FONTANA, Calif. — Kevin Harvick isn’t one of those race-car drivers who jumps out front and stays there all the way to the checkered flag.
He’s more of a lingerer and closer, someone who’s able to stay close to the front — then make his move at just the right time.
Harvick was at his pass-at-the-end best in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, overtaking California king Jimmie Johnson on the final turn at Auto Club Speedway to win after trailing the entire race.
“I wish we could just go out there and wear ’em out one day, just not have to worry about waiting until the last lap,” Harvick said. “It does kind of seem we wait until the last moments to really get going. It’s probably somewhat of a bad habit I have, but I guess it worked out.”
Kyle Busch had the dominant car most of the day and led a race-high 151 laps, including off a restart with nine laps left. Johnson, a five-time winner at Fontana, had the late burst, chasing down Busch for the lead with two laps left.
Harvick, as he always seems to, nailed the finish.
Taking advantage of a gap to the outside, Harvick made his move on Johnson going into turn No. 3, then completed it coming around turn No. 4.
Ahead going down the last straightway, he wrapped up his becoming-a-trademark finish to take the checkered flag for the 15th time in his career.
“I really felt good when they had that restart because I knew his car was really fast on the long run,” said Richard Childress, the owner of Harvick’s No. 29 car.
