Harvick wins in his third ever race 'for Dale'

Harvick's victory broke NASCAR's record for the fewest races taken for a driver to win his first race. His margin of victory over Jeff Gordon was just 0.006s after a thrilling side-by-side battle in the final laps. The previous record for a rookie winning a NASCAR Winston Cup race in the fewest starts was 11, set by Ron Bouchard in 1981.

"I'm just thrilled, Dale Earnhardt helped us win this one," said team owner Richard Childress, his voice choked with emotion.

The victory came just three weeks after Earnhardt was killed in the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500. Ironically, Earnhardt won this race last year in similar fashion when he defeated Bobby Labonte by eight inches.

Jerry Nadeau was third followed by Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte.

Harvick may be a rookie, but he drove with all the savvy of a veteran.

"I don't know how you could script it any different," Harvick said. "I didn't expect this so soon, with the unfortunate circumstances, all I can say is this one is for Dale.

"The car was tight and I didn't know if we could do it, but we never gave up. I think somebody was watching over us."

The 25-year-old took the lead when he went three-wide with Nadeau and Jarrett four laps from the finish. He was able to pull ahead until Gordon came up alongside him in the fourth turn of the last lap. Gordon pulled even and lost the race by just a few inches.

Jarrett started on the pole and pulled away from the field at the start before Nadeau spun out of the fourth turn to bring out the first caution period of the race. When the green flag waved, rookie Kevin Harvick passed Jarrett entering the first turn.

Jeff Gordon appeared to be the class of the field in the early stages of the race when he passed Harvick for the lead on lap 19 and stayed in front until the first round of pit stops began on lap 58. Gordon regained the lead when he passed Sterling Marlin in the third turn on lap 65.

Gordon's team made a major error when the leader ran out of fuel on the 143rd lap. By the time Gordon's Chevrolet limped back to the pits to make a stop, he had fallen one lap down to the leaders and went from first to 26th place.

Dodge driver Dave Blaney began to dominate the race after taking the lead on lap 140. He stayed in front and pulled away from Nadeau while Gordon attempted to get back on the lead lap. Gordon got a break on the 214th lap when he got a push from Nadeau to go by race leader Blaney.

Blaney came into the pits, however, when he lost a lug nut on his left rear tire. By the time his crew replaced all four tires, Blaney had fallen a lap down in 22nd place.

That put Nadeau in the lead, followed by Harvick and Marlin.

Mark Martin's engine blew up on the 233rd lap to bring out another caution flag and that allowed Gordon to get back on the lead lap when the race leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Nadeau, purposely slowed to let him get ahead at the line.

During the caution period, Blaney's problems continued when he lost the left rear wheel off his car. Blaney's Dodge was stranded on the backstretch and he had to drop out of the race.

Jarrett was ahead when the green flag waved on lap 239 followed by Matt Kenseth, Nadeau, Marlin and Bobby Labonte.

But Labonte's hopes for a high finish ended when he lost a cylinder in his engine. Labonte was able to continue while running on seven cylinders. Jarrett passed Nadeau for the lead on the 265th lap before another caution flag after Kenseth's engine blew up on lap 274.

The leaders pitted on lap 276 with Jarrett, Nadeau, Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. the first off pit road. The green flag waved on lap 283 and Gordon was now up to sixth place, making a bid for the top five. Mike Skinner brushed the fourth turn wall to bring out another caution flag on lap 291.

Jarrett, Marlin and Kurt Busch stayed on the race track while the rest of the leaders pitted for four tires and fuel. The strategy worked as Nadeau, with four fresh tires, was able to pass Jarrett for the lead on lap 293 - three laps after the race was restarted.

Marlin's bid for victory ended on lap 300 when his engine blew up in the second turn. After a quick cleanup, the green flag waved on lap 305 with Nadeau leading Jarrett and Harvick. Rookie Andy Houston was tapped from behind by Michael Waltrip, which sent him spinning across the grass. Houston was able to continue without another caution flag, leaving the top five to battle it out for the victory, a fight that ended with Harvick's incredible, and poignant, last gasp triumph.


Click here for the Atlanta race result.