Harvick Wins At Phoenix

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Harvick makes late pass hold up for Phoenix win

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kevin Harvick dominated in the desert again Saturday night, winning the Nextel Cup race for a weekend sweep at Phoenix International Raceway.

Harvick, who won the Busch Series race Friday night, passed Greg Biffle with 10 laps to go to win for the first time in more than a year. Once Harvick got by Biffle, it was clear sailing because the top challengers had late fuel problems.

Biffle ran out of gas, then Mark Martin's tank went dry. It left only Tony Stewart to chase Harvick down and he never got close.

Harvick coasted to the finish line, then celebrated his sixth career Nextel Cup victory with a smoky celebratory spin on the frontstretch. He, too, had feared he might run out of gas, but didn't have to push it because the competition was so far back.

"We didn't have the best car all day, but we had the best car when it counted," Harvick said.

Stewart was second, a remarkable feat considering he had to forfeit his qualifying spot (third) and start last in the 43-car field because of a mistake by his championship-winning crew.

Stewart's team accidentally turned his qualifying tires into Goodyear, rendering them unusable for the start of the race. NASCAR penalized him by sending him to the back, but he stayed patient, worked his way to the front and even led six laps.

Matt Kenseth finished third to take over the Nextel Cup points standings lead. Carl Edwards was fourth and Clint Bowyer, Harvick's teammate, was fifth.

Martin, who led three times for 111 laps, wound up 11th and Biffle ended up 16th.

It was a heartbreaking defeat for Biffle, who had the car to beat for at least the third time this season only to fall victim to yet another bad break. He did, however, gain two spots in the standings to 21st.

"I feel bad for Greg, it's hard to look at the good side if you are him," said Kenseth, his teammate. "He had a car good enough to win three or four times this season, and none of it's his fault. But I have no doubt Greg is going to make the Chase.

"He's running so strong and there's no doubt in my mind he's going to be a contender at the end of the year."

The race was stopped 100 laps in after a multicar accident collected several cars and caused pole-sitter Kyle Busch to lose his temper. Away from the accident, Busch made contact with Casey Mears and spun. As the red flag came out to clean up the debris from the larger accident, Busch headed to the garage for repairs -- but not before passing by Mears and running into his car.

It earned Busch, who won here last November, a five-lap penalty and a meeting after the race with NASCAR officials. He finished 36th.

His brother, Kurt, the defending race champion, was 24th.

The duo had been expected to compete for the win -- the Busch Brothers swept the two Phoenix events last year -- but they never contended.

Neither did Harvick, at least not until it mattered. He only led the final 10 laps.

But his sweep only proved what he's recently decided: That things are looking up at Richard Childress Racing and it's in his best interest to work out a contract extension that keeps him in the No. 29 Chevrolet.

Harvick's deal expires at the end of this season and just about every car owner in the garage would love a chance to woo him away. But he said Friday he told Childress he wants to work it out; it's now up to the car owner to make the deal.

Whatever Childress is thinking is unknown -- he's in Africa on a safari and Harvick joked that he maybe should not come home.

"All I know is while he's been gone, we're undefeated," Harvick said. "If I was him, I'd stay away until we at least lost."