CONCORD, N.C. -- Breaking down the Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway:
Winner: Kevin Harvick pulled away from Jeff Gordon on the final restart in a green-white-checkered finish after Brian Vickers' crash with seven laps remaining brought out the race's final caution. With the win, Harvick earned a slot in Round 3 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It is his third win of the season and first since April.
"It's great, to be honest with you," Harvick said after the race. "We know we have the car we need to run up front and win races; things just haven't gone right. This was the night we needed to win."
Gordon finished second, followed by Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.
"I'm really proud of that finish, really proud of that effort," Gordon said. "Kevin was tough. I knew when he got out front it was going to tough to beat him."
WATCH: Kevin Harvick in victory lane
Fight: Meanwhile, 2012 titlist Brad Keselowski, who also needed a very strong finish or win after a blown tire last week, was 16th. He and fellow Chase driver Denny Hamlin got tangled up on the cool down lap, with Keselowski taking a swipe across the No. 11 Toyota's fender. Hamlin had to be restrained by his crew when he exited his vehicle in the garage.
Matt Kenseth, who said he also was hit by Keselowsi under yellow, jumped him as Keselowski was walking betwen the Team Penske haulers.
"He's a champion; he's supposed to know better than that," Kenseth said.
Chase outlook: NASCAR's 11-time most popular driver is on the brink of missing the rest of the title run. A broken shifter doomed Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s chances at a win or very good finish -- which is what he needed after a blown tire at Kansas Speedway had him among the bottom of the dozen drivers still eligible. He finished 20th. Teammate Jimmie Johnson, the six-time and reigning champion, pitted from fourth place under caution with five laps to go. Crew chief Chad Knaus' gamble failed and Johnson finished 17th. 2012 titlist Keselowski finished 16th and also remains in danger of missing Round 3. And now Kenseth, who was 19th, is ninth in points and on the cutoff line.
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Race 5: Kevin Harvick does a burnout after winning the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to clinch a berth in Round 3 of the Chase. (Photo: Peter Casey, USA TODAY Sports)FullscreenNext Slide
Bad start: Kenseth was penalized after a crew member cut a decal off the right rear quarterpanel – apparently at NASCAR's request – before the race but after all cars had cleared inspection. That was considered an unapproved adjustment, so he was sent to the rear of the field to start the race. He finished 19th and now also is in danger of missing Round 3.
Out for revenge: Joey Logano turned Danica Patrick into the wall with 86 laps to go, and she asked for – and was granted – permission to retaliate against the Chase points leader.
"Too bad taking the 22 out doesn't hurt his Chase because he won last weekend," she said.
Ultimately, she didn't act on her threat.
Big shift: With just under 200 laps to go, Earnhardt Jr. reported a broken shifter. He pitted several times for repairs, but they didn't work and he was forced to go on another green-flag run while waiting for a replacement. At one point, his crew had to push him off pit road during a green-flag stop and he lost a lap.
Tires all good: Despite worries about blown tires like the ones at Kansas Speedway, teams didn't experience any major issues at Charlotte. Heavy rains soaked the track in the afternoon, leaving it green. But the lack of rubber on the 1.5-mile surface -- which often can lead to faster tire wear -- were a non-issue.
Blown up: Clint Bowyer's Toyota Racing Development engine blew up less than 100 laps into the race, leaving he and his team quite unhappy.
"Everyone else's (engine) lived every time they (freaking) run it," crew chief Brian Pattie radioed to Bowyer.
"At least they make good power," Bowyer said, moments after he said the failure "put us out of our (freaking) misery."
What channel is it on? NASCAR fans expressed their outrage on Twitter after the first 25 laps of the race were unable to be seen anywhere but the track.
A college football game between TCU and Baylor on ABC ran late, which forced ESPN to scramble for another option. Officials settled on ESPNEWS, but a preseason NBA game on that network went to overtime.
The race was then set to be played on ESPN3, an online network, but it never appeared.
Finally, ABC started showing the race after the football game concluded – just in time for a competition caution.
"We are disappointed that our fans were unable to see the start of tonight's race," NASCAR said in a mid-race statement. "We do all we can with the networks to avoid delays when live sports run late. We're grateful for the passion of our fans and are thankful to those now watching on ABC."
ESPN later issued a statement of its own: "We started the race on ESPN3, which is available to 95 million homes. We're fortunate to have multiple TV networks available, but tonight there were live events on all of them, including an epic football game on ABC and an overtime NBA game on ESPNEWS. We joined the race on ABC at lap 26."
