Harvick snatches Fontana victory

The Richard Childress Racing driver only led the final lap of the race after driving around the outside of the reigning champion, who had just taken the lead from a hitherto dominant Kyle Busch.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver looked set to sweep the weekend for a second time this season, having won Saturday's Nationwide Series race after gambling on a final two-tyre stop, while Harvick took four and ended up losing after leading the most laps.

The roles were reversed come Sunday, when Busch seemed in control until his final pitstop. Tony Stewart appeared to be his main opposition then, but following the final caution Johnson emerged as his biggest rival, eventually taking the lead with two laps to go.

But while they battled up front, Harvick approached with a head of steam, pushing Johnson's rear bumper along the backstretch after the white flag waved, having quickly disposed of Busch previously. As Johnson tried to scratch speed with an early entry into Turn 3, Harvick kept momentum on his preferred outside line, running very close to the barriers.

Driving a wider ratio while rim-riding the final turn, Harvick seemed to be able to put the power down earlier than Johnson, driving past the Hendrick driver as a substantial crowd cheered a stunning finish to what had been an uneventful race for most of the afternoon.

"Those guys [Busch and Johnson] started racing and they got side-by-side and we were able to pull up in there," said Harvick. "The more cycles that got on our tyres, the better off we were. But I was really nervous about that last call staying out but it all worked out in our favour and we were able to make up ground."

Johnson was not a factor for most of the day but the final caution allowed him to finally get in touch with the leaders for the closing sprint. Restarting beside Busch, after the last green flag he took a few laps to set up his attack, which placed him close to a record sixth career win at his home race, but it was not to be in the end.

"I knew [Harvick] was coming, they said he was coming," said Johnson. "If I could have got by the #18 [Busch] maybe a lap sooner that might have been enough to give me the margin I needed. Just way loose.

"I was driving my butt off just trying to keep this car up front but it didn't pan out. I hate losing it coming off [Turn] 5 like that but we did everything we could today."

Busch admitted his car was not as sharp in the final two runs of the race, which is where his rivals were able to really put him under pressure. He led more than three quarters of the scheduled distance but the balance on his Toyota was not as good when Johnson and Harvick were able to run side-by-side with him.

"Just real, real unfortunate and frustrating and disappointing all in one that we weren't able to seal the deal today," Busch said. "You're essentially a sitting duck waiting for those guys to drive by you... I just couldn't get more out of the car."

Matt Kenseth emerged as the best of the Roush Fenway racers, who were nowhere near the battle for victory. On the final caution he was the first of several drivers to take on new right-side tyres behind the leaders, making the most of his grip advantage in the final 10 laps to claims a solid fourth place.

Stewart Haas' Ryan Newman ran among the top five for most of the day and was fifth at the flag, while his team-mate Tony Stewart lost pace in the end and ended up only 13th, having restarted third with 10 laps remaining.

Meanwhile Carl Edwards had an unspectacular, yet effective afternoon, which yielded a return to the lead in the standings that the Roush driver had previously held after the season opener at Daytona.

Red Bull's Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne completed solid runs with eighth and ninth while polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 10 for Earnhardt Ganassi.

Front row starter Denny Hamlin's bad streak continued, engine issues putting him out of contention.

Results - 200 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          2h39m06.000s
 2.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet               + 0.144s
 3.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                     + 1.158s
 4.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford                + 1.358s
 5.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 2.066s
 6.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                + 3.084s
 7.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet              + 3.774s
 8.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota                  + 4.009s
 9.  Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota                  + 4.097s
10.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 5.284s
11.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                + 5.397s
12.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet               + 5.408s
13.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 5.586s
14.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                       + 6.245s
15.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet              + 6.610s
16.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet              + 7.117s
17.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                     + 7.339s
18.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 7.472s
19.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                   + 7.639s
20.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 7.903s
21.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                   + 7.966s
22.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford                + 8.153s
23.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet     + 10.654s
24.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet               + 13.485s
25.  Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                    + 33.172s
26.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                      + 1 lap
27.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet           + 1 lap
28.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                       + 2 laps
29.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                   + 2 laps
30.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford               + 2 laps
31.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                   + 2 laps
32.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                    + 2 laps
33.  Mike Skinner        FAS Lane Ford                    + 3 laps
34.  Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                     + 3 laps
35.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford                   + 4 laps
36.  Tony Raines         Front Row Ford                  + 10 laps

Retirements:

     Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet                188 laps
     Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota             182 laps
     Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                     105 laps
     Todd Bodine         Germain Toyota                    50 laps
     JJ Yeley            Whitney Chevrolet                 47 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      39 laps
     Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                         32 laps