Harvick dominates Atlanta Nationwide

Starting from the front row, Harvick grabbed the lead from polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr when the green flag waved and held it until the first round of pitstops, which came during the first caution period of the race.

Kyle Busch led the field on the first restart, but after a handful of laps following Harvick was back in control. From then on, the two-time Nationwide Series champion looked in control, with nobody being able to get close to him on the long green-flag runs.

In the final part of the race though, Harvick needed to pit for fuel with 13 laps remaining, a lap later than second-placed Kyle Busch. That allowed third-placed Dale Earnhardt Jr to move into the lead and he tried to stretch his fuel mileage in order to go the distance without an extra stop.

Although he succeeded at finishing the race, his pace was not good enough on old tyres to stay in front as Harvick passed him on the last lap to reclaim the lead and drive off to a deserved win.

Similarly Busch got second, closing down the gap to Harvick to just over a second in the end after being more than four seconds back when he pitted for fuel and four new tyres for the last time.

"Once I got going I knew the #5 [Dale Earnhardt Jr] was trying stretching their fuel but I knew I was a couple of seconds a lap faster than he was and then I saw the #18 [Kyle Busch] coming from the back, he was better than us for about ten laps, so a lot of things happening there at the end but it all worked out," said Harvick.

"I thought the only car that we were racing was the #18 and I knew when he pitted first and showed his hand, I knew that I needed to do the same thing that he did. I had a little bit of trouble there in the pitstop and gave up four or five seconds but still had enough there in the end to win the race."

Kyle Busch finished second for the ninth time this year and increased the gap in the championship to Carl Edwards, who was able to complete the whole race despite the pain from his fractured right foot, finishing seventh in the end.

"What a non-race that was," Busch said. "Hopefully, it was a show there at the end. We were running down Junior [Dale Earnhardt] trying to get past him and he gave us both room. I could run the #33 [Kevin Harvick] down or beat him for 15 to 18 laps -- after that I just didn't have anything for him.

"Those guys were so good on the long run. He just had it over us."

Dale Earnhardt Jr's third place was welcomed by the JR Motorsports driver, even if victory was just a lap short from happening.

"We saved enough gas and finished closer to the front two guys than we were before on the racetrack so I guess it was the right call," said Earnhardt Jr. "We just didn't have enough in the end to hold them off. I tried to get going, they were coming. Real happy with the run for this team."

Brad Keselowski and Jeff Burton were the only drivers besides the top-three who finished on the lead lap with fourth and fifth at the chequered flag respectively. Joey Logano was sixth, passing Edwards on the last lap as both were getting lapped by the leader.

Pos  Driver                  Car        Laps
 1.  Kevin Harvick           Chevrolet   195
 2.  Kyle Busch              Toyota      195
 3.  Dale Earnhardt Jr       Chevrolet   195
 4.  Brad Keselowski         Chevrolet   195
 5.  Jeff Burton             Chevrolet   195
 6.  Joey Logano             Toyota      194
 7.  Carl Edwards            Ford        194
 8.  Greg Biffle             Ford        194
 9.  David Ragan             Ford        194
10.  Reed Sorenson           Chevrolet   193
11.  Kasey Kahne             Toyota      193
12.  Paul Menard             Ford        193
13.  Brian Vickers           Toyota      193
14.  Michael Annett          Toyota      192
15.  David Gilliland         Dodge       192
16.  Trevor Bayne            Toyota      192
17.  Justin Allgaier         Dodge       192
18.  Scott Wimmer            Chevrolet   192
19.  Mike Wallace            Chevrolet   192
20.  Jason Leffler           Toyota      191
21.  Shelby Howard           Chevrolet   191
22.  Robert Richardson Jr    Chevrolet   191
23.  Steve Wallace           Chevrolet   191
24.  Tony Raines             Dodge       190
25.  Matt Carter             Ford        189
26.  Eric McClure            Ford        189
27.  Kenny Wallace           Chevrolet   189
28.  Peyton Sellers          Chevrolet   189
29.  Chase Austin            Chevrolet   186
30.  Bobby Hamilton Jr       Dodge       185
31.  Brendan Gaughan         Chevrolet   132
32.  Kelly Bires             Toyota      127
33.  Brian Keselowski        Dodge        71 
34.  Mike Bliss              Chevrolet    46 
35.  Michael McDowell        Dodge        41 
36.  Jeremy Clements         Chevrolet    38 
37.  Jason Keller            Ford         31 
38.  Casey Atwood            Ford         12 
39.  Chase Miller            Toyota        9  
40.  Mark Green              Chevrolet     9  
41.  Kevin Lepage            Dodge         6  
42.  Johnny Chapman          Chevrolet     4  
43.  Dave Blaney             Chevrolet     3