Race Report.(Phoenix Cup race)

With no pressure and nothing to lose-well, relatively speaking-Kevin Harvick and crew chief Todd Berrier figured on having some fun in the Phoenix Cup race. Even in their wildest dreams, though, they couldn't have figured on having this much fun.

Harvick overcame a worrisome electrical glitch and led all but a handful of laps in winning the 312-lap, 312-mile race at Phoenix International Raceway. If not for seven cautions in the final 85 laps, the Chevrolet star might have passed all but the top-10 finishers. As it was, Harvick had a fairly easy run to his fifth win this season, the 10th of his career, all with Richard Childress Racing.

"There's really not a lot of pressure on us [because of the points situation],'' Harvick said after beating fellow Chevy drivers Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon, and Ford driver Carl Edwards respectively. "How it falls is how it falls... We won here in the spring and this is the same car, so we looked forward to being here because we thought we could win again.''

Alas, their win probably won't do them much good in the championship. Johnson's solid finish built his lead to 63 points over Matt Kenseth, 90 points over Harvick and Hamlin, and a daunting 115 points over fifth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., the last driver mathematically still in the championship hunt. Gordon, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch will scrap for sixth-through-10th leftovers in the season-finale at Homestead.

Johnson will clinch his first title by 1) finishing at least 12th if he doesn't lead, 2) finishing 13th and leading at least one lap, or 3) finishing 15th and leading the most laps. "Can I be caught?'' Johnson asked rhetorically after the 500-K. "I have no idea; we'll find out next weekend... I don't have any strategy other than finishing ahead of [the other potential champions], doing the same things we've been doing. Kevin had a great car, one of the best and he did a great job. Being able to run here with him at one of his best tracks says a lot about our team. I took my time [from 29th on the grid] and drove a smart race.''

Harvick started second at PIR and led in bunches of 68, 61, 93 and the final 30 laps. Johnson led 28 laps, and Martin led 26 after gaining track position with a late-race, two-tire pit stop. Gordon led the first three laps from the pole, and Kenseth, Sterling Marlin and David Gilliland each led once while pit stops cycled around. Johnson was the only driver to handle Harvick under green, passing him and leading for 18 laps after a mid-race caution.

The only glitch was Harvick's alternator. It began fading shortly after halfway, so Berrier had Harvick shut down the cooling fans. When the race was red-flagged for a huge cleanup, Berrier sent a wrecker to push Harvick rather than use the starter. "I didn't want ...