Smashing Finish

Richard Childress paced in the darkness on Sunday night, anxiously moving across the roof of the four-story building that houses luxury boxes behind Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. Two laps remained in the 49th Daytona 500, and all the race cars were parked along the backstretch a half mile away because the red flag had been thrown after another in a series of late-race crashes. Now Childress , the owner of Richard Childress Racing , gazed through the chilly Florida night at his number 29 Chevy driven by Kevin Harvick --the man he handpicked six years ago to replace his close friend, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. "You can still win this thing," Childress said emphatically into the radio microphone to Harvick, who was in sixth place at the time. "Pull those belts tight!"

During the 12 minutes it took the cleanup crew to sweep the wreckage from the track, all of Childress 's Daytona memories--good and bad--ran through his mind. He recalled 1998, the year he sat atop the black number 3 pit box and watched Earnhardt win the Great American Race for the first time in 20 tries, prompting the Big E to scream, "I just won the Daytona Fi-i-i-i-ive Hun-n-n-n-dred!" as he crossed the finish line. And Childress thought about 2001, six years ago to the day, when Earnhardt died in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the race, a tragedy from which Childress says he still hasn't fully recovered. Since that accident an RCR Chevy hadn't finished higher than fourth in NASCAR 's signature race, but now Harvick was poised to do something that was positively Earnhardtesque.

When the green flag waved for the restart, the 190,000 fans roared as the leader, 48-year-old Mark Martin , a crowd favorite who had never won the 500 in 22 previous tries, blasted down the frontstretch in his number 01 Army Chevy. Martin expertly blocked Kyle Busch for one lap, holding the lead as the white flag flew, signaling one lap to go. When the field swept down the backstretch at 190 mph, the 30-year-old Harvick, running seventh, slammed squarely into the rear of Mike Wallace . This bump-draft move rocketed Wallace and Harvick forward. Harvick then bolted to the high line, passing Wallace and charging into Turn 3. Matt Kenseth fell in behind Harvick, giving him desperately needed drafting help, which pushed Harvick even with Martin as the two flew side by side through the final turn.

Just then, all hell broke loose behind them. Kyle Busch spun out in a swirl of smoke and bounced off a half dozen cars. Clint Bowyer 's Chevy flipped, slid down the track on its roof and burst into flames. But Harvick kept his right foot mashed on the gas pedal, and about 200 yards before the finish line he inched ahead of Martin . An eyeblink later the checkered flag flew: Harvick beat Martin by .020 seconds--the closest finish in race history. Harvick was so excited that he punched his rearview mirror with his right fist, knocking it off its mount.

"I was going to go for it," said Harvick, between hugs from friends in Victory Lane. "I put my foot down and let it all hang out."

"Kevin reminds me so much of Dale," said Childress , clad in his familiar white button-down shirt and black leather jacket. "This starts our season off in just the right way. We're definitely title contenders this year."

Indeed, Harvick's dramatic win is another landmark in the rebirth of Richard Childress Racing , which last won a Cup championship in 1994--the last of six that Childress celebrated with Earnhardt . No RCR drivers qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2004 or '05, but last year Harvick and teammate Jeff Burton surged midway through the season and advanced to NASCAR 's playoff series. Childress points to three moves he made over the last four years that are finally paying dividends: In 2003 he sold a portion of his team to Chartwell Investments (a private equity firm in New York City ), which significantly increased his budget; in '04 he added new personnel to his engine department, and that unit has produced more horsepower; and also that year he hired Burton , a thoughtful veteran who has helped cultivate Harvick's talent.

During his first five years in the Cup series, beginning in 2001, Harvick, a native of Bakersfield , Calif. , was notoriously temperamental. He was suspended for one race in '02 after he intentionally wrecked another driver in the Craftsman Truck Series. But soon after Burton arrived from Roush Racing in August 2004, he used his influence to help turn Harvick into a more even-keeled competitor. "Jeff has been through a lot, and he's someone I can talk to and bounce things off," says Harvick. "He's been a huge part of RCR's success."

Last season Harvick had a career-high five victories and finished fourth in Cup points while also winning the Busch Series title. Then last Saturday, on the eve of the 500, he won the season-opening Busch race, the Orbitz 300 at Daytona. A dominant performance, indeed, by Harvick in a week that will be remembered at Daytona not only for his rise to the elite level but also for the fall from grace of a former 500 winner.

Four days before the 500, Michael Waltrip 's number 55 Toyota was parked in the Daytona garage, the hood up and the inside stripped like a BMW abandoned in the Bronx . The engine, transmission, shocks and fuel tank had all been removed, and a dozen NASCAR officials in white shirts spent several hours inspecting every part. Three days earlier, during qualifying, one of the inspectors had discovered a bluish, jellylike substance inside the intake manifold. The illegal substance was intended to boost horsepower. Upon completion of this more thorough inspection, NASCAR docked Michael Waltrip Racing 100 driver points; kicked Waltrip 's crew chief, David Hyder , and his competition director, Bobby Kennedy , out of the track and suspended them indefinitely; and fined Hyder an unheard-of $100,000.