RICHMOND, Va. — Two weeks ago, Kevin Harvick was going on nearly two years without a win in the NASCAR Cup Series and some wondered if the 46-year-old legend would ever visit victory lane again.
Now, midway through August, Harvick is a two-time winner this year and has quickly proven once more why he is one of the finest drivers in the sport's history.
Harvick grabbed the win at Richmond Raceway after taking the lead from Denny Hamlin and leading the final 47 laps.
For the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, it was another nod to why he's known as "The Closer."
"Like I said last week, the cars have been good week in week out," Harvick said after his win. "As it got dark, the racetrack really came to me."
Although Harvick did not lead until Lap 334 of the 400-lap race, he was able to dominate the closing stage of the race and drive off from the field.
The only opponent that gave him a challenge in the waning laps was Christopher Bell, who drove within a few car lengths of the leader on a day where only 11 drivers finished on the lead lap.
Harvick's win comes at a race that was Joey Logano's to lose. Logano led a race-high 222 laps and won Stage 2 before losing the lead with under 70 laps to go. He finished 6th.
Logano gained the lead from Ross Chastain, who led the first 80 laps and won Stage 1 after starting 2nd.
Chastain challenged for the win in the race's early stages but contact with Kyle Busch that caused a five-car incident on Lap 240 hindered his success. He finished 18th.
Busch was able to escape the crash mostly unharmed and rallied back to finish 9th, breaking a career-high eight-race streak without a Top 10. However, Busch felt he could have finished better.
"We got Chastained this week," Busch said in reference to his contact with Ross Chastain on Lap 240.
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A lack of crashes and cautions left the racing wide-open most of the day. Much of the attention was focused on Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., who are both among the Top 5 in driver points this year but are fighting for one playoff spot as they have yet to win this year.
Blaney finished 10th and remains in that final spot for another week as there are still 15 drivers to win in 2022. He sits 26 points over Truex.
Truex finished 7th and had an eventful day that could have been tragic.
On Lap 155, Truex was slammed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who swerved into the No. 19 after missing the pit road entrance line during a green flag stop attempt. Truex later pit to avoid suffering a blown tire from the incident and went a lap down.
He was able to rally back, though, and secure a solid finish.
After Bell, the rest of the Top 5 was Chris Buescher, Hamlin, and Chase Elliott.
The Richmond race is Harvick's 60th career win, tying him with Busch for 9th all-time.
There are just two races remaining in NASCAR's regular season and Elliott remains the points leader. Only 16 drivers can make NASCAR's playoffs and race winners are given an automatic spot on that list.
However, if more than 16 drivers win a race in the regular season, an unprecedented situation would happen where the race winner with the fewest total points would be eliminated.
Kurt Busch, who has missed four races due to injury, is currently the lowest race winner in points.
Next week, NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen.