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Event-record 14th caution ends Hardee's 250

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Kevin Harvick took the lead with 51 laps to go Friday night, but needed a late caution to hold off Scott Riggs and win the crash-filled Busch series event Friday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Hardee's 250 Results Pl.  Driver  Car  1  Kevin Harvick  Chevrolet  2  Scott Riggs  Ford  3  Tony Raines  Chevrolet  4  Michael Waltrip  Chevrolet  5  Scott Wimmer  Chevrolet  6  Johnny Sauter  Chevrolet  7  Stacy Compton  Chevrolet  8  Shane Hmiel  Chevrolet  9  David Green  Pontiac  10  Bobby Hamilton Jr  Ford   FULL RESULTS

An event-record 14 cautions slowed the Hardee's 250 for 93 laps, including a crash by Mike Bliss that brought out the 13th yellow flag after 241 laps. After a brief red flag delay while the track was cleaned, Harvick had trouble pulling away from Riggs in a single-file restart.

But Ron Hornaday's crash with four laps to go ended the suspense. Busch races end under yellow if it comes in the final five laps.

"Scott Riggs probably had the best car," said Harvick, who pancaked his Chevrolet against an outside wall out of a turn late in the race. "We felt we had the second- or third-best car, but I was trying too hard."

Riggs thought he had a chance before the crash.

"When I got to his bumper, I was trying to get it out of my windshield and put it in my rearview mirror," he said. "We were trying to make the pass and the caution came when I thought I had a pretty good run on him."

The victory was Harvick's 10th in the Busch series, where he won the championship in 2001, and his second on a short track this season. It also gave him six top-10 finishes in as many starts in the series in 2003. The race was run in a somber atmosphere, starting only a few hours after Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau was airlifted from the track after a crash in practice crash. Nadeau was in critical condition at Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, but details of his injuries were not released.

The 250-lap event also marked the debut of Martin Truex Jr. as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s hand-picked prodigy for Dale Earnhardt Inc. It was going well until the car's engine quit with Truex running second.

Trailing only Harvick on a restart with 54 laps to go, Truex's car lost power as it crossed the start-finish line and was rammed from behind by Randy LaJoie's third-place car. The impact ruined LaJoie's radiator.

Points leader Todd Bodine finished 29th, his worst showing of the year. His lead shrank from 99 points over Hornaday to 40 over David Green, who finished ninth.

Hornaday wound up 15th and also was passed in the points by Shane Hmiel, who finished eighth and is 44 back.

 

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