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Goin' yard Pole sitter Harvick cruises to first Brickyard 400 winPosted: Sunday August 03, 2003 5:56 PMUpdated: Monday August 04, 2003 10:59 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- One of Kevin Harvick's most treasured possessions is an autographed photo of Rick Mears at the Indianapolis 500 he received over 20 years ago. "Good luck, hope to see you here someday," Mears wrote. Harvick did better than that Sunday, joining the storied list of winners at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning the Brickyard 400. "Man, I didn't know I'd be sitting in Victory Lane and getting to do all this at the Brickyard," said Harvick, who became the first driver in the race's 10-year history to win from the pole. "It means a lot to me. I've looked at that picture for a long time. "When I finally got the chance to race here a few years ago, it was pretty much a dream come true. I can't really put it all into words and I really don't know how I feel yet." Overjoyed would be a good start. Harvick had no trouble holding off Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth, rookie Jamie McMurray and teammate Robby Gordon on a 10-lap shootout to end the race.
Harvick, hired to take over for Dale Earnhardt after his 2001 death, then celebrated with victory doughnuts that blew out his tire and fender at the finish line. Then, he and team owner Richard Childress kneeled to kiss the bricks. And, finally, Harvick and the crew of his No. 29 Chevrolet followed a new tradition at the speedway -- started by open-wheel racer Helio Castroneves in the Indianapolis 500 -- by climbing the fence. "Hey man, if you're going to win big, you might as well leave your mark," Harvick said. "You might not get another chance. It was just a lot of fun." Kenseth, who has been conservative in his quest for his first Winston Cup title, planned to gamble with aggressive pit strategy and race for the win. Instead, he finished second and widened his lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the standings to 286 points. "We did everything we could to try to win, and we came up a little bit short," Kenseth said. McMurray had a chance for the win, leading 22 laps, but fell short when Harvick and Gordon juked past him on a restart. He ended up third. "Once I got the lead, I struggled to stay focused just trying to take in where we're at and what was happening," McMurray said. Three-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon was fourth and was followed by defending race champion Bill Elliott, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch. Harvick, who has a contentious relationship with Robby Gordon, gave some credit to his teammate for helping hold up the cars trying to chase him. "Robby did all he could to hold those guys back there, and this one is as much his as it is ours," Harvick said. The win was set up with 16 laps left when Harvick was in second and battling McMurray for the lead on a frantic restart, after a multicar crash broke out behind the leaders. The leaders raced back to the flagstand before taking the yellow flag, and Harvick found himself on top. "I always look forward to restarts because I usually make up some ground," Harvick said. "Jamie went high, we went low, Robby followed us and it was like the seas parted. That was pretty much the race. "When we got out there in clean air, and I saw that Robby was doing what he had to do to keep them back there, I just put it in cruise control and tried not to make any mistakes." The green flag came back out with 10 laps to go and Harvick pulled away for his first victory of the season. He didn't dominate, though, leading only 33 laps, while Tony Stewart was out front for a race-high 60. But Stewart made an extra pit stop for left-side tires under caution on lap 141 and never got back into the hunt, finishing 12th. "I mean, my jaw just hit the floor when I saw (Stewart pit)," Harvick said. "I'm positive that he didn't need to pit. They pretty much gave all the chances they had away, and that was it." Stewart, an Indiana native who covets a win at his home track, had nothing to say after his latest Indy disappointment. But his team was clearly devastated. "It's heartbreaking and it certainly hurts," car owner Joe Gibbs said. "I think just like people have empathy for a great quarterback who never wins the Super Bowl, there's empathy for Tony having a tough time winning at the place he really wants to win." Until a pair of caution flags came out in the final 21 laps, it appeared the race would be the fifth in a row determined by fuel strategy. About half the drivers on the lead lap made final stops for two tires and a splash of gas when debris on the track brought out a caution on lap 140. The rest of the leaders then made their stops, and the field was well scrambled when the green flag came back out for lap 145. That set the stage for Harvick's dramatic pass of McMurray with 16 to go. "I think the pass that he made over there on Jamie was a winning move," Childress said. "I knew once he got out front, he was going to be hard to beat."
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