Harvick, on Fast Track, Gets His Fourth Victory

Points leader Kevin Harvick raced to his fourth Busch Series victory of the year, holding off Greg Biffle in the crash-filled Kroger 200 on Saturday night at Clermont, Ind.

There were eight cautions for 55 laps and the 200-lap race was halted for about seven minutes with 10 laps left.

Harvick, elevated to a full-time Winston Cup ride a year ahead of schedule after Dale Earnhardt’s death in the Daytona 500, will start 11th in the Brickyard 400 today.

Harvick, 25, led only the final 29 laps in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and averaged 72.785 mph on the 0.686-mile Indianapolis Raceway Park oval.

He survived challenges from Biffle, the runner-up in the points race who led the first 107 laps, and Chad Little on the final five laps. Little was third, followed by Elton Sawyer and Jason Keller.

Sawyer took the lead when Biffle and pole-sitter Kenny Wallace pitted during a caution period on Lap 108.

Sawyer, who has only two victories in 378 Busch starts, moved into first on Lap 108. Sawyer and Little exchanged the lead on Lap 166 and then Harvick took over.

Wallace, who won his second consecutive Busch pole earlier in the day, was passed by Biffle on the opening lap. He held onto second for the first 100 laps, fell back as far as 17th and managed to finish 11th.

Jimmy Spencer beat the heat for his second career pole and first in seven years, taking the top spot for today’s Brickyard 400.

With temperatures climbing through the 80s and a hot sun glaring down on the 2 1/2-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Spencer was the sixth of 54 drivers in the qualifying line.

Bill Elliott and Evernham Motorsports teammate Casey Atwood, a Winston Cup rookie, were close behind Spencer’s Carter-Haas Motorsports Ford, each in a Dodge.

Elliott, who gained his best starting spot since winning the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500, had a lap of 179.565. Atwood ran a 179.361.

Bobby Labonte couldn’t help it.

The wiggle that sent Tony Stewart crashing into the wall in Turn 4 late in the IROC race wasn’t intentional. It was racing between two NASCAR teammates.

The accident knocked Stewart out of contention in the last of four International Race of Champions events this season and handed Labonte a six-car-length victory--and the IROC title.

Labonte beat runner-up Stewart by 10 points, 68-58, for the $250,000 series prize. Labonte raced with a No. 3 sticker on his car, a tribute to Dale Earnhardt, last year’s IROC champion. Earnhardt, who started the season as one of the 12 drivers in the all-star series, was not replaced after his death.

Kenny Bernstein led Top Fuel qualifying Saturday in the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals with his Friday run of 4.560 seconds at a top speed of 319.45 mph at Sonoma.

Bernstein earned his 59th career top qualifying position and seventh of the season.

Whit Bazemore and Jeg Coughlin also led their divisions in the $1.7-million event at Sears Point Raceway.