With a little luck, Harvick ready to defend 500 title

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Crew chief Todd Berrier had a difficult time believing his driver, Kevin Harvick, had just won the Daytona 500.

It was a year ago, and it seemed like Berrier had just made mental peace with himself over the fact that Harvick was going to wheel his No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing to a top-10 finish or, maybe, if they were lucky, a top-five. Apparently, for just an instant, he forgot that this was Daytona International Speedway -- where history has shown that anything can, and perhaps will at any given moment, happen.

Kevin Harvick

Daytona 500 results

Year	Start	Finish	Led	Status
2002	2	36	3	crash
2003	31	4	0	running
2004	10	4	6	running
2005	30	28	1	running
2006	28	14	1	running
2007	34	1	4	running

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It did in the 2007 Daytona 500. On a frenzied final lap, as cars wrecked and smoked and even turned upside down and caught on fire behind them, Harvick outran Mark Martin to the checkered flag as everyone in attendance and watching on national television held their collective breath, many waiting for a caution flag that never came (watch video).

"It was wild. Even coming back and getting the white flag with one lap to go, and us being in the top 10, I was like, 'Wow. We're going to end up with a decent finish here.'" Berrier said.

"Then, coming off Turn 2 and knowing we were going to get a push from Matt Kenseth and go all the way to the front, it was pretty shocking to see it unfolding. And then when you get up there and you pass Martin a little bit for the lead, and then Mark passes you back a little bit for the lead, and then they start flippin' and wreckin' and all that stuff behind you ... it was pretty intense."

Many contended that had NASCAR thrown the caution flag when it should have, effectively freezing the field, Martin would have been declared the winner. Berrier, now preparing for this Sunday's 50th running of the Great American Race, admitted that even he wasn't certain what had transpired at first -- or even for quite some time afterward.

"We saw that we passed the start-finish line ahead," Berrier said. "But we also saw how it had been the rest of the year, the year before [with the field being frozen when the caution came out]. And we were thinking, you know, that they could revert back to the time of the caution or whatever they called. But the caution never came.

"You were still wondering if it was real or not even after they told us we had won and everything else. I was picking up the paper on Monday morning to see if they had reversed the decision or something."

Then, with a smile and a wink, Berrier added: "There is a history of that here, you know."

That was in reference to the very first Daytona 500 ever run, when Lee Petty had to wait about 72 hours before finally being declared the winner. Those days are over now for NASCAR, but one thing hasn't changed: a wild and wooly finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 is always a possibility and still gets everyone fired up. (Continued)