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Harvick Takes NASCAR Sprint Cup Title And Wins Race

Kevin Harvick celebrates in victory lane after winning the race and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. [Chris Graythen/Getty Images]

Homestead, Fla. – Kevin Harvick went into the NASCAR Sprint Cup final race as the favorite to win the Chase for the Sprint Cup title and he did just that. It turned out to be anything but easy as the Ford EcoBoost 400 turned out to be an all-time thriller. He not only raced to the crown but won the race as well.

The race was seen on national television and witnessed by a sold-out grandstand at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. From the outset, the four Chase contenders ran together lap after lap most of the time in at least the top-10.

The drama intensified during the final two dozen laps when multiple caution flags generated varying team strategies along an errant pit stop by Joey Logano’s team.

Running on two new tires, Ryan Newman gave it his all but ended up second .500 seconds back.

Chase contender Denny Hamlin finished seventh after his team elected not to change tires near the end and Logano ended up 22nd after his car fell off a jack in the late going.

Said the newly champion, “I don’t know yet how it feels to be the champion. You go back in time and think about everything that has led to this point and (realize) this is what we race for. You show up to race for the Sprint Cup trophy and to be able to come here in our first year with the team, you get to be a part of something you don’t often experience. In the end, it is all about the people.”

About the race, he stated, “It came down to a pit call and I thought man, we are in big trouble here. It didn’t pan out real well there to be honest, but it was the call that won us the race. We were able to go so hard on the restarts. Rodney Childers (crew chief) isn’t scared to make a call. He does what is right, and right or wrong we had to believe in what we did and kept going with it. I have to thank everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing team. What a year!”

About the final restart, the champion stated, “I knew I needed to get (by) a bunch of them. I was fortunate to start on the outside. The seas kind of parted there as I came off of Turn 2 and was about to get four or five of them; I don’t really know but it was time to go for broke at that particular point. When the next caution came out, we were fortunate enough again to line up on the outside. That was pretty much what we needed – to get the run on the outside down the backstretch.”

Discussing the days leading into the final race, he commented, “The week ate me up. If it wasn’t for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, I would have been in bad trouble this week. Those guys really helped me get through the week. Today was fine. I was a little anxious both days of practice, overdriving the car and not doing things I needed to do. After every practice, Jimmie was in there, and in our team debriefs Tony (Stewart) was constantly telling me just to go race and that it’s just another race. Today it was. It all worked out. I’m just really proud of everybody.

Said team co-owner Stewart, “I think from December last year when the team went for their first test, I thought they were going to be a force to be reckoned with. It just shows how tough this Chase was this year to get to this last day and then to watch this race and have all four contenders be up front at the end there. It shows how hard it is to win a Sprint Cup Series championship.”

Driving the Budweiser Chevrolet, Harvick led four times, including the last eight circuits, for a total of 54 laps. And he won for the fifth time in 2014 and the 28th time in his Sprint Cup career.

Newman’s team gambled by changing only two tires on the last stop and while it gave him track position, he didn’t have enough to contend in the closing laps.

“The game changer for us on the one caution when (Jeff) Gordon pitted and Denny (Hamlin) was leading, but we were in a better situation than they were.” Newman said. “And on that final restart, I got down underneath Harvick, but he took some of the air away from me. I could have kept it wide open and washed up into him, but it wasn’t the right move. If we were close enough to him on the last lap, it might have been a different game but it wasn’t. It is disappointing, but there’s no point in being a sore loser.”

For the race finish, Harvick and Newman led Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Gordon dominated much of the race, leading 161laps, only to give up second place and a shot at victory when he pitted for tires with 11 laps to go.

Thirteen caution flags slowed the race for 52 laps, including six in final 59 laps.

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