Kevin Harvick bumped past Carl Edwards on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Sam’s Town 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park.Harvick, who clinched the Busch Series championship at Lowe’s Motor Speedway two weeks ago, won for the eighth time in 2006. The victory also clinched the owner championship for Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet.

Edwards had passed Harvick on Lap 238 of 250, but Steve Wallace spun trying to avoid hitting his uncle, Mike, with three laps to go, bringing out the caution and setting up the overtime finish. On the restart, Harvick dove under Edwards going into Turn 1, and when Edwards tried to pinch Harvick, the two touched gently, sending Edwards up the track.

Clint Bowyer slipped underneath both, but Harvick charged off Turn 2 to take the lead.

“I just got a really good restart there at the end and was able to get up underneath Carl,” Harvick said. “At that point, you’re not going to let off. You go off in there, see what happens and see where we all end up. It worked out OK.”

Edwards said the pass was “fair and square.”

“He had his nose in there,” Edwards said. “I should’ve given him more room, but I kind of pinched down just to see if he was feeling generous. He wasn’t, so I got moved up the racetrack.

“He got his nose in there. I feel like that’s just racing. I’d have done the same thing.”

Bowyer ended up second, with Edwards third, Johnny Sauter fourth and Shane Huffman fifth.

Former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished 11th in his first NASCAR start. Montoya said Saturday’s race was a learning experience as he dealt with the side-by-side nature of stock car racing.

“Here, it’s everyone by (himself),” Montoya said. “You need to learn to run below people, to get a run on them. All that. It’s so new. It’s easier when you’re 30th to pass cars around you. You get underneath them and drive or out-break them.

“I could’ve probably passed five, 10 more cars today if I would’ve been more aggressive. But I don’t want to make enemies.”

Montoya’s crew chief, Brad Parrott, was impressed with his driver.

“It’s always good to learn,” Parrott said. “You had teachers from the first to the 12th grade. Today, he had teachers all around him. He had 42 guys on the racetrack (who were) either trying to teach him or didn’t want to teach him. He learned a lot.”

Sporting News

Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps

1 5 21 Kevin Harvick U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet 185 Running 252

2 19 2 Clint Bowyer ACDelco Chevrolet 175 Running 252

3 42 60 Carl Edwards freecreditreport.com Ford 170 Running 252

4 1 00 Johnny Sauter Yellow Transportation Chevrolet 170 Running 252

5 3 88 Shane Huffman Navy Chevrolet 155 Running 252

6 40 20 Denny Hamlin Rockwell Automation Chevrolet 150 Running 252

7 38 41 Reed Sorenson Discount Tire Co. Dodge 146 Running 252

8 41 9 Kasey Kahne Vitamin Water Dodge 142 Running 252

9 25 50 Danny O’Quinn Transamerica Ford 138 Running 252

10 7 18 J.J. Yeley FedEx Chevrolet 134 Running 252

11 9 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 130 Running 252

12 2 66 Jason Keller Yard-Man Ford 127 Running 252

13 10 29 Timothy Peters Emerson/CARmax Chevrolet 124 Running 252

14 6 22 Kenny Wallace AutoZone Ford 126 Running 252

15 16 4 Auggie Vidovich Geico Dodge 118 Running 252

16 34 06 Todd Kluever Post It Ford 115 Running 252

17 17 27 Casey Atwood Scott Tissue Ford 112 Running 252

18 31 1 Mike Wallace Miccosukee Resorts Dodge 109 Running 252

19 12 92 Stephen Leicht citifinancial Ford 106 Running 252

20 28 64 Steve Wallace Jackson Roscoe Fndtn Dodge 103 Running 252

21 14 35 Regan Smith McDonald’s Ford 100 Running 251

22 29 5 Justin Labonte Lowe’s/Sta-Green Chevrolet 97 Running 251

23 8 11 Paul Menard Menards Chevrolet 94 Running 251

24 22 59 Stacy Compton Kingsford/Bush’s Baked Beans Ford 91 Running 251

25 15 33 Cale Gale Outdoor Channel Chevrolet 88 Running 251

26 27 01 Jay Sauter Western Union Chevrolet 85 Running 251

27 23 72 D.J. Kennington Northern Provincial Chevrolet 82 Running 251

28 4 14 Willie Allen Josh Turner Dodge 79 Running 251

29 30 47 Jon Wood Clorox/American Red Cross Ford 76 Running 250

30 35 70 Justin Diercks H57 Hoodia Chevrolet 73 Running 249

31 36 36 Tim Sauter Lester Buildings Chevrolet 70 Running 248

32 37 63 Dexter Bean Five Star Telecom Ford 67 Running 246

33 38 31 Peyton Sellers Whelen Chevrolet 64 Running 245

34 20 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Chevrolet 61 Engine 243

35 18 10 John Andretti RVs.com Ford 58 Running 243

36 33 99 Joey Miller Aaron’s Dream Machine Dodge 55 Running 198

37 32 25 Ashton Lewis Jr. Team Marines Ford 52 Running 197

38 11 77 Burney Lamar Dollar General Chevrolet 49 Accident 177

39 24 12 Carlos Contreras Supercuts Dodge 46 Accident 135

40 21 79 Shelby Howard SPEEDCO Chevrolet 43 Mechanical 128

41 13 23 Brad Keselowski LoveFiFi.com Chevrolet 40 Mechanical 102

42 43 78 Jerry Robertson Furniture Row Chevrolet 37 Engine 65

43 26 56 Tim Schendel Power Equipment Co. Chevrolet 34 Accident 51

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