Crash (and dash) landing

Kevin Harvick edged Mark Martin in one of the closest Daytona finishes ever.
By GREG ENGLE
SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's biggest race lived up to its billing Sunday.
Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin with less than a quarter lap to go and won in one of the closest Daytona 500 finishes since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993.
"I can't believe it," Harvick said. "We were 30-something there with 15 laps to go. [But] we came up through there."
A wreck that collected Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Lap 196 of the scheduled 200-lap race brought out the last of six cautions, and two laps later NASCAR red-flagged the race to clear the wreckage. The yellow flag came out nearly 12 minutes later, setting up a green-white-checkered flag finish.
The race restarted on Lap 201 with Martin in first, followed by Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, polesitter David Gilliland and Elliott Sadler.
Harvick, who started 29th, restarted in back half of the top 10, and on the final lap, with a big push from Matt Kenseth and teammate Jeff Burton, charged on the outside and caught Martin coming into Turn 3.
Crash
As Harvick and Martin raced side-by-side to the start-finish line, a multicar crash erupted just behind the leaders. NASCAR elected not to throw the caution flag, allowing the two to race to the finish for the win. Harvick held off Martin by .02 seconds.
"I saw the yellow come out right after we crossed the start-finish line," Harvick said. "I don't really know when it came out. I was concentrating on Mark. I didn't want him to get back in front of me for a just a split second there."
The spectacular crash collected a number of drivers, including Gilliland, Kenseth, Busch and Jeff Gordon. Clint Bowyer finished the race upside down, his No. 07 Chevrolet sliding across the finish line on its roof. He was not injured.
Rounding out the top five were Burton, Mike Wallace and rookie David Ragan. Elliott Sadler finished sixth, followed by Kasey Kahne, Gilliland, Joe Nemechek and David Stremme.
Big weekend
It was Harvick's 11th-career Cup victory and gave him his second win of the weekend; on Saturday he won the Busch Series race at Daytona.
Harvick took Richard Childress Racing to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 for the first time since Dale Earnhardt won in 1998 and exactly six years to the day that the NASCAR icon lost his life in a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Harvick was chosen by Childress to take over Earnhardt's car.
Martin, in his debut with Ginn Racing, took the lead after a caution on Lap 174, but with four laps to go, Jamie McMurray slapped the wall coming out of Turn 2 and set off a three-car crash that took out himself, Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd.
Martin was denied in his 23rd attempt at a Daytona 500 win, but he accomplished one goal with his new team.
"I didn't ask for that trophy," Martin said "All I asked for was a chance at it. I'm very proud of what this team did for me this weekend."
Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch dominated the first half of the event. Busch led 44 laps and Stewart led 32. The duo looked to be the cars to beat until Stewart dropped out of the lead on Lap 80 when he ran over debris from Kyle Petty's exploding tire and was forced to pit.
Stewart restarted 41st and methodically worked his way back through the field, catching Kurt Busch and passing him for the lead on Lap 150.
Stewart's lead, and in fact his day, didn't last long, however, as he slipped up in Turn 4 and was hit from behind by Busch. Stewart and Busch crashed, ending their hopes for victory.
"Not completely sure of what happened out there," Stewart said.
On Lap 174, Jimmie Johnson, last year's Daytona 500 winner and the defending Nextel Cup champion, lost his car coming out of Turn 2 and slammed into the outside wall. He slid back down and set off a multicar crash that took out Jeff Green, David Reutimann, Tony Raines and Denny Hamlin.
"We got it loose," Johnson said. "I thought I had it saved, but it snapped back to the right."
Johnson finished 39th, ending his run of 105 consecutive weeks in the top 10 in points. The streak began March 2004 and was the longest current streak.