Harvick seals NASCAR title with victory

Kevin Harvick has won the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup title in style by taking the final race of the year at Homestead-Miami.

NASCAR’s new version of the Chase for the Cup came up trumps with Harvick having to hold-off a determined Ryan Newman; a driver who did not score a race win all year, to take his first championship.

In an ironic twist the battle at the end came down to two drivers which switched teams ahead of the season, with Harvick’s new ride of Stewart-Haas Racing taking the title from Richard Childress Racing.

The four drivers contesting the championship, Harvick, Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano were all line-astern with 30 laps to run.

The final run to the flag was set-up with a caution period 18 laps from the end when a range of strategies played out. Hamlin stayed out, while Newman took right-side tyres only and both Harvick and Logano stopped for four tyres. However, it was a disaster for Logano who had his car fall of the jack and had to re-start from the rear.

A re-start with nine laps to go had Hamlin in first and Newman in second, while Harvick was back in sixth. Then Harvick came through to the lead just one lap later before another caution.

The final three lap run had Harvick under plenty of pressure from Newman, but he had too much and he came around to take the victory and the championship.

“I really don’t know what to say but I really appreciate everyone on this team,” Harvick.

“That came down to a pit call and I thought man we are in big trouble here. To Rodney Childers (Crew Chief) and this entire team they did an amazing job.

“I have been trying to do this for 13 years. I really have to thank Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for helping me through this week.

“This new format has been so stressful. The racing has been phenomenal and I need to go and sleep for a week!

“Tony Stewart and Gene Haas said ‘whatever you need you go and get’. We never talked about money and we just went did what we needed to win. This new format really helped us build as a team and all those character building moments have come to this right here. To close out that deal there with the championship is pretty awesome.”

In what was the last race for Australia’s Marcos Ambrose he came home in 27th after a tough race with an ill-handling car. He was forced to start off the rear after his car failed pre-race inspection and Ambrose came back three times from a lap down. In the end too many caution periods put a lot cars on the lead lap and although his crew tried a big change, he did not have the car to fight for a strong result.

VIDEO: Harvick wins the race and title

VIDEO: Harvick speaks in Victory Lane

VIDEO: Championship Presentation

RESULTS: Ford EcoBoost 400 – Homestead- Miami Speedway 

POS.	CAR	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	STARTING POS.	LAPS	LAPS LED	+ / – CHANGE IN POINTS	FINAL STATUS	POINTS	BONUS POINTS
1	4	Kevin Harvick		5	267	54	0	Running	43	0
2	31	Ryan Newman		21	267	0	0	Running	42	0
3	2	Brad Keselowski		4	267	0	0	Running	41	0
4	27	Paul Menard		16	267	0	0	Running	40	0
5	1	Jamie McMurray		19	267	0	0	Running	39	0
6	20	Matt Kenseth		3	267	0	0	Running	38	0
7	11	Denny Hamlin		8	267	50	0	Running	37	0
8	15	Clint Bowyer		6	267	0	0	Running	36	0
9	48	Jimmie Johnson		12	267	0	0	Running	35	0
10	24	Jeff Gordon		1	267	161	0	Running	36	2
11	41	Kurt Busch		2	267	1	0	Running	34	1
12	5	Kasey Kahne		23	267	0	0	Running	32	0
13	42	Kyle Larson		27	267	0	0	Running	31	0
14	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		11	267	0	0	Running	30	0
15	51	Justin Allgaier		14	267	0	0	Running	29	0
16	22	Joey Logano		9	267	0	0	Running	28	0
17	78	Martin Truex Jr		10	267	0	0	Running	27	0
18	10	Danica Patrick		32	267	0	0	Running	26	0
19	43	Aric Almirola		18	267	0	0	Running	25	0
20	13	Casey Mears		29	267	0	0	Running	24	0
21	95	Michael McDowell		38	267	0	0	Running	23	0
22	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		22	267	0	0	Running	22	0
23	55	Brian Vickers		13	267	0	0	Running	21	0
24	36	Reed Sorenson		36	267	0	0	Running	20	0
25	3	Austin Dillon		24	267	0	0	Running	19	0
26	26	Cole Whitt		42	267	0	0	Running	18	0
27	9	Marcos Ambrose		17	267	0	0	Running	17	0
28	33	Brian Scott		30	267	0	0	Running	0	0
29	40	Landon Cassill		33	267	0	0	Running	0	0
30	34	David Ragan		31	267	0	0	Running	14	0
31	38	David Gilliland		35	267	0	0	Running	13	0
32	98	Josh Wise		37	267	0	0	Running	12	0
33	23	Alex Bowman		41	264	0	0	Running	11	0
34	99	Carl Edwards		15	263	0	0	Running	10	0
35	7	Michael Annett		39	263	0	0	Running	9	0
36	66	Brett Moffitt		43	262	0	0	Running	8	0
37	83	J.J. Yeley		34	254	0	0	Accident	0	0
38	32	Blake Koch		40	254	1	0	Accident	0	0
39	18	Kyle Busch		7	246	0	0	Running	5	0
40	47	AJ Allmendinger		25	235	0	0	Accident	4	0
41	16	Greg Biffle		20	220	0	0	Running	3	0
42	21	Trevor Bayne		26	204	0	0	Accident	0	0
43	14	Tony Stewart		28	182	0	0	Accident	1	0

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