Harvick wins All-Star Challenge

Harvick overtook Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch on the start of the last of four 20-lap segments to grab the lead and never surrendered it despite two cautions and the huge pressure Jimmie Johnson put him under during the last 15 laps of flat-out racing.

"The car was really good all night," said Harvick after taking his first All-Star victory. "They caught us and I learned a little tonight. Getting into turn 3 tonight I was having trouble but we started working with the throttle and we were able to hang with Jimmie there. We just tried to stay in his tracks and that worked out."

Jimmie Johnson was on a charge in the last segment, having recovered from a problem with his left-front tyre, which was wearing out badly due to contact with his car's bodywork.

This forced him to pit twice after the first segment, sending him way down the order from the third place he had when the first twenty laps were completed. His crew worked hard to fix the problem during the 10-minute break after the second segment, when he had already moved up to eighth place.

"Kevin did an awesome job," Johnson said. "His car was loose and I was certainly loose. We had something gone wrong with the front spring. We were traveling the left front too far and wearing the left front out, almost had a flat tyre a couple of times."

Mark Martin looked a contender for victory in the closing stages in what appeared for a moment to be a three-way battle for the top prize of the night. However he lost contact with Johnson's bumper in the last few laps.

"With ten to go it was time to throw every piece of gut you got," Martin said. "We got bumper to bumper with them and at that point it was anybody's race. I did everything I could to try to get in front but we were pretty much equal, we were pretty even."

Pole-sitter Matt Kenseth led all the way through the first segment but lost the lead during the first round of pit stops, which were optional. He then led the last 15 laps of the third segment and won it as well, but was later penalized for speeding on pit road when he completed the mandatory pit stop for everyone before the start of the last 20 laps.

Kyle Busch led every lap in the second segment after choosing to stay on the track when the leaders pitted after the first 20 laps. He went on to finish third in segment three but crashed with 18 laps remaining after getting loose in turn 1 while overtaking brother Kurt for second place. Both were out of the race on the spot.

Nextel Cup points-leader Jeff Gordon finished 11th despite leading the field at the start of the last segment. He was forced to pit to change his right rear tyre, which was causing his car to be loose, almost putting him in the wall with 18 laps remaining.

Nextel Open winner Martin Truex Jr finished 10th while event runner-up Johnny Sauter was sixth. Kenny Wallace, who qualified for the All-Star race thanks to votes from the fans, didn't impress his devoted followers by finishing last among the cars still running at the end of the event.

Denny Hamlin and Casey Mears crashed with 17 laps to go, while Bobby Labonte hit the wall early during the third segment.

The Nextel Cup teams will return to Lowe's Motor Speedway next week for the Coca-Cola 600.

Pos  Driver               Make          Laps
 1.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet      80
 2.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet      80
 3.  Mark Martin          Chevrolet      80
 4.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet      80
 5.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet      80
 6.  Johnny Sauter        Chevrolet      80
 7.  Matt Kenseth         Ford           80
 8.  Ryan Newman          Dodge          80
 9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr    Chevrolet      80
10.  Martin Truex Jr      Chevrolet      80
11.  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet      80
12.  Dale Jarrett         Toyota         80
13.  Brian Vickers        Toyota         80
14.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge          80
15.  Greg Biffle          Ford           80
16.  Kenny Wallace        Chevrolet      80
17.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet      63
18.  Casey Mears          Chevrolet      63
19.  Kurt Busch           Dodge          62
20.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet      62
21.  Bobby Labonte        Dodge          41