Backstretch Motorsports

HAMPTON, Ga. (Sept. 5, 2009) — Kevin Harvick passed polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the next-to-last lap and pulled away to win Saturday night’s Degree V12 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch, who also passed Earnhardt on Lap 194 of 195, ran second and padded his NASCAR Nationwide Series points lead from 192 to 221 over second-place Carl Edwards, who completed the race despite fracturing two bones in his right foot playing Frisbee on Wednesday. Edwards finished seventh, one lap down.

After pitting for the last time on Lap 125, Earnhardt saved enough fuel to make it to the end of the race but couldn’t stay ahead of Busch and Harvick, who came to the pits for four tires and gas on Lap 181 and 182, respectively.

Brad Keselowski came home fourth, followed by Jeff Burton and Joey Logano.

“Kyle was a little better on the short runs there, but after about eight or 10 laps, this thing was just flat-out awesome,” Harvick said of his No. 33 Chevrolet. “We cut it a little bit closer than I would have liked to there at the end. …

“It was nice to race the 18 (Busch) head-to-head like that and have fun with him. I really thought everybody had to pit. Just a great night for the fans who came out to watch the race — Dale Jr. on strategy, Kyle good on short runs and us good after about 10 laps — so you had all kinds of that good Atlanta racing tonight.”

Earnhardt credited his crew, which included former crew chief Tony Eury Jr. in a consulting role, with a good call in the pits.

“We saved enough gas, and we finished closer to them two guys than we were on the racetrack,” Earnhardt said. “So I guess it was the right call. We just didn’t have enough at the end to hold them off. I tried to get going when they were coming. … Hopefully we put on a good show for the fans out there.”

Harvick held a lead of more than six seconds when NASCAR called the third caution of the race on Lap 124 because of debris in Turn 2, ending a green-flag run of 79 laps. At that point, there were five cars on the lead lap.

Busch, however, won the race off pit road after the lead-lap cars pitted for tires and fuel under yellow. After a restart on Lap 129, he and Harvick battled side-by-side for five laps, before Busch edged ahead and stayed out front until Lap 147.

Harvick’s car, however, was stronger on long runs, and the driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet passed Busch for the lead with 48 laps left and began to pull away. His lead had reached more than seven seconds when he pulled into the pits on Lap 182.

NASCAR Race Number 26
Unofficial Race Results for the Degree V12 300 - Saturday, September 5, 2009
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 195 Laps - 300.3 Miles - Purse: $1,146,784

