Race Report.(News)

Kevin Harvick was a kid when he got an autograph from fellow Bakersfield, California, native Rick Mears. It was on a picture of the 1979 Indy 500 front row of Mears, Tom Sneva and Roberto Guerrero, and Mears wished Harvick luck and added that he might someday see Harvick in the Indy 500, too.

Probably won't happen, but this year's Brickyard 400 trophy is a decent consolation prize.

Harvick led the first 17 and last 16 laps at Indy. After starting from the pole and staying top-10 all day, he passed Jamie McMurray entering Turn Two on the restart at lap 144. Harvick easily drove away to a 2.758-second win over points-leader Matt Kenseth, followed by McMurray.

It was Harvick's first win this year and the fourth of his Winston Cup career. Almost predictably, the 400 had deteriorated into a nap-inducing runaway when a caution for-what else?-debris bunched everyone at lap 140. At the time, Kenseth led Jimmie Johnson by 20 seconds, with hardly anyone in contact with anyone else. Granted, Kenseth and Johnson still had to pit, but that would have simply returned McMurray to the front, where he'd spent 22 of the previous 31 laps.

After final stops, the top-three consisted of McMurray, Harvick, Kenseth. It was no contest: Harvick got by when McMurray became embroiled with lapped cars. McMurray and Kenseth ...