Daily NASCAR

by Holly Cain

Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Daytona Int’l Speedway, Richard Childress Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With cars spinning out behind him, Kevin Harvick survived a green-white-checkered overtime to win Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout non-points race for the second consecutive year and become NASCAR’s first winner of the season.

Harvick’s No. 29 Shell-sponsored Chevrolet led Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray across the finish line under the yellow flag at Daytona International Speedway in a race that featured plenty of lead changes and bump-drafting at its best and worst. Four drivers swapped the lead in the final 12 laps of the 76-lap event.

Greg Biffle and Kahne opted to keep their Fords on track during the second-to-last caution period while the rest of the field pitted for fresh tires. Harvick immediately drove low inside Biffle on the restart and took the point moments before Biffle was hit from behind by Jeff Gordon, collecting a half-dozen cars in the melee.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

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Kurt Busch grabbed the lead on Lap 1, leading the first 52 laps of the race before being passed by Jimmie Johnson. Busch led three times for 69 laps and finished sixth. (Photo: Getty Images)

AVONDALE, Ariz. - The first 52 laps of the Checker O’Reilly 500 belonged to Kurt Busch. After that, the action got all too familiar.

Sprint Cup point leader Jimmie Johnson spent the early laps in third, then moved up to take second place from pole winner Martin Truex Jr., then patiently set his sights on Kurt Busch, passing him on the 56th of 312 laps.

Busch later regained the lead during green-flag pit stops, but Johnson made another pass prior to the 100-lap mark.

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CAUTION TANDEM–No yellow flag waved at Phoenix International Raceway until the 116th lap, when debris induced NASCAR officials to slow down Johnson. That caution period led to another when the cars of Erik Darnell, Michael Waltrip, David Ragan, Robby Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, David Gilliland and John Andretti tangled taking the green flag.

Most of the aforementioned cars suffered relatively minor damage.

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SEATS WITHOUT SEATS–The grandstands were close to full, but the hill backing turn four was somewhat sparsely populated. Since the track’s "seating capacity" of 76,812 reportedly, or at least according to local sources, counts 20,000 of those seats as being on the hill, where there are actually none other than what fans bring there.

In other words, a liberal crowd estimate would probably be about 60,000.

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PILE-UP–The race’s most noteworthy accident occurred on lap 171, when Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Chevrolet spun off turn four, creating a pileup that wound up including cars of Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Scott Speed, Matt Kenseth, Matt Kenseth, Max Papis, Bobby Labonte, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers.

"The ‘88′ got on the apron and got loose," said Labonte, referring to Earnhardt. "It’s easy to do. I about did it a couple of times myself."

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Martinsville was a high point for Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray. Sixth place marked his best finish of the season, only his fourth in the top 10 and his first top 10 since May.

McMurray, twice a winner at NASCAR’s highest level, looks to the future with uncertainty. With NASCAR insisting on a limit of four full-time cars per team, owner Jack Roush has to cut back his operation, making McMurray the most likely driver in the Roush stable to either move to another team or be shuffled elsewhere within the Ford contingent.

The 33-year-old driver from Joplin, Mo., won his second Sprint Cup race, but that was way back in October 2002, when he won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway substituting for injured Sterling Marlin. In 2007, McMurray picked up career victory No. 2 in Daytona’s July race.

"It was a really good day," said McMurray of Martinsville Speedway’s Tums Fast Relief 500. "We made really good pit calls and had good pit strategy. Our car was better than average, so we just had a solid day."

McMurray is a proponent of the "double-file restarts rule" implemented earlier this year. At the end of each caution period, cars restart in running order, similar to the beginning of a race. Lapped cars, formerly placed in one of the two lines, are now buried deep in the pack, leaving the leaders to race for position.

"If you have a fast car, you don’t have to do all the strategy stuff," said McMurray. "If you’re struggling to stay on the lead lap, then maybe there’s something you can do there to work to your benefit."

"It’s very, very exciting, I think, for the fans. Our sport is based on putting a good show on, and this is putting a better show on for the fans."

McMurray ranks 22nd in Sprint Cup points, 184 behind Kevin Harvick, 27 ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and 29 in front of 24th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. McMurray’s three best career finishes in the point standings all occurred while he drove Dodges for Chip Ganassi. He finished 13th in 2003, 11th in 2004 and 12th in 2005.

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