BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – Kevin Harvick completed a Bristol Motor Speedway sweep on Monday by holding off teammate Jeff Burton in overtime to win the rescheduled Busch Series race.
Harvick, who snapped a 55-race winless streak Sunday with a victory in the Nextel Cup race, beat Burton by 0.159 seconds to win the Sharpie Professional 250. The race was rescheduled after rain washed it out on Saturday.
Harvick became the second driver this season to complete a weekend sweep: Carl Edwards did it at Atlanta two weeks ago, winning both the Busch and Nextel Cup events in back-to-back days.
For Harvick, this one had similarities to his Nextel Cup win.
He had to come from the back of the field – just as he did Sunday – because qualifying was rained out and the field was set by car owner points. And this race also was wreck-filled, with a track-record 14 cautions for 102 of the 250 laps. There also were three race stoppages and a green-white-checkered two-lap overtime to decide the winner.
The final caution and red flag came out two laps from the finish when Dale Jarrett slowed to avoid an accident, then was hit from behind by Shane Hmiel.
Jarrett exited his car and walked half the front stretch to Hmiel’s car to confront the driver. TV replays showed Jarrett pointing his finger at Hmiel’s face and Hmiel directing an obscene gesture toward Jarrett.
NASCAR officials were reviewing the footage for any possible penalties.
The caution extended the race for a green-white-checkered restart, but Harvick quickly was able to distance himself from Burton, his teammate at Richard Childress Racing.
“If Jeff hadn’t had been back there, we’d have been in trouble the first couple laps (after the restart), but our car took off after that,” said Harvick, the 2001 Busch Series champion. “It’s a huge statement this weekend by winning both races and having everybody run so well. It’s awesome for RCR.”
The win is Harvick’s first in the series this season, and the fourth of his career at Bristol’s 0.533-mile high-banked track.
Rookie Reed Sorenson, who earned his first series win a week ago, finished third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Sterling Marlin, Jeremy Mayfield, Carl Edwards, Ashton Lewis Jr., Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle.
Edwards leads the series standings by 81 points over Sorenson.
Harvick struggled in the early going of Monday’s race, but through pit strategy was able to work his way to the front on Lap 181. Staying there was tough, however, as the race was plagued by three red flags to clear debris and a track-record 14 caution periods.
“It was one of those days where we bounced off the walls, had the fenders caved in and just kept going,” Harvick said. “It was a pretty cool day.”
AP-ES-04-04-05 1426EDT
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