Harvick wins at Phoenix as Johnson gets closer to sixth title

AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 10, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10:  Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 10, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona.  (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ – NOVEMBER 10: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 10, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Kevin Harvick rallied back to score his fourth win of the season Sunday taking the lead on the final lap to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup series Advocare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. More importantly thanks to trouble for championship contender Matt Kenseth, Harvick is still in the title mix with one more race to go.

Harvick clearly had the best car and led the most laps, but for a time he looked as though he would be denied a chance at victory. Just prior to his final stop with 44 laps to Harvick ran out of fuel and was forced to coast in. thanks to the pit strategy of the leaders though, Harvick was able to get back to the front and eventually onto victory.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson had two scares on the day the first coming on the start of the race and the second when he was tapped by Edwards and sent up towards the wall. He made saves on both occasions and came home third. Kenseth, his nearest challenger coming into the day struggled all day and was never able to move forward; he finished 23rd.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.