Did Atlanta show us a kinder, gentler Kevin Harvick?

LAS VEGAS – Perhaps Kevin Harvick had a tinge of compassion for a rookie driver.

Perhaps he forgot for a moment that his Stewart-Haas Racing organization was no longer affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports and that SHR had switched from Chevrolets to Ford.

Perhaps Harvick was so confident in his No. 4 Ford that he didn’t mind giving 20-year-old Hendrick neophyte William Byron a lap back when the caution flew for the first time last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Whatever the case, Harvick slowed noticeably coming to the yellow, allowing Byron to regain his position on the lead lap. And Byron wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“He did me a big favor,” Byron said on Friday at Las Vegas motor Speedway. “I had corded both my rear tires, and I was fading quick. Yeah, he cut me a big break there. Definitely appreciate that.

“That was exactly what it was. He just let me have the lap back. He was flying. He was lapping people left and right.”

And, yes, Harvick won the race in dominating fashion, leading 181 of the 325 laps.

SHORT STROKES

Ryan Blaney has put the gambling behind him, but that wasn’t always the case. Now he’s more of a “foodie” when he comes to Las Vegas. “I used to gamble a lot when I turned 21, and I don’t anymore, because I would lose,” Blaney said. “I don’t really gamble much anymore. I like to go to dinner here. There are some good restaurants here. I don’t really gamble here anymore—only on the track.”…

Kyle Busch has hit a “trifecta” twice in the past, winning races in all three of NASCAR’s top three touring divisions on the same weekend at Bristol. This weekend Busch will attempt to sweep all three races at his home track. “Good to be here in Vegas and good to have an opportunity to get back at the home track and run the triple here this weekend,” Busch said. “We’ve talked about it for a long time, ever since the announcement last summer of the chances of coming out here and being able to run for two triple weekends in Las Vegas in 2018. I’m looking forward to being able to have the opportunity to run the first triple here this weekend. Hopefully be able to go out there and get it accomplished and set that to the side and get a good weekend for us and get some good notes built up for when we come back here for Playoff time (in September).”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.