Harvick wins in Phoenix, pandemonium ensues

It was quite the weekend for Kevin Harvick at Phoenix. On Friday, rumors surfaced of his departure from Richard Childress Racing at the end of the 2013 Sprint Cup season and move to the team owned by his friend, Tony Stewart. Among all of the talk, there was still a race to be run. A race that Harvick very much had a shot of winning. Running inside the top-10 for most of the day, Harvick was able to move up into the top-five on a round of pit stops, placing him in contention with the leaders for the first time in the race. While Harvick was near in the front on the leader board, he wasn’t quite able to contend with the front runners, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. But when Jimmie Johnson hit the turn four wall with 76 laps to go, the championship battle and the race turned upside down. Looking to have the race well in hand, Busch checked out to a large lead and was surely on his way to his second win of the 2012 season. However, a caution when Sam Hornish Jr. hit the ...