Kevin Harvick Wins One Wild Budweiser Shootout
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Talk about a shootout. They'll be talking about
this one for years to come.
Kevin Harvick drove his Richard Childress Chevrolet to the front of
the field on the very last lap Saturday night to capture one of the
wildest Budweiser Shootouts in the history of Daytona International
Speedway.
Harvick cruised across the finish line after a split-second crash
behind him and runner-up Jamie McMurray wiped out a group of
contenders, including defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson,
contenders Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers, as well as Casey Mears and
pole-sitter Paul Menard.
The stage was set for a 190-mile-an-hour showdown. when a caution fell
with three laps remaining in the two-part 75-lap race. David Stremme
nipped Greg Biffle coming out of turn four sending Biffle into the
outside wall. Biffle had to realize it just wasn't his night since he
had been a victim of several other miscues by various drivers earlier
in the race.
When the green flag fell for a green/white/checkered finish, McMurray
was leading with Harvick second. Harvick ducked low coming out of turn
two on the final lap and passed McMurray. By the time Harvick got to
turn three, all heck broke loose behind him.
Johnson was tapped by someone, who was tapped by someone else and the
next thing you knew, cars were spinning all over the place with smoke
covering the track like a late-night campfire. When it cleared, the
bright yellow No. 29 of Harvick was home free.
Trailing the winner and runnerup was Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, two
former champions who gave it their all to win. AJ Allmindinger was
fifth, followed by Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch
and Kyle Busch.
This was one of those races you absolutely had to watch every minute
of every lap because drivers swapped the lead faster than you can
imagine.
Lap 26, Edwards leads. A couple of laps later, Kahne's in front. Then
Gordon takes the lead. Then McMurray. Next thing you know, Hamlin's
out front. Then Kyle Busch. Then fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.
streaks to the front.
The lead changed so fast, the announcers had a hard time talking that fast.
Matt Kenseth took a turn in front, as did Vickers, until it came down
to the end. It was a night every manufacturer could brag a little
about because every different make had its moment at the front of the
pack.
Paul Menard drew the pole position for the start of the two-segment,
non-points race. Menard, however, fell back after one lap in front,
and Denny Hamlin charged to the lead.
The fireworks started on lap four when cars checked up in front of
David Ragan, who was turned sideways, triggering a multi-car spin that
involved Mears, Robby Gordon, Joey Logano, Scott Speed and Greg
Biffle.
Jeff Gordon zig-zagged through the accident, moving his DuPont Chevy
back and forth dodging cars like he was playing hopscotch on the
high-banked pavement.
The race restarted on Lap 8 with Earnhardt out front. He was followed
by Elliott Sadler on the outside and Hamlin on the inside. Sadler
broke free and went to the front on Lap 10 with Hamlin in tow.
Kurt Busch was next with Tony Stewart fourth. Stewart took the lead on
lap 13 and Carl Edwards had roared into second.
NASCAR's best drivers were duking it out as though it were the last
lap of the Daytona 500 and the fans were loving it.
By Lap 17, Edwards was in front with Hamlin second. Allmindinger
shoved his Dodge into the second spot a couple of laps later, and
Johnson drove his Chevy into the ring, moving from back in the pack to
third place. Jeff Gordon was in fourth.
McMurray showed his hand on Lap 21 by moving into the top five.
On Lap 22, Hamlin made contact with David Reutimann, who gathered up
David Stremme. Both Reutimann and Stremme plowed sideways off through
the dirt on the inside of the backstretch but managed to keep their
machines off the retaining wall.
At the end of the first segment at 25 laps, Edwards was first with
McMurray second. Johnson was third, followed by Kahne, Kurt Busch,
Kyle Busch, Vickers, Gordon, Allmindinger and Earnhardt.
Logano, Robbie Gordon and Ragan were done for the night.
