Discourse surrounding Kevin Harvick for much of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season generally questioned when he would finally win a race, which he last achieved in 2020. Now, he is suddenly a potential championship contender.
After riding a winless streak of sixty-five races, Harvick has won the last two races in a row with Michigan and Sunday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway. He took the lead from Denny Hamlin during green-flag pit stops with forty-eight laps remaining and never surrendered it.
He faced a challenge from Chris Buescher but kept the fellow Ford at bay with help from lapped traffic, before Christopher Bell joined the picture and tried to chase him down. However, Bell’s last-ditch effort failed as Harvick held him off to secure his sixtieth career Cup win, fourth at Richmond, and first at the Virginia track since 2013.
“I thought we had fended off the #17 (Buescher) pretty well, and then they told me that the #20 was coming, and I’m like, ‘Oh man, usually when you’re coming on new tyres, there’s no defense for that,'” Harvick said in his post-race press conference. “That’s why I was a little bit frustrated with myself with the not shifting part on the front straightaway because I gave up the big chunk. It should have never been that close, just a lapse in my attention span, I guess, would be the best way to put it.”
Bell settled for second, making for a very memetic finish as numbers 4 and 20 placed 1–2. Such an order has only occurred one other time in Cup Series history with Harvick and Matt Kenseth in the 2016 Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire.
“I got held up pretty bad at the beginning of the run by a couple slower cars and that was ultimately the difference when you get beat by a couple car lengths,” commented Bell. “Just really fun and really fun race when you have different strategies and you have guys coming and going. I love whenever the races stay green and you’re able to play your cards a little bit different. Really proud of everyone on this #20 crew to be able to come back from how we started. Very tough weekend for us. We didn’t practice very well and we didn’t qualify very well. And the guys did a really good job getting this Rheem Camry up front and where we needed to be at the end.”
Joey Logano dominated the race by leading 222 laps, but sank to sixth following stops. Ross Chastain led the second most circuits with 80 but once again found himself clashing with his peers after spinning Kyle Busch on lap 240, causing a stack-up that resulted in Erik Jones spinning him.
The wreck ended Jones’ day, and he would be one of two retirements alongside Ty Gibbs. Gibbs, once again filling in for Kurt Busch, exited with an engine failure.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 13 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 400 | Running |
| 2 | 21 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 400 | Running |
| 3 | 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 400 | Running |
| 4 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 400 | Running |
| 5 | 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | Running |
| 6 | 17 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 400 | Running |
| 7 | 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 400 | Running |
| 8 | 32 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 400 | Running |
| 9 | 29 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 400 | Running |
| 10 | 10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 400 | Running |
| 11 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | Running |
| 12 | 33 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 399 | Running |
| 13 | 11 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 399 | Running |
| 14 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | Running |
| 15 | 8 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 399 | Running |
| 16 | 12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 399 | Running |
| 17 | 22 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 18 | 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 19 | 24 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 20 | 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 21 | 27 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 22 | 20 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | Running |
| 23 | 15 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 397 | Running |
| 24 | 19 | 16 | Noah Gragson* | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 397 | Running |
| 25 | 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 397 | Running |
| 26 | 7 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 397 | Running |
| 27 | 16 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 397 | Running |
| 28 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | Running |
| 29 | 34 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 395 | Running |
| 30 | 25 | 77 | Landon Cassill* | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 395 | Running |
| 31 | 26 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 394 | Running |
| 32 | 35 | 15 | J.J. Yeley* | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 393 | Running |
| 33 | 36 | 78 | B.J. McLeod* | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 392 | Running |
| 34 | 28 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 391 | Running |
| 35 | 9 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 240 | Accident |
| 36 | 14 | 45 | Ty Gibbs* | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 180 | Engine |
* – Ineligible for points