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Kevin Harvick tried to go about it like a normal NASCAR event.

Then he won Sunday’s return to action, hopped out of his car and realized it wasn’t like anything he had ever experienced before.



There was pretty much silence after the Real Heroes 400 was held without fans at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.

“I want to thank everyone from NASCAR and all the teams for letting us do what we do,” Harvick said in a postrace television interview on the track. “… It’s weird because there’s nobody up there (in the stands).”

He led for 159 of the 293 laps, grabbing the lead before the midway mark.

Harvick negotiated the 400 miles without many glitches in the unusual circumstances for his 50th career victory on the top circuit.

It was NASCAR’s first live competition race since March 8 at Phoenix, though contested without fans and with numerous precautions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic. Forty drivers began the race.

Even in the unprecedented setting, Harvick took satisfaction while he was certain to acknowledge the workers who made his latest achievement possible.

“It’s a pretty big honor to win 50 races in this deal,” he said.

There was no practice or qualifying in advance of the race, so drivers and their teams had plenty to figure out once the green flag was waved.

Alex Bowman, who just days earlier was given a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports through 2021, was the runner-up. Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

“It’s really good to restart the season this way with a strong car,” Bowman said.

Busch called it a good day, but “I miss the race fans.”

Sixth place went to Martin Truex Jr., followed by Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek and Matt Kenseth. Reddick and Nemechek are rookies.

Harvick responded after a slow pit stop cost him the front spot briefly before regaining control.

Brad Keselowski, who was on the pole based on a random drawing, led for a stretch before fading and finishing 13th. He claimed Stage 2 for his second stage victory of the season.

Ryan Newman ended up 15th, competing for the first time since a scary wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February. He suffered a head injury that day. Newman calls the Darlington track his favorite stop on the circuit.

Kenseth came out of retirement to replace Kyle Larson, who was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing after uttering a racial slur during an iRacing even that was held while the regular season was suspended.

Kenseth last appeared in a Cup race to end the 2018 season.

Jimmie Johnson was in line to capture the first stage, but he clipped Chris Buescher’s car on the last lap of the stage and slid out of control. That put him out of the race and he finished 38th.

“That hurts. What a bummer,” Johnson said. “The good news is (car No.) 48 is fast. My team is on it. … This will sting a little on the drive home.”

William Byron won the stage, but he was derailed in a wreck on the 109th lap.

There was a caution on the first lap when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. clipped a car and bounced off the inside barrier. Stenhouse didn’t return to the track.

“Pretty embarrassing for myself, our team. My crew guys, I felt awful for them,” Stenhouse said. “… To put myself in a bad spot there. End our race before it ever started. Looking forward to getting back here on Wednesday and put a better run together.”

Kyle Busch’s starting spot was moved to the rear of the field after twice failing a prerace inspection. He had been slated to begin fourth. Busch was involved in a strange situation when his car rubbed the wall, causing an advertisement sticker to come loose and resulting in a caution as track officials removed the banner.

Another Cup race is set for Wednesday night, also in Darlington. Then the action switches for two races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., giving the series four events across an 11-day period.



–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)