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 2 33 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 195 195 10 149.7 $50,825 Running 6 131
2 8 18 Kyle Busch NOS Energy Drink Toyota 195 175 5 128.7 $38,025 Running 4 45
3 1 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Degree V12 Chevrolet 195 170 5 117.7 $29,700 Running 2 16
4 19 88 Brad Keselowski DELPHI Chevrolet 195 165 5 106.5 $29,018 Running 1 1
5 15 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 195 155 105.3 $23,925 Running
6 11 20 Joey Logano GameStop / The Beatles Rockband Toyota 194 150 109.6 $19,875 Running
7 12 60 Carl Edwards Save-a-Lot Ford 194 146 101.3 $21,285 Running
8 20 16 Greg Biffle CitiFinancial Ford 194 142 94.0 $19,245 Running
9 3 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 194 138 87.5 $18,900 Running
10 4 1 Reed Sorenson Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 193 139 5 94.4 $18,525 Running 1 2
11 5 10 Kasey Kahne Fritos Toyota 193 130 110.4 $17,175 Running
12 9 98 Paul Menard Richmond / Menards Ford 193 127 90.8 $16,675 Running
13 16 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Toyota 193 124 90.3 $16,275 Running
14 24 15 Michael Annett # Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 192 121 79.4 $24,793 Running
15 6 42 David Gilliland moveforever.com / Arthritis.org Dodge 192 118 80.2 $16,375 Running
16 7 99 Trevor Bayne Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 192 115 82.0 $21,543 Running
17 33 12 Justin Allgaier # Verizon Wireless Dodge 192 112 66.8 $21,468 Running
18 29 40 Scott Wimmer StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet 192 109 75.0 $21,368 Running
19 37 01 Mike Wallace SunDrop Chevrolet 192 106 61.7 $21,293 Running
20 40 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 191 103 72.3 $24,143 Running
21 18 70 Shelby Howard ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevrolet 191 100 66.9 $21,118 Running
22 26 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet 191 97 59.6 $21,043 Running
23 25 66 Steve Wallace USfidelis Chevrolet 191 94 68.6 $21,368 Running
24 31 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Dodge 190 91 51.5 $20,893 Running
25 38 61 Matthew Carter Bob Maddox Heating & Air Ford 189 88 45.4 $20,993 Running
26 34 24 Eric McClure Hefty Ford 189 85 43.5 $20,793 Running
27 39 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 189 82 44.6 $20,743 Running
28 28 77 Peyton Sellers SFP Chevrolet 189 79 58.0 $14,225 Running
29 22 07 Chase Austin Cavi Clothing / Macy’s Chevrolet 186 76 42.3 $20,643 Running
30 41 81 Bobby Hamilton Jr. D.H. Girffin Companies Dodge 185 73 43.5 $20,868 Running
31 21 62 Brendan Gaughan # 5-Hour Energy ES Chevrolet 132 70 55.9 $20,513 Running
32 32 11 Kelly Bires Ridemakerz.com Toyota 127 67 72.6 $20,453 Engine
33 42 26 Brian Keselowski Fischer Honda Dodge 71 64 38.6 $20,418 Transmission
34 36 87 Mike Bliss NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 46 61 45.7 $20,383 Handling
35 23 96 Michael McDowell # Fischer Honda Dodge 41 58 33.8 $13,885 Transmission
36 43 50 Jeremy Clements Saxon Group / Boaty’s Produce Inc. Chevrolet 38 55 51.7 $13,850 Transmission
37 13 27 Jason Keller Scott Tissue / Walmart Ford 31 52 52.8 $20,283 Engine
38 30 05 Casey Atwood 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed Ford 12 49 35.9 $20,228 Engine
39 35 47 Chase Miller ConstructionJobs.com Toyota 9 46 39.6 $20,188 Electrical
40 14 49 Mark Green GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet 9 43 33.9 $20,123 Electrical
41 17 78 Kevin Lepage DCI Dodge 6 40 34.9 $13,590 Ignition
42 27 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 4 37 28.5 $13,545 Rear End
43 10 91 Dave Blaney MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 3 34 34.2 $19,937 Electrical
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 57,500, Kevin Harvick won the Degree V12 300, his 34th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory.
Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field: #07, #96 (missed driver meeting); #38 (improper adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (5) 73 Derrike Cope, 89 Morgan Shepherd, 09 John Wes Townley #, 0 J. C. Stout, 52 Tony Ave.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 04 Mins, 04 Secs. Average Speed: 145.228 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.138 Seconds
Caution Flags: 3 for 14 laps: Laps: 27-30 (#62 accident turn 1 [23]); 40-45 (Oil on track [34]); 125-128 (Debris [29]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers: D. Earnhardt Jr. 1-5; K. Harvick 6-27; K. Busch 28-46; K. Harvick 47-49; K. Busch 50-52; K. Harvick 53-85; K. Busch 86-87; Brad Keselowski 88; R. Sorenson 89-90; K. Harvick 91-125; K. Busch 126-146; K. Harvick 147-182; D. Earnhardt Jr. 183-193; K. Harvick 194-195.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 4,209;(2) C. Edwards 3,988;(3) Brad Keselowski 3,917;(4) J. Leffler 3,532;(5) J. Allgaier # 3,010;(6) S. Wallace 2,994;(7) J. Keller 2,873;(8) B. Gaughan # 2,857;(9) M. Bliss 2,835;(10) M. Mcdowell # 2,796.
Coors Light Pole Award : Dale Earnhardt Jr, #5 (174.121 mph) Featherlite Most Improved Driver : Jason Leffler, #38 (9 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Kevin Harvick, #33 Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Michael Annett, #15
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Michael Annett, #15 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kevin Harvick, #33
WIX Filter Lap Leader Award : Not awarded, #
Next Race: Sep. 11, 2009 - Richmond International Raceway