NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Coca-Cola 600
May 26, 2013 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team picked up their second win of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, driving to Victory Lane following the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The California native started the 400-lap event from the 15th position and battled a tight-handling red, white and blue Chevrolet during the early stages of the event. In an effort to combat the handling issues Harvick was facing, the Budweiser pit crew made adjustments through the course of multiple four-tire pit stops. Harvick broke into the top 10 during the lap-131 restart, following a 27-minute break in the action for track workers to clean up debris on the racing surface from a fallen overhead camera cable. As the race progressed, Harvick continued to methodically work his way through the field settling into the top five prior to the caution flag being displayed on lap 259. The Richard Childress Racing driver remained near the front of the field during the final laps taking the lead on two occasions before the yellow flag waved on lap 386. Crew chief Gil Martin called Harvick to pit road for right-side tires and fuel under caution, positioning the Budweiser Chevrolet in second for the lap-389 restart. As green-flag racing resumed, Harvick moved back out front and led the field to the checkered flag. Following Harvick's second win of the season, he gained three positions in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, moving up to seventh.

First off, I want to say I hope everybody is okay from that cable. That was quite a weird incident there. Second, I want to just say thank you to all the guys at Richard Childress Racing. To win at Charlotte (Motor Speedway) is something that we had to overcome for a long time. We kind of won it on gas mileage last time, and we just went and won it this time. I have to thank everybody from Budweiser, Sprint, all the fans, Jimmy John's, Hunt Brothers Pizza and Rheem. We've got this great promotion with Folds of Honor on the car this weekend and the paint scheme resembles Budweiser's special beer cans. Plus, five cents from every can goes to Folds of Honor. - Kevin Harvick

Race Notes

• Started - 15th, Finished, - 1st,  Laps led - 28, Points - 7th
• According to NASCAR's post-race loop data statistics, Harvick averaged a 180.822 mph lap time ranking him second in the Speed in Traffic category and spent 396 Laps in the Top 15, positioning him fourth in the loop data category.
• Harvick earned the third-best Driver Rating (112.8), was third in Quality Passes (50), was the third-Fastest Driver Late in a Run (179.721 mph), fourth-Fastest Driver Early in a Run (184.211) and fifth-Fastest on Restarts (170.488 mph).
• Harvick earned his second victory of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.

Photos