LAS VEGAS - Kevin Harvick took advantage of Matt Kenseth's late-race misfortune to grab the lead, then held off hard-charging Kasey Kahne to win Saturday's Busch series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kenseth appeared to have the best car on the 11/2-mile oval, but got caught up in a crash on a restart 21 laps from the end of the 200-lap Sam's Town 300. The damage to his car slowed Kenseth.
After the restart on Lap 186, Harvick took only one lap to grab the lead from his fellow Nextel Cup star. Kahne, second to Kenseth two weeks ago in the Cup race at Rockingham, took second place from Kenseth on Lap 192.
Going into the final lap, Kahne trailed Harvick by about 4 car lengths. He made a run coming off Turn 4 but the veteran drove down onto the apron to keep the youngster behind him and won by 0.119 seconds.
"We didn't have a dominant car and won the race," Harvick said. "I'll take that any day. It's all about putting yourself in the right spot."
INTREPID MOVE: John Fernandez, director of Dodge motorsports operations, said the manufacturer will submit a new entry to replace the Intrepid in NASCAR beginning next season. Dodge's parent company, DaimlerChrysler, will stop production of the street version of the Intrepid after this year.
FORMULA ONE: Michael Schumacher won his fourth Australian Grand Prix, leading teammate Rubens Barrichello in a 1-2 finish for Ferraris in the opener in Melbourne. Schumacher, the pole-sitter, led from start to finish.
MOTORCYCLES: Suzuki's Mat Mladin used a three pit-stop strategy to win the Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway. Mladin beat Jake Zemke by 7.081 seconds.
NHRA: David Grubnic earned the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel for today's eliminations at the CSK Nationals in Chandler, Ariz. Grubnic set a track record on the quarter-mile in 4.486 seconds at 324.51 mph. Gary Densham (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also led qualifying.
