Harvick wins wild Daytona finish

The current points leader timed his winning move to perfection in the closing laps of the race, to take another victory at a restrictor-plate track. He was one of a few able to avoid the carnage that unfolded on lap 149, only 11 from the end, when Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton made contact with Penske's Kurt Busch while running close to the front.

The ensuing 'big one' left almost 20 cars wrecked, including reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, as many got caught in the chain reaction at Turn 3. The incident narrowed the battle for victory to a few cars, including the three RCR Chevrolets, which worked together at the front of the field once the race resumed only eight laps from the scheduled distance.

Jeff Gordon tried to snatch the win in the end but first Clint Bowyer and then his team-mate Harvick passed him as the laps faded. A late caution came out with two laps left, forcing a green-white-chequered finish where Bowyer led before Harvick took the lead right after the green flag waved, then held off Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne to the finish line.

Harvick's victory hands him a second 10-point bonus towards his Chase seeding, as he continues to makes strides in his aim to bring Johnson's Sprint Cup domination to an end.

"Same old Daytona, cars moving around and bouncing around, and handling came into play, and you saw a lot of passing and shuffling, and then there at the end we had the big wreck and we were fortunate to be in front of it," said Harvick, who got a perfect score as he led the most laps as well.

"And really coming to the white [flag] I thought it was going to be [Bowyer] first and us second, and then the caution came out and we could see the white flag. I was content about that.

"I knew those guys needed a good day, and I knew you never know what's going to happen on the last lap with people pushing and shoving from the back. But on the last restart, once [Gordon] pulled out and slowed those outside two lines down, that was pretty much the end of it."

Kahne, who had started the race in his back-up machine after damaging his primary one in practice, made a great charge in the closing laps after being involved in two separate incidents during the race. Gordon was third in the end, moving up to second in the points, while Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had a late brush with the wall, was fourth and climbed two spots in the standings to break inside the top 12.

Burton rounded out the top five, which Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch followed in the order despite crashing out of the final turn.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch held the lead for 23 laps, before contact with Juan Pablo Montoya put him against the wall. The Colombian also led the race and was getting lapped by Busch, who had yet to stop in the pits, when the incident happened. Montoya was one of those involved in the biggest accident of the day, as was veteran Mark Martin, whose car caught fire in the pits after the crash.

The race finished in the early hours of Sunday, following more than an hour of delay at the start due to rain.

Pos  Driver                Car        Laps
 1.  Kevin Harvick         Chevrolet  166
 2.  Kasey Kahne           Ford       166
 3.  Jeff Gordon           Chevrolet  166
 4.  Dale Earnhardt Jr     Chevrolet  166
 5.  Jeff Burton           Chevrolet  166
 6.  Carl Edwards          Ford       166
 7.  Kurt Busch            Dodge      166
 8.  Reed Sorenson         Toyota     166
 9.  Mike Bliss            Chevrolet  166
10.  Scott Speed           Toyota     166
11.  David Reutimann       Toyota     166
12.  Robby Gordon          Toyota     166
13.  Steve Park            Toyota     166
14.  Kevin Conway          Ford       166
15.  Matt Kenseth          Ford       166
16.  Bobby Labonte         Chevrolet  166
17.  Clint Bowyer          Chevrolet  166
18.  Paul Menard           Ford       165
19.  JJ Yeley              Dodge      164
20.  Greg Biffle           Ford       163
21.  Sam Hornish Jr        Dodge      159
22.  Elliott Sadler        Ford       159
23.  Robert Richardson Jr  Ford       159
24.  Denny Hamlin          Toyota     158
25.  Tony Stewart          Chevrolet  158
26.  Ryan Newman           Chevrolet  148
27.  Juan Pablo Montoya    Chevrolet  148
28.  Mark Martin           Chevrolet  148
29.  Joey Logano           Toyota     148
30.  Brad Keselowski       Dodge      147
31.  Jimmie Johnson        Chevrolet  147
32.  Marcos Ambrose        Toyota     147
33.  Regan Smith           Chevrolet  147
34.  Travis Kvapil         Ford       145
35.  Martin Truex Jr       Toyota     141
36.  AJ Allmendinger       Ford       136
37.  David Stremme         Ford       135
38.  David Ragan           Ford       116
39.  Jamie McMurray        Chevrolet  116
40.  Kyle Busch            Toyota     103
41.  Joe Nemechek          Toyota     38
42.  Max Papis             Toyota     6
43.  Dave Blaney           Toyota     4