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NASCAR America: Kevin Harvick’s bump-and-run was perfectly timed

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Chase Elliott describes how a successful bump and run late in a race can fast track a trip to victory lane and cites New Hampshire as a perfect example.

Was Kevin Harvick’s move on Kyle Busch in last weekend’s race at New Hampshire International Speedway a perfectly executed bump-and-run? Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. believe it was.

In Wednesday’s NASCAR America, one of the #WednesDale questions was about the timing of the bump-and-run.

“If you want to know how to do it, you go re-watch the race on Sunday,” Elliott said. “It was well done, and frankly I don’t think it was anything that wouldn’t have been done if the shoe was on the other foot.”

The timing was not only impacted by the number of laps remaining, but how long Harvick had followed Busch.

“If he doesn’t do that, there’s other things too,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “When you’re following a guy, even though your car might be faster, you’re wearing that right front tire. And there’s going to be a point where you’re out of time and you start to lose speed. So he knows he has limited time to get that done. He doesn’t know when the balance is gonna change on that car.”

The sense of urgency was enhanced by weather and that the leaders were catching lapped traffic, according to Elliott.

“It was raining, and you can’t control lap traffic,” he said. “Guy might let him go at the right spot and then you being in second might not get the same lane or the preferred groove.

For more, watch the video above.

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