Harvick survives wild race

Associated Press

Daytona beach, Fla.

The cracked, patched and deteriorating track held up better than most of the cars and some of the competitors.

A wild night race at Daytona International Speedway — the last one on the track’s 32-year-old surface — ended with Kevin Harvick taking the checkered flag, teammate Clint Bowyer spinning through the infield grass and several angry drivers searching for answers.

Just another restrictor-plate race? Maybe. But this one also might be remembered as one of the more chaotic events at NASCAR’s most famous track.

“Every time I looked up, there was a crash going on,” second-place finisher Kasey Kahne said.

It sure seemed that way, especially over the final 45 laps Saturday night.

Despite a record 18 leaders and 47 lead changes, the real excitement resulted from six multi-car crashes in the second half of the race that essentially wiped out half the field. The biggest of them all, a 20-car melee that included four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, came with 12 laps to go and halted action for 20 minutes.

There was even more commotion after the race. With fireworks exploding high above the track and smoke lingering from Harvick’s celebratory burnout, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch had a heated exchange.

Edwards felt Busch roughed him up on the final lap. Busch’s car hit the wall just past the finish line following the contact.

“He ended up wrecking himself,” Edwards said. “I guess it didn’t work out for him. I think he was frustrated he didn’t have a good day.”

Busch refused to talk to Edwards after climbing out of his car, then reminded everyone that Edwards was the same driver who deliberately retaliated against Busch’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, at Atlanta earlier this year.

“He completely turned right after the start/finish line,” Busch said. “There’s convincing evidence of that. We’ve seen him turn right before and wreck a Penske car.”

With the last-lap action taking place in his rearview mirror, Harvick cruised across the finish line for his second victory of the season and his first at Daytona since capturing the 2007 Daytona 500.

“This has been a great place for us,” Harvick said. “Daytona has been one of those magical places for us ever since we started coming here.”