out because this team does a great job and this organization does a great job and we've got fast race cars and to take that away from those guys just really pissed me off last week," Harvick said in Victory Lane.

"You know, to come here at a race track that is so good for us, is a lot of fun. Everybody was just determined this week. We just wanted to stomp them. We didn't stomp them but we won and that's really all that matters.

"I'm just proud of this team. It put a fire in our belly. Whooo! I'm excited."

Harvick said winning this race felt even better than racing for a a championship at Homestead.

"For all those supporters out there and all you haters - I see you!"

He’s also the first driver to accomplish the feat since Joey Logano swept a three-race round in the NASCAR playoffs in 2015. Harvick dominated in wins in the last two weeks at Atlanta and Las Vegas.

The win is the 40th of Harvick’s career and came without car chief Robert Smith, who was suspended two races after NASCAR penalized Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team last week for rear window and side-skirt violations at Las Vegas.

Chase Elliott finished third, Denny Hamlin was fourth and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top five.

The win is also the ninth at Phoenix for Harvick, the most he enjoys at any series track.

During the break between Stages 2 and 3, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski both made their pit stops, which allowed to reassume the lead to begin Stage 3. He was followed by Harvick, Truex, Clint Bowyer and Elliott.

On Lap 172, Darrell Wallace Jr. was forced to make a green-flag pit stop to deal with a loose wheel. It was the second time in the race he’s had to do so.

On Lap 178, Harvick finally got around Kyle Busch to take the lead in the race for the first time, impressing some of his competition along the way.

“He slide-jobbed the (expletive) out of him,” Clint Bowyer’s spotter, Brett Griffin, told his driver about the move.

Five laps later, Kyle Busch had still managed to stay within a second of Harvick with Truex close behind in third.

On Lap 190, Paul Menard – who had been running strong again this week – wrecked hard in Turn 2 to bring out the sixth caution of the race. Menard was not injured.

“I think the tire went down. The right-rear tire blew. Not sure what caused it. Maybe bead temp or something,” Menard said. “We will have to go back and look at it. The tire is definitely down. Not sure what came first, the chicken or the egg. It is a disappointing day for sure.”

All of the lead-lap cars hit pit road during the caution, with rookie William Byron coming out with the race lead after utilizing a two-tire stop. He was followed by Aric Almirola (who also took two tires), Kyle Busch, Harvick and Truex. The race resumed with 114 laps remaining.

Erik Jones had to make a second pit stop after receiving some damage from a run-in with teammate Daniel Suarez on pit road.

With 111 laps to go, Hamlin and Harvick caught Byron to race three-wide for the lead as Hamlin emerged with the top spot for the first time in the race.

With just over 80 laps remaining in the race, Harvick kept the heat on Hamlin in an attempt to reclaim the lead. Keselowski, who pit during the stage break, had moved back inside the Top 10.

With 71 laps to go, Kyle Busch was able to power his way around Harvick and into the runner-up position with Harvick settling back into third.

Two laps later, Busch got around Hamlin to reclaim the top spot.

Byron, one of two drivers to take just two tires on his last stop, came down pit road for his green-flag pit stop with 59 laps remaining.

Byron’s move triggered a wave of more green-flag stops, including Elliott, Harvick, Hamlin, Kyle Larson and several others. Leader Kyle Busch finally made his stop on Lap 259.

When the cycle of green-flag stops had completed – Ryan Newman and Keselowski were the last to pit – Harvick had taken over the lead with 23 laps remaining in the race, followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott, Hamlin and Truex.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Laps Led
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	312	2:54'37	36
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	312	0.774	124
3	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	312	4.244
4	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	312	7.037	32
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	312	7.520	2
6	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	312	8.310
7	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	312	9.204
8	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	312	10.002
9	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	312	13.916
10	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	312	15.361	5
11	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	312	20.488	22
12	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	312	21.585	14
13	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	312	22.944
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	312	24.153
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	312	25.155	10
16	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	311	1 lap
17	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	311	1 lap
18	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	311	1 lap	52
19	22	Joey Logano	Ford	311	1 lap
20	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	311	1 lap
21	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	311	1 lap
22	38	David Ragan	Ford	311	1 lap
23	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	311	1 lap
24	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	311	1 lap
25	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	311	1 lap
26	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	310	2 laps
27	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	310	2 laps
28	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	309	3 laps
29	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	309	3 laps
30	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	309	3 laps
31	96	D.J. Kennington	Toyota	309	3 laps
32	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	308	4 laps
33	51	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	306	6 laps
34	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	304	8 laps
35	00	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	292	20 laps
36	21	Paul Menard	Ford	189	123 laps
37	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	23	289 laps