NASCAR GAMER: Harvick strikes, others strike out

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kevin Harvick pulled off a daring move with boldness and precision on the final lap of Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout. That's all the racing he had to do.

"We won a Daytona 500 (2007) the exact same way," said Harvick. "That was what I was thinking when I got the lead.

"It seemed like I was in the wrong spot for the whole race, then at the end, I wound up being in the right place at the right time."

Within seconds of Harvick's pass of Jamie McMurray, anarchy ruled for the umpteenth time at Daytona International Speedway.

"It was still a good way to get it all started," said McMurray. "I didn't think there was enough room between me and the wall for him (Harvick) to pass."

"It really was a lot of fun," said third-place finisher Tony Stewart.

That's because no one was hurt. It was a crashfest almost from start to finish.

Jeff Gordon called it "absolute madness out there."

"These things are turning into bumper cars," he added.

Paul Menard, who had won the pole by random draw, held the point for most of three laps. Surprising few, Menard's Ford became an unwitting victim of a freight train consisting of Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Before four laps had been completed, Earnhardt had taken the lead and several questionable "all-stars" - Joey Logano, Scott Speed and Robby Gordon, among them - had been wiped out in a crash that also collected Greg Biffle and David Ragan. The crash began with contact between the cars of Gordon and Ragan.

The more prominent Gordon, Jeff, narrowly avoided the melee. The racing resumed on the ninth of 25 laps in the opening segment.

"The cars are so heavy and you're going so fast, there's not a lot of reacting you can do," said Speed. "Sometimes you're lucky and sometimes you're not."

By lap 15, Stewart had taken the lead and Carl Edwards had moved up to third. Two laps later, Edwards took the lead.

Two more drivers whose career records didn't merit admission to any all-star club, David Stremme and David Reutimann, fell by the wayside on lap 23. Both cars spun into the infield grass on the back straight. The two-car shunt brought the segment to a rest under a caution flag with Edwards out front.

The race had begun at about 8:30 p.m. It was almost 9:20 when the second and final segment began with Edwards in front, but only briefly. Three laps into the 50-lap concluding segment, Edwards had fallen to eighth place. One of his teammates, Jamie McMurray, led lap 29 (out of 75).

Yet another crash - touched off by Jeff Gordon, of all people - took place in turns one and two on lap 32. The luckless Biffle was involved again, as were Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeff Burton.

Reed Sorenson's Dodge was next to be eliminated, thanks to a relatively tame incident in turn one.

Lap 41 provided a side-by-side battle between Chevrolet's Hendrick Motorsports - Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon - and Toyota's Joe Gibbs Racing - Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

No yellow flag waved on lap 43 when Michael Waltrip's Toyota cracked the wall. Earnhardt lost his primary benefactor, drafting partner Gordon, but held the lead ahead of three Roush Fenway Fords: Matt Kenseth, Edwards and McMurray.

Jeff Gordon and Johnson sailed past Earnhardt to lead lap 62. Johnson succeeded Gordon, and then Vickers barged into the lead on lap 64.

The defending champion, Earnhardt, lost his shot to repeat in a crash that also involved Biffle, Bobby Labonte, Harvick (minor damage) and Menard.

With five laps to go, McMurray led, followed by Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Biffle spun for the fourth time - in 73 laps! - and it wasn't much better for Stremme, who was in his third crash. That incident effectively pushed the exhibition into an overtime finish.

After finishing fifth, A.J. Allmendinger said, "That's nuts out there."

Contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.