DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kevin Harvick won the first race of Speedweeks, dominating the final two segments of the exhibition Sprint Unlimited in the debut of NASCAR's new Gen-6 car.
"I'm glad we got Speedweeks started off the right way," said Harvick, who won Saturday night's non-points race at Daytona International Speedway for the third time in five years.
But with only 19 cars in the field at the start of the race - and that was whittled down to 12 after an early accident - there wasn't a great feel for what the Feb. 24 season-opening Daytona 500 will look like with a full 43-car field.
"We'll have to wait a week and see what the weather is like," Harvick said. "There's still a lot to learn with a full pack of cars."
There wasn't a chance for that in the 75-lap exhibition race, which was split into three segments. Fans got to vote on the format and decided on 30 laps, 25 laps then a 20-lap sprint to the finish.
But several big names were knocked out a mere 15 laps into the race. Tony Stewart was running second when he cut across the front of Marcos Ambrose, making slight contact that turned Stewart sideways and required a save to keep from crashing. Traffic stacked up behind him, triggering a chain-reaction, nine-car crash that wiped out seven cars.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP: THE SPRINT UNLIMITED
Saturday
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lap Length: 2.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
Car maker abbreviations: C=Chevrolet,
D=Dodge, F=Ford, T=Toyota
1. (17) K. Harvick, C, 75 laps, 113.7 rating, 0 points, $205,075.
2. (4) G. Biffle, F, 75, 119.1, 0, $101,325.
3. (9) J. Logano, F, 75, 91.1, 0, $61,325.
4. (15) T. Stewart, C, 75, 98.1, 0, $52,325.
5. (12) M. Kenseth, T, 75, 110.7, 0, $51,300.
6. (8) A. Almirola, F, 75, 60.1, 0, $49,900.
7. (3) K. Kahne, C, 75, 81.5, 0, $48,550.
8. (16) D. Earnhardt Jr., C, 75, 64.4, 0, $46,525.
9. (6) M. Truex Jr., T, 75, 77.9, 0, $44,525.
10. (14) J. Pablo Montoya, C, 75, 49.8, 0, $43,025.
11. (10) M. Ambrose, F, 75, 62.5, 0, $42,525.
12. (1) C. Edwards, F, 75, 64.4, 0, $42,025.
13. (18) Ku. Busch, C, accident, 15, 63, 0, $41,525.
14. (11) J. Johnson, C, accident, 14, 55.5, 0,
$40,025.
15. (5) D. Hamlin, T, accident, 14, 65.5, 0, $39,525.
16. (13) Ky. Busch, T, accident, 14, 37.2, 0, $39,025.
17. (7) J. Gordon, C, accident, 14, 49.1, 0, $36,525.
18. (2) M. Martin, T, accident, 14, 42.6, 0,
$34,525.
19. (19) T. Labonte, F, vibration, 2, 24.3, 0, $31,499.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 177.538 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 22 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.149 seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 4 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: G.Biffle 1-2; M.Truex Jr. 3-4;
M.Kenseth 5-29; T.Stewart 30-33; K.Harvick 34-
42; T.Stewart 43; K.Harvick 44-61; M.Kenseth
62; K.Harvick 63-75.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps
Led): K.Harvick, 3 times for 40 laps; M.Kenseth,
2 times for 26 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times for 5 laps;
G.Biffle, 1 time for 2 laps; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 2 laps.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a
race.
The formula combines the following categories:
Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average
Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average
Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps,
Lead-Lap Finish.
Up next
Daytona 500
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Noon Feb. 24
TV: KOKI 5/23
