Kevin Harvick Wins Second Straight Budweiser Shootout

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With cars spinning out behind him, Kevin Harvick survived a green-white-checkered overtime to win Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout non-points race for the second consecutive year and become NASCAR's first winner of the season.

Harvick's No. 29 Shell-sponsored Chevrolet led Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray across the finish line under the yellow flag at Daytona International Speedway in a race that featured plenty of lead changes and bump-drafting at its best and worst. Four drivers swapped the lead in the final 12 laps of the 76-lap event.

Greg Biffle and Kahne opted to keep their Fords on track during the second-to-last caution period while the rest of the field pitted for fresh tires. Harvick immediately drove low inside Biffle on the restart and took the point moments before Biffle was hit from behind by Jeff Gordon, collecting a half-dozen cars in the melee.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

Harvick, who was suffering from the stomach flu earlier this week, was driving a back-up car, as was McMurray -- both of their primary cars part of a six-car accident in Thursday's opening practice session. Harvick's car, however, was being driven at the time by his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer, substituting for a sick Harvick, who remained home in North Carolina.

"They want to kick me out and have me get sick again,'' Harvick joked. "I knew I was going to be all right though after (Ryan) Newman hit me three times before the start/finish line (to start the race).''

There was plenty more of that to be had. NASCAR announced two weeks ago it was relaxing its strict policing policy about bump drafting at Daytona and Talladega and many of the drivers tested the new boundaries. Only 13 cars on the 24-car starting grid finished the race --12 of those collected in accidents, including the six-car wreck at the end triggered by Biffle and Gordon.

It was hardly a free-for-all, but Kahne conceded things got interesting.

"I thought it was really competitive,'' he said. Kahne's runner-up effort in the No. 9 Budweiser Ford is a career-best Daytona finish.

"I was two and three-wide for what seemed like 30 laps. I thought it was some pretty exciting racing. ... Like it was 'on' from the green flag tonight.''

Another of NASCAR's rule changes granted a larger restrictor plate, which gave cars more horsepower and allowed them to make moves and pull off runs not possible in the tightly-packed fields here in recent years.

"The cars were pretty out of control, which was fun at times,'' said Gordon, who ended up sixth. "You had to really drive them.'''

With the victory, Harvick becomes only the second driver to score back-to-back wins in the Shootout, which features last year's 12 Chase for the Championship drivers, all former Daytona winners, past Shootout winners, past series champions and the reigning Rookie of the Year.

It was a big statement from this team, which struggled last year. And it was a big statement for Harvick, who publicly questioned the organization last year and has all but said he is leaving the team after his contract expires this season.

"It's good for our particular group ... For us all to win together, it kind of gives you that team bonding you really need,'' Harvick said. "It gives you a little swagger in your step that everybody knows they can win.

"We got beat down a little bit in the middle last year ... and there's nothing like slinging Budweiser in Victory Lane that can replace that feeling. It just gives those guys that confidence, gives us that confidence that we've done it (win) a lot and we can still do it a lot more.''