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Kevin Harvick lay in wait, just like a predatory shark and when the opportunity to seal the deal presented itself late in the race, he was there to feast on the mistakes of others.

Daytona proved to be the end of the line for 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson. Instead of transferring to the playoffs for his record-setting quest of 8 championships, he will be on the outside looking in. In his place, William Byron will move forward for Hendrick Motorsports in his quest for his first title – as well as the second win of his young career.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick took home top honors this weekend at the Monster Mile. The two championship contenders battled it out, splitting the double header in dominant fashion.

Michigan might be an historically good track for Joe Gibbs Racing, but as I alluded to last week, they all had to beat Kevin Harvick. That proved to be a tall order.

While it wasn’t necessarily a race of follow the leader all day, it sure was a statement race by two of the most dominant drivers on the track today, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

It was another fun-filled week of racing with the All Star race Wednesday night at Bristol and the Cup race at Texas. Chase Elliott won an entertaining but anticlimactic All Star race. Bristol proved it is an All Star caliber track that offered a different style of racing than Charlotte, as if there was really any doubt.

Kevin Harvick waited out the weather and Denny Hamlin’s front right tire to grab his third Brickyard Victory and his fourth win of the season, tying Hamlin for that lead.

The weekend began with such promise. A lot of racing at one of NASCARs biggest and fastest tracks. More fans were allowed in although still a very small group considering how many are regularly squeezed in there. What could possibly go wrong?

With weekday races nearly at end, this week we saw Martin Truex, Jr. win at Bristol and Denny Hamlin winning at Homestead. This was the first win of the season for Truex and Hamlin has now notched three wins to lead all drivers.

I suppose it isn’t a surprise that Kevin Harvick, The Closer, sealed the deal on Sunday with a dominating final stage push that left everyone else in the dust. Harvick led 150 laps overall, essentially doubling the 80 laps led by Brad Keselowski.