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Kevin Harvick blasted from seventh to first on a two-lap dash to the checkered flag on Saturday night in Richmond.
It was his first points win of the year. He won the non-points Sprint Unlimited at Daytona in February.
"That was a heck of a first lap of the restart," the Richard Childress Racing driver said. "I thought that the outside line might have the advantage because it had a couple of guys with new tires in the second row, and lined up on the outside.
"But the two tires - these cars drive a lot off the left rear - and we only took two tires, and they didn't get that great of restart but my car launched, and I was able to drive it in the first corner and hope for the best down there. I figured four, eight, 12...how many ever tires that were on the outside of me would be better than none. It all worked out, and here we are."
The race all-but-belonged to ex-Formula One driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, who was still looking for his first oval win in NASCAR until Brian Vickers smacked the wall with two laps to go bringing out the final caution which erased his lead.
All the Colombian native could do was laugh it off. "Yeah, we made the right calls when we pitted and when we stayed out and everything, but we got that caution at the end and it was a no-brainer to take tires," said Montoya.
"And I think what hurt us is we restarted on the outside and when you restart on the outside and people got really bad tires, everything packs up. And when you're on the outside, you can't; you know, where are you going to jump?"
Montoya had been holding off Kurt Busch who was having one of the best runs the one-car Furniture Row Racing has had. But Harvick got around Busch before the last caution on fresher tires.
''I was in an awesome run, waiting for the race to come to us. ... That green-white-checkered at the end, it's just chaos," Busch said. Busch bumped Tony Stewart and there was an after the-race exchange of words between the two former NASCAR champions.
Clint Bowyer was strong all night but used up his tires chasing pole sitter Matt Kenseth just before he got passed by Montoya. He finished second in a Toyota followed by the Ford of Joey Logano and Montoya who ended up fourth.
Bowyer was a little surprised at his late race comeback. "I think I was ninth on the final restart," Bowyer said. "There was a ton of chaos behind me, Tony got pissed and I ended up second. I would have liked to win but I'll take that."
Jimmie Johnson, who finished 12th , continues to lead by 43 points over Carl Edwards who finished sixth. Kasey Kahne, who crashed with Mark Martin, was running 21st at the checkers and is third in the standings three points behind Edwards.
It was his first points win of the year. He won the non-points Sprint Unlimited at Daytona in February.
"That was a heck of a first lap of the restart," the Richard Childress Racing driver said. "I thought that the outside line might have the advantage because it had a couple of guys with new tires in the second row, and lined up on the outside.
"But the two tires - these cars drive a lot off the left rear - and we only took two tires, and they didn't get that great of restart but my car launched, and I was able to drive it in the first corner and hope for the best down there. I figured four, eight, 12...how many ever tires that were on the outside of me would be better than none. It all worked out, and here we are."
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| Kevin Harvick, Richmond International Raceway (Photo: Kevin Harvick) |
The race all-but-belonged to ex-Formula One driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, who was still looking for his first oval win in NASCAR until Brian Vickers smacked the wall with two laps to go bringing out the final caution which erased his lead.
All the Colombian native could do was laugh it off. "Yeah, we made the right calls when we pitted and when we stayed out and everything, but we got that caution at the end and it was a no-brainer to take tires," said Montoya.
"And I think what hurt us is we restarted on the outside and when you restart on the outside and people got really bad tires, everything packs up. And when you're on the outside, you can't; you know, where are you going to jump?"
Montoya had been holding off Kurt Busch who was having one of the best runs the one-car Furniture Row Racing has had. But Harvick got around Busch before the last caution on fresher tires.
''I was in an awesome run, waiting for the race to come to us. ... That green-white-checkered at the end, it's just chaos," Busch said. Busch bumped Tony Stewart and there was an after the-race exchange of words between the two former NASCAR champions.
Clint Bowyer was strong all night but used up his tires chasing pole sitter Matt Kenseth just before he got passed by Montoya. He finished second in a Toyota followed by the Ford of Joey Logano and Montoya who ended up fourth.
Bowyer was a little surprised at his late race comeback. "I think I was ninth on the final restart," Bowyer said. "There was a ton of chaos behind me, Tony got pissed and I ended up second. I would have liked to win but I'll take that."
Jimmie Johnson, who finished 12th , continues to lead by 43 points over Carl Edwards who finished sixth. Kasey Kahne, who crashed with Mark Martin, was running 21st at the checkers and is third in the standings three points behind Edwards.