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Harvick Claims Second-Straight Shootout Win

by Amanda Vincent

Kevin Harvick may be suffering from the lingering symptoms of the flu, and may not have turned a lap behind the wheel of his Budweiser Shootout backup car until the start of the event on Saturday night, but that didn't keep him from celebrating with the No. 29 team in victory lane following the Shootout for the second-consecutive year.

"I have to thank my team, they did a great job," Harvick said. "Wrecked a car in practice, I was sick on Thursday, didn't even get to sit a lap in this thing. Man that thing was a rocket. The best thing about it was it handled really well. I have to thank everybody. Coca Cola, SKF, Jimmy John's, Champion, Sherwin Williams, Reeses, RealTree, everybody that helps this thing go around."

In all, six of the 24 drivers who started the Budweiser Shootout were in backup cars due to practice crashes on Thursday -- Harvick, Jammie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, and Greg Biffle. Harvick, Biffle, and McMurray got to start in the position they drew, despite being in backup cars, becaus practice laps were taken in the backups they started the race in (Richard Childress Racing treammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer took turns practicing Harvick's car in his absense on Thursday. Bowyer was the one who wrecked it).

Meanwhile, Busch, Martin, and Hamlin had to start in the back, because they didn't make any practice laps in their backups. Also joining them in the back for the start were Juan Montoya and Derrike Cope, who didn't practice at all.

Harvick stayed near the front throughout the Shootout, as pole sitter Carl Edwards dominated early, leading all 25 laps of the first segment that was caution-free until a Michael Waltrip spin on the final lap of the segment ended green flag racing for the first segment a fraction of a lap early.

Edwards lost the lead early on in the second segment to McMurray. Edwards soon retook the lead, and then McMurray had problems getting up to speed on a restart after a spin by Busch.

Following the second caution of the second segment -- brought out after Burton spun as a result of a cut tire -- Tony Stewart and Harvick traded the lead back and forth throughout the rest of the event.

Biffle, though, did spend some time up front late in the race, and restarted up front for a green-white-checkers finish that was set up by a Waltrip spin after contact from Ryan Newman with six laps to go.

Biffle, however, was the recipient of contact from Jeff Gordon in the closing laps set the stage for the big one that collected not only Biffle, but both his Roush Fenway teammates who were in the race (Matt Kenseth and Edwards), Bobby Labonte, Ken Schrader, Martin, and Ryan Newman.

"It was pretty wild at the end, but that is what it is all about," McMurray said. "The Shootout is a lot of fun and they eliminated the bump-drafting zones, we shoved each other all the way down the backstretch."

With NASCAR rules only allowing for one attempt at a green-white-checkers finish, the race ended under caution with Harvick being declared the winner. Stewart, who Harvick battled for the lead much of the latter portion of the race, wound up finishing in the ninth position. Kasey Kahne, who also spent a lot of time near the front of the pack, claimed the runner-up position.

McMurray battled back from his problematic restart and finished in the third spot. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

The top-10 finishers of the Budweiser Shootout were as follows:
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jamie McMurray
4. Kyle Busch
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Brian Vickers
7. Joey Logano
8. Jeff Gordon
9. Tony Stewart
10. Juan Montoya

*Note: This finishing order is unofficial, as NASCAR was still reviewing video to confirm the exact running order at the time of the final caution.

Click here to read more NASCAR news from Amanda Vincent