Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2020

23 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com Fords, Chevrolets and Toyotas were in their starting grid. And the green flag dropped, also remotely. Home viewers might have reflexively turned up the volume on their sets as pole-sitter Brad Keselowski and 39 other drivers stomped on their accelerators. But with no capacity crowd on hand to rise to their feet and cheer the clean start, the silence was deafening. Only the whine of the engines at speed was evidence that a NASCAR race had actually begun. If that non- existent crowd was looking for a crash — one of the hallmarks of NASCAR racing — they wouldn’t have had to wait long. On the first lap, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. nicked another car and spun into the infield wall on the back straight away. He was uninjured but out of the race. Keselowski held onto his lead until challenged by Alex Bowman and Jimmie Johnson, dropping him to third. Moments later, on the final lap of the stage, popular veteran champion Johnson crashed after making contact with Chris Buescher, then a lap down from the leader. That was it for Johnson the rest of the afternoon. The caution once again came out, and driver William Bowman inherited the stage win. In Stage Two, Kevin Harvick moved out to an early lead he seemed destined to hold onto. On Lap 109, challenger William Byron lost control and junked his car on the outside wall, bringing out the yellow flag again. A few laps later, one of the weirdest cautions ever emerged when an adhesive advertising banner was ripped from the outside wall onto the hood of Denny Hamlin’s car, shredding and then affecting several other vehicles. Track maintenance personnel rushed to clear the mess. After another minor crash, this one involving Christopher Bell, Harvick suffered a slow pit stop, emerging in eighth place. Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. dueled for the lead, with Keselowski taking the checkered flag for the stage. In the third and final stanza, Kevin Harvick quickly captured the lead and held it for the rest of the race — despite an early brush with the outside wall — to claim the title in the “Real Heroes 400.” The win marked Harvick’s 50th Cup Series victory. He screamed in celebration as he crossed the finish line and gave the empty grandstands a treat with a smokey burnout.