Kevin Harvick, who won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday night, was leading when teammate Clint Bowyer spun with 15 laps to go, bringing out a caution flag. On the ensuing restart, Kasey Kahne passed Kevin Harvick and held off the rest of the field to take the victory. Kahne won by 1.766 seconds.
With just one race left until the start of the Chase, Kahne jumped from 11th to 6th in the Sprint Cup standings.
“We did it right at the end,” said Kahne. “We had an unbelievable car throughout the race. I think Kevin was the best on the long runs. We did it at the end.
“I knew Harvick and Montoya were going to be really tough there at the end. We just got them. We had a really good car for about 10 laps.”
Denny Hamlin became the fourth driver to clinch a spot in the Chase after finishing in 6th place. Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon have earned their tickets into NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.
Results of Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta:
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Juan Montoya
4. David Reutimann
5. Mark Martin
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Brian Vickers
8. Jeff Gordon
9. Ryan Newman
10. Greg Biffle
11. Tony Stewart
12. Matt Kenseth
13. Kyle Busch
14. David Stremme
15. Paul Menard
16. Robby Gordon
17. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
18. Bobby Labonte
19. David Gilliland
20. A.J. Allmendinger
21. Elliott Sadler
22. Joey Logano
23. Marcos Ambrose
24. Scott Speed
25. Casey Mears
26. Martin Truex Jr.
27. Reed Sorenson
28. Jamie McMurray
29. Clint Bowyer
30. Erik Darnell
31. John Andretti
32. Michael Waltrip
33. David Ragan
34. Jeff Burton
35. Sam Hornish Jr.
36. Jimmie Johnson
37. Carl Edwards
38. Kurt Busch
39. Terry Labonte
40. Max Papis
41. Mike Bliss
42. Joe Nemechek
43. Dave Blaney
——————————————————————————————————-
Standings after Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta:
1. Tony Stewart (3694 points)
2. Jeff Gordon (237 points behind Stewart)
3. Jimmie Johnson (290 points behind Stewart)
4. Denny Hamlin (398 points behind Stewart)
5. Carl Edwards (532 points behind Stewart)
6. Kasey Kahne (541 points behind Stewart)
7. Kurt Busch (542 points behind Stewart)
8. Juan Montoya (549 points behind Stewart)
9. Ryan Newman (556 points behind Stewart)
10. Mark Martin (568 points behind Stewart)
11. Greg Biffle (569 points behind Stewart)
12. Matt Kenseth (617 points behind Stewart)
(Cut-off spot)
13. Brian Vickers (637 points behind Stewart)
14. Kyle Busch (654 points behind Stewart)
15. David Reutimann (749 points behind Stewart)
16. Clint Bowyer (785 points behind Stewart)
Photo Source: Photobucket
