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Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick dominated at Dover Speedway to take the win needed to progress through to the next round of the Chase.

After low finishes at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, the Stewart-Haas driver was quick from the start, controlled restarts well and withstood pressure from Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch to avoid going out early.

Busch, who also needed a high finish to secure his place in the next round of the Chase, did have a spell in the lead but was unable to keep Harvick behind, finishing second ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer never looked like making the grade for the next Chase stage but the biggest scalp of the round was claimed when six time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson finished the race 36 laps down in 42nd.

Johnson was going well in fourth but when a rear axle seal came loose on lap 106 of 400, the repairs required meant that the Hendrick Motorsports driver was relying on attrition to help him progress.

When that didn't happen, it safeguarded the Chase positions of everyone in the top 11 in the points, leaving Earnhardt and Jamie McMurray to contest the final Chase spot and third on the road.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Earnhardt spent much of the race vying with McMurray on track but when he squeezed ahead of the Chip Ganassi driver, McMurray was deposited out of the Chase on a points tiebreak.

The race also highlighted how competitive the grid is this year as non-Chase drivers Aric Almirola and Kasey Kahne finished fifth and sixth, the former challenging McMurray on the final lap.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr finished eighth ahead of Kyle Larson in ninth who tried to help team-mate McMurray late on, letting him by to challenge Earnhardt, but fell behind at the final restart.

Penske driver Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

The already-advanced Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin finished seventh and 18th respectively, with the latter being penalised twice for speeding in the pitlane.

RESULTS - 400 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap 1 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 3h20m13.s 2 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2.639s 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3.884s 4 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5.847s 5 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 6.034s 6 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7.512s 7 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9.978s 8 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10.260s 9 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 11.741s 10 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 12.019s 11 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 12.591s 12 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 13.039s 13 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 13.440s 14 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 13.899s 15 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.320s 16 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 14.489s 17 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 14.736s 18 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 18.765s 19 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap 20 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 2 Laps 21 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps 22 David Ragan Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 2 Laps 23 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps 24 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 3 Laps 25 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3 Laps 26 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps 27 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Laps 28 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 6 Laps 29 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 6 Laps 30 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 6 Laps 31 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Laps 32 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 7 Laps 33 Reed Sorenson Phil Parsons Racing Ford 9 Laps 34 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 9 Laps 35 J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota 10 Laps 36 Josh Wise Go FAS Racing Ford 11 Laps 37 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 13 Laps 38 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 14 Laps 39 Timmy Hill Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 20 Laps 40 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet Engine 41 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36 Laps 42 Brett Moffitt Front Row Motorsports Ford Accident 43 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota Accident

CHASE STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points 1 Kevin Harvick 3000 2 Matt Kenseth 3000 3 Kyle Busch 3000 4 Joey Logano 3000 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3000 6 Denny Hamlin 3000 7 Kurt Busch 3000 8 Carl Edwards 3000 9 Brad Keselowski 3000 10 Martin Truex Jr. 3000 11 Ryan Newman 3000 12 Jeff Gordon 3000



