RACE REPORT.(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Inc.)

Being Kevin Harvick must be cool. Harvick has won three straight NASCAR races, two in the Busch Series and last weekend's Nextel Cup race at Phoenix. He is atop the Busch points and eighth in Cup, and the Busch team he owns, with rookie Barney Lamar driving, stands ninth.

Then there is this: Harvick is in the last year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing and seems to have most of the aces. It's no secret he is on Toyota's short list for a Camry ride next year. And given Toyota's deep pockets, it's not hard imagining the manufacturer backing Harvick's Busch team, too.

Harvick tap-danced around off-track specifics at Phoenix. He talked instead about coming from third to first in the final 15 of 312 laps around the 1.0-mile track. Moments after passing second-running Tony Stewart at lap 300, Harvick made up 10 lengths and passed leader Greg Biffle at 303. Harvick took it from there, beating Stewart, points-leader Matt Ken-seth, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon respectively.

After leading six times for 151 laps, a late gas stop dropped Biffle to 15th. Teammate Mark Martin, equally strong all night, was fifth when he ran out on the last lap and finished 11th. (Earlier Martin went from first to 16th after a botched pit stop.) Wrecks sidelined or slowed Michael Waltrip, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Kyle Busch (who got a five-lap rough-driving penalty), Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Harvick led only those final 10 laps, playing tortoise more than hare while Biffle, Martin and Bowyer led 283 laps. "We didn't have the best car all night, but we had a solid car,'' Harvick said after his first 2006 Nextel Cup win, the sixth of his career. "We sat there third, fourth or fifth, kept adjusting, and got it right at the right time.''

Harvick expects to settle his future when Richard Childress returns from an African safari. The two have often endured an uneasy alliance, leading some to figure Childress wouldn't mind letting him go. (Bowyer, 12th in points and the tour's leading rookie, is RCR's rising star.) And even though Harvick says he doesn't need it, Toyota's money would be hard to turn down.

"Everything's going good right now,'' said Harvick. "Clint and I are close friends and do things off the track as much as our schedules allow. Jeff [Burton] brings a veteran attitude; he understands things and has a politically correct approach-the exact opposite of me.