Moments that changed the course of the 36th race of the 2014 season
FOUR-TIRE CALL HELPS HARVICK WIN RACE, CHAMPIONSHIP
The fastest driver doesn't always win a race -- or a championship -- but on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick did both.
Driving a No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet that has been the class of the field for most of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Harvick won Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400 at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and claimed his first premier series championship after a three-lap drag race against underdog title contender Ryan Newman.
Harvick was so wrapped up in the championship battle that the victory in the race didn't register right away.
"I forgot we won the race -- how about that?" Harvick chuckled. "I think this Chase is about the best thing that has happened to this sport over the last decade. This is probably going to shorten the drivers' careers, because it's been so stressful, but I want to thank every single fan for sticking with this sport, and to the industry for working to get it right."
After the 13th caution slowed the field on Lap 32, the result of debris dripping from the No. 32 Ford of Blake Koch, Harvick led the field to green on Lap 265 of 267 with Newman beside him.
Newman stayed to the inside of Harvick's car through the first corner, but Harvick, on four fresh tires to Newman's two, cleared the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and pulled away to a half-second victory.
Under NASCAR's new elimination format for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the driver who won five times, including Sunday, and led 2,137 laps throughout the season beat the driver who was winless with 41 laps led by a single point.
In his first season with SHR, Harvick won for the first time at Homestead and for the 28th time in his career. With the highest finisher among the Championship 4 contenders assured of the title, Denny Hamlin came home seventh, and Joey Logano ran 16th after a disastrous late-race pit stop.
Harvick's crew chief, Rodney Childers, made a critical call to bring Harvick to pit road for four tires under caution on Lap 249. With three cars staying on the track and eight others taking right-side tires only, Harvick restarted 12th, but two quick cautions fell his way.
LOGANO LOSES TITLE SHOT AFTER JACK FALLS ON PIT STOP
Joey Logano's first flirtation with a title came to an inglorious end when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford fell off the jack as the crew was changing left-side tires under caution on Lap 249. Last out of the pits, Logano restarted 29th on Lap 253 and could recover only to 16th by the checkered flag.
"It's hard to be proud right now after coming home wherever we finished in this race," said Logano, who gets credit for fourth in the championship standings despite winning five races. "I don't even know what that is. I don't even care.
"You don't get shots at championships often. Hopefully we get another next year. This car had a lot of wins and a lot of top fives, and it doesn't mean a thing."
NEWMAN CAN'T GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO BUMP HARVICK FOR WIN
Qualifying 21st, Ryan Newman fought an uphill fight throughout the race but clawed his way to fifth in the running order by Lap 72. Newman's car proved to be excellent on fresh tires but drifted back to the pack late in long runs.
"We fought back hard," Newman said. "We were one spot short and probably (had) one caution too many for us. But that's the way it happens. That's part of racing. Kevin and those guys did a good job of putting themselves in position and had the better tires in the end. It paid off for them."
Lambert made a potentially decisive move when a crash involving Blake Koch and J.J. Yeley brought out a caution with 11 laps to go. Lambert took right side tires only, sending Newman out alongside title contender Denny Hamlin, now on the front row but on older tires.
Newman, however, didn't get the restart he had hoped and Harvick, restarting sixth on fresh tires, capitalized by sweeping to the lead within a lap. Harvick then managed to hold off Newman on one final restart with three laps to go.
"Luke made a great call on that two-tire stop," Newman said. "When Jeff pitted and gave us the front row, that caught me by surprise.
"We were in a good spot. Restarts haven't been our strong suit with the package we run, but I was happy with the situation I was in. In the end, I was the one guy with a shot at (catching Harvick). You live for that moment and drive hard and we just didn't have quite enough."
Newman, who raced his way into the Championship Round with a last-lap nudge of Kyle Larson at Phoenix a week ago, contemplated a similar scenario as he raced alongside Harvick late in the race. He resisted the urge.
"I thought about hauling it in there, wide open under Kevin, but that wasn't the right thing to do," Newman said. "I wouldn't have wanted him to do that to me. ... If we were close enough on the last lap it might have been a different game. But I wasn't. I slipped off of Turn 4 coming to the white (flag) and it was pretty much over."
The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report.