Harvick wins Nationwide race

By Rick Minter

For the AJC

Kevin Harvick thoroughly dominated Saturday’s Degree V12 Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 131 of 195 laps en route to a win.

Harvick’s only real challenge came from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who stretched a tank of fuel to the finish and held the lead up until two laps to go when Harvick, who stopped for fuel 13 laps from the finish, ran him down and motored by him.

“After eight or 10 laps this thing was flat-out awesome,” Harvick said. “I cut it closer than I would have liked at the end.”

Points leader Kyle Busch finished second ahead of Earnhardt, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Burton.

Carl Edwards, driving with a broken right foot, finished seventh.

Truex wins pole

Martin Truex Jr. grabbed the pole for tonight’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at AMS during a qualifying session that saw eight of the top 10 starting spots go to drivers contending for one of the 12 berths in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.

There are two races to go before the Chase field is set, tonight’s and Saturday’s in Richmond.

Truex, who is out of the running for the Chase, ran a lap at 184.149 miles per hour in winning his third career pole and his first at AMS. Kasey Kahne will start second, ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.

Chevy chief at AMS

Brent Dewar, the new head of General Motors’ Chevrolet division, was at AMS on Saturday, assuring teams and drivers that the manufacturer planned to continue supporting its race teams.

Although spending cuts have been made because of the automaker’s poor financial condition, Dewar said he hoped to maintain the current level of participation at least through 2010. And he said he hoped to be able to spend more in 2011 and beyond when car sales and profits are expected to increase.

He said that although dealer inventories are at all-time lows and potential buyers are dealing with credit challenges, he still believes in the “race on Sunday, sell on Monday” philosophy, and his company still gets a return on its NASCAR investment.

Stewart on Patrick

Tony Stewart said Danica Patrick visited his race shop again this week, asking him questions and seeking advice about the best way to transition from a relatively light open-wheel car to a heavier NASCAR one with fenders.

“She’s excited about doing this. ... And I can pretty much guarantee that at some point she’s going to be over here,” Stewart said.