JOLIET, Ill. -- Kevin Harvick drove the car, but he's not taking credit for the victory.
"Ernie Cope and his call on pit road is what won us this race today," Harvick said after winning Saturday's Jimmy Johns 300 NASCASR Nationwide Series event at Chicagoland Speedway.
That became clear during the fifth caution of the race when teams suddenly broke off on wildly divergent pit strategies.
Three cars elected not to pit, which left rookie Chris Buescher in the lead on the restart on lap 158 of 200. Several took only two new tires, including Harvick, who restarted in fifth.
Kyle Busch, who dominated much of the first two-thirds of the race, restarted in 16th after he took on four new tires.
With only one more caution before the finish, Busch did not have enough time to get back to the front to challenge Harvick.
"That call won us the race. The car was fast and with not having many laps on the tires and (Busch) being buried in the field, that's what won us the race," said Harvick, who earned his fourth Nationwide Series victory of the season and 44th of his career.
Busch agreed his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team's pit decision likely cost him the victory.
"It [stinks] to not be in victory lane where we should be, but you know what, this car was fast and deserved to win, but I couldn't get through traffic," he said.
Kyle Larson finished second, Busch third, Ryan Blaney fourth and Trevor Bayne ended up fifth.
Chase Elliott, who finished 10th, continues to lead the series standings and holds an 18-point lead over Regan Smith.
"Ernie and Kevin have won a lot of races this year and they've been a big reason the program has been able to take that next step," said JR Motorsports team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"We've got two drivers -- Chase and Regan -- trying to win the driver's championship. With any luck those two guys will still be in the hunt when we get to Homestead [the season finale].
TRUCK SERIES
Busch takes Lucas Oil
Kyle Busch won the Lucas Oil 225 at Chicagoland Speedway despite having to overcome numerous obstacles over the course of the race, most notably Austin Dillon, to take the victory.
Busch, the defending race winner and now a four-time Truck Series winner at Chicagoland, started from the back.
Busch had a pit road speeding penalty early in the race and had to chase down Dillon late into capture his 41st Camping World Truck Series victory and sixth this season in eight starts. The victory came just hours after Busch led 141 laps in the Nationwide Series' Jimmy John's Freaky Fast 300 but finished in third.
Defending series champion Matt Crafton finished second and picked up the points lead from his ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter, who finished 14th.
Dillon finished in third and Tyler Reddick and Jeb Burton rounded out the top five.
The race was scheduled for Friday night, but inclement weather pushed the event to Saturday.
FORMULA E
First electric race
BEIJING -- The world's first fully electric motor racing series, featuring battery-powered race cars that can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, opened here Saturday.
Known as Formula E, this 10-stop international circuit is approved by the International Automobile Federation and aims to inspire developments in electric car technology and attract a new generation of fans.
The inaugural race, the Beijing ePrix, was unexpectedly dramatic. A crash at the last turn of the final lap involving the leading cars allowed the Brazilian driver Lucas Di Grassi of the Audi Sport ABT team to win.
Nicolas Prost had long been in the lead when his car touched Nick Heidfeld's. Heidfeld's vehicle flew head over tail into the fencing and landed upside down in pieces. He emerged unscathed.
Sports on 09/14/2014