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SATURDAY'S BANK OF AMERICA 500 RESULTS
1. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 145.3 rating, 48 points.
2. (2) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, 126.8, 43.
3. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 334, 112.7, 42.
4. (13) Joey Logano, Ford, 334, 92.3, 40.
5. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 115.5, 40.
6. (24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 334, 107.5, 39.
7. (5) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, 94.4, 38.
8. (10) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334, 84.5, 37.
9. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, 96.2, 36.
10. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, 83.5, 34.
11. (11) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 334, 111.9, 34.
12. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 334, 79.1, 32.
13. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 334, 82.1, 32.
14. (23) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 334, 86.1, 30.
15. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 334, 72.2, 30.
16. (17) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334, 97.5, 29.
17. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, 91.7, 27.
18. (12) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, 66.8, 26.
19. (22) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, 64.8, 25.
20. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 333, 85.4, 25.
21. (4) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 333, 78.8, 23.
22. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 332, 63, 22.
23. (32) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 331, 46.9, 0.
24. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 331, 56.2, 20.
25. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 331, 54.1, 19.
26. (14) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 331, 61.8, 18.
27. (30) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 330, 49.9, 17.
28. (36) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 330, 43.1, 16.
29. (31) Michael McDowell, Ford, 330, 50.5, 15.
30. (33) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 330, 46.6, 14.
31. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 329, 55.2, 13.
32. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 329, 40, 12.
33. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 328, 41.7, 12.
34. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 328, 35.1, 10.
35. (42) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 326, 32.9, 0.
36. (40) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 326, 31.9, 8.
37. (8) Brian Vickers, Toyota, engine, 325, 79.9, 7.
38. (41) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 325, 29.5, 0.
39. (43) Blake Koch, Ford, 322, 26.3, 0.
40. (39) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 320, 25.5, 4.
41. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, rear gear, 178, 38.8, 3.
42. (6) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, engine, 134, 58.6, 2.
43. (25) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, engine, 94, 56.5, 1.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 145.346 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 26 minutes, 49 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.571 seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 32 among 14 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Ky.Busch 1-13; J.Gordon 14-27; M.Annett 28; D.Earnhardt Jr. 29; Ky.Busch 30-36; J.Gordon 37-74; Ku.Busch 75; D.Earnhardt Jr. 76; B.Keselowski 77-78; J.Gordon 79-97; D.Earnhardt Jr. 98-99; J.McMurray 100-104; K.Harvick 105-139; J.Gordon 140; K.Harvick 141-187; J.Gordon 188; B.Keselowski 189-190; K.Harvick 191-222; K.Larson 223; K.Harvick 224-237; A.Dillon 238-242; Ky.Busch 243-263; K.Larson 264-267; B.Keselowski 268-271; D.Hamlin 272-293; K.Harvick 294-310; J.Gordon 311; Ku.Busch 312; A.Dillon 313; R.Newman 314; C.Edwards 315; J.Allgaier 316-317; K.Harvick 318-334.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Harvick, 6 times for 162 laps; J.Gordon, 6 times for 74 laps; Ky.Busch, 3 times for 41 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 22 laps; B.Keselowski, 3 times for 8 laps; A.Dillon, 2 times for 6 laps; J.McMurray, 1 time for 5 laps; K.Larson, 2 times for 5 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 4 laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 2 laps; J.Allgaier, 1 time for 2 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Edwards, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Annett, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: B.Keselowski, 5; J.Logano, 5; J.Gordon, 4; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3; K.Harvick, 3; J.Johnson, 3; C.Edwards, 2; A.Allmendinger, 1; A.Almirola, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; Ky.Busch, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Kahne, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. J.Logano, 3,088; 2. Ky.Busch, 3,082; 3. K.Harvick, 3,081; 4. R.Newman, 3,077; 5. C.Edwards, 3,076; 6. J.Gordon, 3,074; 7. D.Hamlin, 3,073; 8. K.Kahne, 3,057; 9. M.Kenseth, 3,056; 10. B.Keselowski, 3,038; 11. J.Johnson, 3,031; 12. D.Earnhardt Jr., 3,031; 13. A.Allmendinger, 2,142; 14. G.Biffle, 2,127; 15. Ku.Busch, 2,109; 16. A.Almirola, 2,096.
