Coming off a win in last weekend's Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick and interim crew chief Ernie Cope focused their attention on Saturday afternoon's Truck Series event.
Harvick started the E-Z-GO 200 from the fourth position with a brand-new chassis out of the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) stable. In four previous Truck Series starts in 2009 with a new chassis (Martinsville, Loudon, Phoenix and Homestead), Harvick has scored three wins and one third-place finish.
As the race got under way, Harvick reported the No. 2 ShopEZGO.com Chevrolet was a little too loose for his liking. Harvick's teammate, Ron Hornaday, had a left-rear tire go flat from contact on lap one and spun on lap 23 making hard contact with the wall. Hornaday's misfortune gave the No. 2 team the opportunity to make their first scheduled pit stop of the day on lap 24. With a small air-pressure adjustment, Harvick restarted the race from the number one spot and never fell out of the top four the remainder of the 130-lap event.
The second caution of the afternoon fell on lap 52 with Harvick nearly seven seconds ahead of second position. Seizing another opportunity to put on fresh tires and top off with fuel, Ernie Cope brought Harvick down pit road on lap 54. Having another solid stop, Harvick entered the pits first and returned to competition in the top spot.
As the race got back underway, Harvick built another large lead of over four seconds on the competition. Cope informed Harvick they would make their final scheduled pit stop on lap 113. As luck would have it, one lap before their final stop, the caution flag waved over the 1.54-mile quad-oval.
Once again, Harvick came down pit road as the leader and restarted the race in the first position.
With less than 15 laps remaining, Harvick pulled out to over a one-second lead on the field to score his seventh Truck Series victory (in 102 starts) of his career. Harvick was followed by Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Steve Wallace and Todd Bodine.
Atlanta becomes the second track where Harvick has scored the "trifecta," winning in all three of NASCAR's top divisions (Cup, Nationwide and Truck), with Phoenix International Raceway being the first.
