Harvick takes Aarons 499 at Talladega

Kevin Harvick celebrates winning the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, his first victory since the 2007 Daytona 500

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Jamie McMurray seems to be able to end up at the front lately in restrictor-plate races, no matter where he starts or sits during the race. He appeared to drop to the back with teammate Juan "White Gloves" Montoya in a strategic move to avoid any possible pileup in the early laps, then stuck with his teammate and steadily worked his way back to the front.

But his well-laid plan was thwarted by Kevin Harvick who squeaked by at the line to win the Aarons 499 at Talladega.

Until the closing laps, this was a relatively uneventful race, with a record number of lead changes and a bump-drafting bonanza today. Previous Talladega races have been characterized by "the big one"; crashes that take out dozens of cars at a time due to the tight stacked-up racing that the ultra-high-banked superspeedway produces. Except for the one significant crash in the closing laps of the race, we didn’t really see that this year. This year, the restrictor plates were opened up and the cars were making more horsepower than they have in a long time, and also have recently switched back to the rear spoiler, making more downforce and enhancing the impact of bump-drafting. NASCAR also recently has relaxed their hand on bump drafting and "let the boys race".

Kevin Harvick pushes Jamie McMurray to the finish line, shortly before making the winning move

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Despite all of this, this Talladega seemed to be much more tame than previous years when it comes to crashes. But, the racing was competitive and unpredictable, making for a Talladega race for the record books.

By the final caution, Mc Murray and Montoya shuffled back to the front, looking good for the win after a couple of late race cautions from 4 wide racing and bumping.

This left us with yet another late race caution and the green/white checker situation we have seen a number of times lately, and this one would be attempted three times.

When the first yellow flag flew for the final laps of the race, there was immediately another crash collecting 9 cars, and voiding the restart. They would give it another try.

There was a question if several cars had enough fuel to make it to the finish, adding a bit of drama to this restart.

Kevin Harvick beats Jamie McMurray to the finish line by 0.011 seconds, the eighth-closest margin since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993

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Biffle hesitated and was likely running of fuel, and the field spread out wide, when Jimmie Johnson got together with Biffle and spun into the inside wall, bringing out another yellow. Most of the front cars still stayed out, likely running on fumes.

Teammates Montoya and McMurray talked between cars and both said they would run their cars out of gas before they would even think about pitting. "I'm with you" replied Montoya.

The final restart had the two teammates being pushed by Harvick and Hamlin, with McMurray having the lead coming onto the final straight, and gapping the field just a few car lengths.

Harvick gave McMurray a slight nudge, getting him a little bit loose, and ducked out from his push-position at just the right moment to take the lead at the line by a nose, and score the win.

Most of the typical top names were in the top 15 with David Reagan making his way to 6th, and Truex and Reutimann making a solid run inside the top 15 as well.

The win advances Harvick to 2nd in The Chase behind Jimmie Johnson, trailing by just 26 points, with Biffle and Kenseth within immediate reach.

Results: Aarons 499 at Talladega