Charlotte NASCAR: Kevin Harvick wins as rivals brawl

Prior to Saturday night's 500-mile event, Harvick had not won since Darlington in April - despite regularly leading and even dominating many races only to hit misfortune.

It finally came right for the Stewart-Haas driver at Charlotte Motor Speedway as he led 162 of the 334 laps, pulling out commanding leads whenever at the front.

A mid-race fear of a loose wheel proved unfounded, and a two-lap sprint to the finish after a last-gasp yellow for Brian Vickers' Toyota blowing an engine was no problem for Harvick, who held off Jeff Gordon to the flag.

There was chaos post-race as Brad Keselowski made contact with both Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth on the slowing-down lap in retaliation for earlier on-track incidents.

Keselowski also ran into Tony Stewart by accident while aiming for Kenseth on pitlane, prompting Stewart to reverse into the Penske Ford.

Those disputes continued into the garage area, with separate brawls in quick succession featuring first Hamlin and Keselowski, then Keselowski and Kenseth, as crowds of crew members and NASCAR officials tried to restrain those involved.

SPARKS FLY BETWEEN KENSETH AND KESELOWSKI

Keselowski had only finished 16th and, having already been in trouble in the points after his Kansas problems, he is now effectively relying on a win at Talladega next week to remain in the Chase.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr share that plight.

After struggling for speed all night, Johnson made it as far as fourth but pitted for fresh tyres under the final caution, clearly expecting others to do likewise. With all the other frontrunners staying out and only two laps after the restart to regain ground, he ended up 17th.

Earnhardt had to make multiple pitstops, incurring several penalties along the way, to try to fix a broken gearshift lever and finished 20th, one place beind Kenseth.

Kenseth, Keselowski, Johnson and Earnhardt are currently the quartet in line to be eliminated after Talladega.

Ganassi duo Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson again gave the title contenders plenty of headaches, with McMurray finishing a close third and Larson briefly leading before taking sixth.

Joey Logano, already secure in the next round after his Kansas win, was fourth ahead of pole-winner Kyle Busch.

Ryan Newman finished seventh despite spinning to avoid a collision between Logano and Danica Patrick, with fellow Chase runners Carl Edwards, Hamlin and Kasey Kahne completing the top 10.

Results - 334 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet   3h26m49.000s
 2.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet            +0.572s
 3.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet             +0.980s
 4.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                   +1.306s
 5.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota              +1.741s
 6.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet             +1.840s
 7.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet           +1.957s
 8.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford             +2.141s
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +2.473s
10.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet            +2.504s
11.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +2.512s
12.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet       +2.693s
13.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet           +2.703s
14.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet       +2.935s
15.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet              +3.095s
16.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                   +3.252s
17.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet            +3.343s
18.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             +3.478s
19.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +5.712s
20.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet             -1 lap
21.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet         -1 lap
22.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                    -2 laps
23.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet             -3 laps
24.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford             -3 laps
25.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    -3 laps
26.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        -3 laps
27.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet             -4 laps
28.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                     -4 laps
29.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford                  -4 laps
30.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                     -4 laps
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             -5 laps
32.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                -5 laps
33.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet             -6 laps
34.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                -6 laps
35.  Corey LaJoie        Humphrey Ford                 -8 laps
36.  Timmy Hill          Circle Sport Chevrolet        -8 laps
37.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                -9 laps*
38.  JJ Yeley            BK Toyota                     -9 laps
39.  Blake Koch          Go FAS Ford                  -12 laps
40.  Brett Moffitt       Robinson Toyota              -14 laps

* Not running at finish

Retirements:

     Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet            178 laps
     Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          134 laps
     Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                94 laps

CHASE STANDINGS AFTER TWO OF THREE 'CONTENDER' ROUNDS: