Kevin Harvick wins wild Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. – What took place during Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway couldn’t have been scripted.

Kevin Harvick, who earned his second win and eighth top-10 finish in 25 races at Charlotte, led only 28 of the total 400 laps – but he made them count.

“To win at Charlotte is something that we had to overcome for a long time. We kind of won it on gas mileage last time. We just went and won it this time,” said Harvick.

A nylon rope attached to a FOX Sports camera fell onto the track, injuring 10 fans, and damaged a few cars on lap 123.

“I didn’t see anything, I just heard a big thunk on the right-front tire and thought the right-front tire blew out,” Kyle Busch said. “That’s how hard it felt and what it felt and what it felt like. I did have an effect of slowing my car down and I could feel it like, ‘Whoa.’ That’s weird and I don’t know that anybody has ever seen that.

“Maybe we now can get rid of that thing.”

Kurt Busch, who was leading before his battery died during the ninth caution from laps 327-to-331, dropped to 15th before working his way back into the top-5.

“Well, it was a good 550 miles it seemed like for us, then the normal something has to pop up, some adversity we have to overcome about. It came about this week in a dead battery,” said Kurt Busch.

Following the quick decision to stay out and not take fresh tires, Kahne, who was leading, quickly became a sitting duck with just 11 laps left.

“We had a great car from the drop of the green. Just drove to the front from sixth. Felt really good throughout the race,” said Kahne.

“The car was so much better tonight,” added Kahne. “The guys did an awesome job to get it where it was. It drove basically perfect for 600 miles. That’s tough to do.”

Jimmie Johnson – finished 22nd – holds a 32-point advantage over Carl Edwards in the point standings.

The Sprint Cup Series will travel to Dover, Del. on June 2, for the running of the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks.

Coca-Cola 600 Unofficial Results 

1. Kevin Harvick 
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Kurt Busch
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Joey Logano
6. Ryan Newman
7. Tony Stewart
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Marcos Ambrose
11. Carl Edwards
12. Jeff Burton
13. Paul Menard
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15. Matt Kenseth
16. Trevor Bayne
17. Regan Smith
18. Juan Pablo Montoya
19. Jamie McMurray
20. David Gilliland
21. David Reuitmann
22. Jimmie Johnson
23. Casey Mears
24. Bobby Labonte
25. David Ragan
26. Josh Wise
27. Timmy Hill
28. JJ Yeley
29. Danica Patrick
30. Dave Blaney
31. Greg Biffle
32. David Stremme
33. Aric Almirola
34. Mark Martin
35. Jeff Gordon
36. Brad Keselowski
37. Landon Cassill
38. Kyle Busch
39. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
40. Travis Kvapil
41. Joe Nemechek
42. Michael McDowell
43. Scott Speed