Harvick rallies for first Chase crown

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Kevin Harvick celebrates winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship series auto race, Sunday, Nov. 16,2014 in Homestead,

Desperate racing at end produces victory

Associated Press

HOMESTEAD, Fla.

Kevin Harvick charged through the field, picking off car after car, passing two other title contenders on a series of restarts. As he aggressively chased the victory and his first Sprint Cup title, it was clear that winning did indeed matter most in NASCAR’s new championship formula.

Harvick won Sunday night’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a desperate drive from 12th to first over the final 15 laps. He didn’t have to win the race, he only had to finish higher than the other three title contenders in this revamped Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

But nothing short of a win was going to get it done on a night in which Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano all showed up determined to claim their first career championship.

“You had all the championship guys show up at the front of the pack,” Harvick said. “I was just going to hold the pedal down and hope for the best.”

The four drivers all found themselves racing each other at the front of the field after the sun went down on the 400-mile race. It was Hamlin, the Charlotte Bobcats season-ticket holder who had Michael Jordan cheering from his pits, who seemed to have the race in control until a caution with 20 laps to go.

All four teams were forced to make tough strategy decisions that ultimately decided their fate.

Joe Gibbs Racing decided not to pit Hamlin, which moved him to second on the restart. Richard Childress Racing gave Ryan Newman four tires, while Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers also made the risky call for four tires.

Team Penske had also planned to give Joey Logano four tires, but a problem with the jack destroyed Logano’s chances and he plummeted from sixth to 21st, ending his championship bid.

Harvick restarted 12th with 15 laps to go and not much time to pick his way through traffic. As Hamlin passed leader Jeff Gordon on the restart, Harvick shot past four cars to move to seventh.

Then came another caution, and Hamlin, on old tires, knew he was in trouble. Harvick, on four new tires, rocketed through the middle on the restart, dicing his way through traffic to pick up another four spots and move into second.

“I loved our chances, but they weren’t there at the end,” Hamlin said. “Strategy is part of winning, and the strategy for us didn’t work out with the cautions.”

Harvick got by Hamlin, then Newman passed Hamlin for second and the championship became a battle of drivers who had essentially swapped seats this year. There was one more caution, forcing Harvick to nail one final restart with three laps remaining, and he eased his way ahead of Newman and never looked back.

The victory capped a magical first season at Stewart-Haas Racing, where Harvick moved this year after 13 seasons with Richard Childress that failed to produce a championship.

Harvick, who had to win last week at Phoenix just to advance into Sunday’s final four, wrapped up his third victory of this Chase and fifth of the season. He leaned this week on team co-owner Tony Stewart, a three-time champion, and Jimmie Johnson, the six-time champion who moved from California to North Carolina to chase a career in NASCAR about the same time as Harvick made the move east.

“Been trying for 13 years,” an emotional Harvick said. “This week ate me up.”