Kevin Harvick wins at Richmond as 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase field is set

Harvick had made the headlines earlier this week after announcing he is set to shut down the shop where his Truck and Nationwide Series team have operated for the past few seasons but on Saturday night he hit a high by winning the final race of the regular season, placing him tied in the Chase lead with Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch.

Richard Childress Racing driver Harvick was strong from the early running, leading 122 of the first 200 laps, but then seemed to have lost his momentum into the second half of the race as Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards suddenly became the benchmark.

However as the race entered the deciding stages, Edwards found himself having to save fuel in order to make it to the end after staying out during the 14th caution of the day. Despite having to back off, Edwards was able to hold on to third while Harvick, armed with fresh rubber and enough fuel to make it to the end, jumped to the lead again.

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon put the pressure on Harvick and seemed to have the speed to pass him and go for the win but a record-tying 15th caution, 15 laps from the end, opened things up again up front. Harvick pitted and his rivals followed him down pit road, putting everyone on equal terms of fuel and tyres for the final shoot-out.

When the race resumed Gordon struggled to keep the pressure on Harvick and instead Edwards surged to become the RCR driver's main opponent, arriving on his rear bumper and trying to look for a way past.

However that was as far as he would get in his hope of beating the driver nicknamed 'the closer', as Harvick wrapped up his regular season with a fourth victory, the most he has ever achieved ahead of the Chase.

"That's what it's all about in these first 26 [races]," said Harvick, whose win gives him an additional three points to his total Chase tally of 2012, the same as leader Busch. "We learned that last year, we didn't win enough races in the Chase and we didn't think we did a very good job of that in the last 10. It's all about the last 10 races and we've got a little momentum now."

Edwards finished second and lamented not scoring those key bonus points as he starts the Chase nine behind the leaders, having won only once during the regular season - at Las Vegas early this year.

Gordon finished a strong third ahead of Roush Fenway's David Ragan, who was a top-five contender during the second half of the race while trying to look for a second win that would have placed him in the Chase as a wildcard.

Penske's Kurt Busch had an up and down night - as did his team-mate Brad Keselowski - but finished fifth in the end following a couple of on-track clashes with reigning champion Jimmie Johnson. The Hendrick driver led the race early on but his contact with Busch was the start of his demise as a possible contender for victory.

Tony Stewart had a solid race to seventh, which was more than enough to lock him in the Chase for the seventh time in his career - only missing it once in 2006. Two places behind him in the order was Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, who recovered from contact as soon as lap seven, which dropped him a lap down, to come home in ninth place and secure his sixth consecutive Chase entry as the final wildcard.

Even more dramatic than Hamlin's race was Dale Earnhardt Jr's night as the Hendrick Motorsports driver crashed into Clint Bowyer in the second incident of the night, after the RCR driver spun while battling for position with polesitter David Reutimann.

Earnhardt ran outside the top 20 for most of the night after being involved in a few incidents and at one point his chances of being in the Chase looked compromised but in the end a late push to 16th - coupled with Keselowski losing form in the final part of the race - put him back in title contention.

Keselowski looked to have the speed to contend for victory but in the end he struggled to a 12th place finish. However he enters his first Chase from 11th place as the leading wildcard thanks to his three wins this year.

Results - 400 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          3h20m12.000s
 2.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                + 0.139s
 3.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 2.373s
 4.  David Ragan         Roush Fenway Ford                + 3.283s
 5.  Kurt Busch          Penske Dodge                     + 3.437s
 6.  Kyle Busch          Gibbs Toyota                     + 3.916s
 7.  Tony Stewart        Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 4.579s
 8.  Ryan Newman         Stewart Haas Chevrolet           + 5.371s
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Gibbs Toyota                     + 5.473s
10.  Mark Martin         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 5.742s
11.  AJ Allmendinger     Petty Ford                       + 6.032s
12.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Dodge                     + 6.277s
13.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                + 6.794s
14.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 7.633s
15.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 8.667s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet               + 8.859s
17.  Casey Mears         Germain Toyota                   + 9.200s
18.  Regan Smith         Furniture Row Chevrolet          + 9.517s
19.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet               + 19.443s
20.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota            + 20.623s
21.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                        + 1 lap
22.  Clint Bowyer        Childress Chevrolet               + 1 lap
23.  Matt Kenseth        Roush Fenway Ford                 + 1 lap
24.  Stephen Leicht      Baldwin Chevrolet                 + 1 lap
25.  Landon Cassill      Phoenix Chevrolet                 + 1 lap
26.  David Reutimann     Waltrip Toyota                    + 1 lap
27.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                   + 3 laps
28.  Travis Kvapil       Front Row Ford                   + 6 laps
29.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet              + 7 laps
30.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                   + 9 laps
31.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet              + 38 laps
32.  Andy Lally          TRG Chevrolet                   + 43 laps
33.  Brian Vickers       Red Bull Toyota                 + 72 laps
34.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet             + 81 laps

Retirements:

     Joey Logano         Gibbs Toyota                     296 laps
     Mike Bliss          FAS Lane Ford                    198 laps
     Robby Gordon        Gordon Dodge                      51 laps
     Kasey Kahne         Red Bull Toyota                   50 laps
     Michael McDowell    HP Toyota                         46 laps
     David Stremme       Inception Chevrolet               42 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                      24 laps
     JJ Yeley            Front Row Ford                    22 laps
     Scott Speed         Whitney Ford                       7 laps