Kevin Harvick held off a last lap charge from Greg Biffle to win Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited, the exhibition race that kicks off the NASCAR season. Harvick, who led 40 of the race’s 75 laps, had moved inside to stop a charge from Tony Stewart when Biffle came screaming up the outside of the track. Harvick made a daring move outside to cut off Biffle’s charge and held on for victory. It was his third win in the last five years of the event.
2013 Sprint Unlimited Daytona results and recap: Kevin Harvick holds off late challenges for third Sprint Unlimited victory
Bold blocking move on last lap gives Harvick the win in the season’s opening event.
USA TODAY Sports
The Sprint Unlimited field, which is limited to the previous season’s pole winners and past event champions, had just 19 cars after Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, and AJ Allmendinger opted out of the event. The field was further reduced when Tony Stewart got slightly sideways in Turn 1 of the race’s 15th lap, triggering a seven-car pileup that knocked perennial contenders Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, and defending champion Kyle Busch.
The race was divided into three segments of 30, 25, and 20 laps, as selected by viewers. After the crash, Stewart win on to take the first leg. Harvick, who benefited from a four-tire change mandated by NASCAR’s voting fans, took control of the race’s last two segments.
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