Source: USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — Kevin Harvick held off Clint Bowyer on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Toyota Owners 400 Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Harvick started seventh on the final restart but sailed to the front on fresher tires after pitting on the final caution of the night on lap 394. It was Harvick’s first win of 2013.

“It was a great restart,” Harvick said. “We were able to take it three-wide and just pull out on front when the white flew.

”We’ve been on the other side of it a lot this year. Being in victory lane is great. … It all just opened up.”

Joey Logano finished third, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and pole winner Matt Kenseth.

It looked like it could be a huge breakthrough night for Montoya, who was leading when the final caution flew. Montoya has not won since Watkins Glen in 2010 – a string of 94 races. Montoya has two career Sprint Cup wins, both on road courses.

Kurt Busch was also poised to break into the winner’s circle as he battled Montoya in the closing stages of the race. Busch, who tangled with Tony Stewart on the final restart, hasn’t won since the fall race at Dover in 2011 – a string of 51 races.

Stewart, off to his worst career start in the series, had battled back to restart fifth and was poised for his first top five of the season, was bumped out of the way by Busch on the restart.

”I was in an awesome run, waiting for the race to come to us. … That green-white-checkered at the end, it’s just chaos,’ Busch said.

When asked about his tangle with Stewart at the end, he replied: ”Why don’t you be a good reporter and talk about the racing? It’s a free-for-all at the end.”

He indicated he and Stewart had talked it out.

Bowyer and Kenseth dominated the first half of the race, combining to lead the first 253 laps before relinquishing the lead to Kyle Busch.

“I think I was ninth on the final restart,” Bowyer said. “There was a ton of chaos behind me, Tony got pissed and I ended up second. I would have liked to win but I’ll take that.”

Danica Patrick finished 29th, four laps down.

Follow Ellen J. Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — David Ragan doesn’t spend a lot of time with his foot on the brake pedal — a detriment in a job that requires him to go as fast as possible. But braking — and safety — will be an important part of Ragan’s experience Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Ragan’s No. 34 Ford will be sporting a pledge during the Toyota Owners 400: “I brake for trains.”

The Front Row Motorsports driver partnered with CSX Corporation — one of the nation’s leading transportation companies – for its “Play it safe around railroad tracks” campaign.

“It can take a train up to a mile to stop, and every three hours, a person or vehicle is hit by a train,” Ragan said. “I think the number is around 700 people annually that pass away from being involved with a train or around railroad tracks. … In a tie, the train always wins.”

Ragan solicited fans to sign on to the pledge to exercise safety around railroad tracks Friday at Richmond. The signatures, which will adorn the hood of his car, included NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, who joined Ragan in promoting the safety issue.

CSX, an associate sponsor of the No. 34, will be the primary sponsor for Saturday’s Sprint Cup race — a boon to a race team that doesn’t have the resources to go head-to-head with NASCAR’s powerhouse teams. With sponsorship dollars at premium in a sport that has lost more sponsors than it’s gained recently, small race teams like Front Row Motorsports have to think much more out-of-the-box.

Last year, Ragan, 27, partnered with the U.S. Department of Transportation to educate drivers of the dangers of distracted driving.

“Distracted driving is unfortunately very widespread, and it’s impossible to bring too much attention to this issue, but exercising that same caution around railroad tracks and crossing as drivers and pedestrians is something too many people don’t even think of,” Ragan said.

Terry Ludban , a former locomotive engineer and CSX’s Railroad Director of Community Affairs and Safety, said the sponsorship gave the company “a vehicle to get that message out to literally millions of people that we don’t have access to.”

And that message will be plastered all over Ragan’s car. In addition to the hood of signed safety pledges, the No. 34 Ford will feature the “I brake for trains” bumper sticker, which will also be available to fans Saturday at Richmond International Raceway.

Follow Ellen J. Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — Danica Patrick won’t back down.

One week after venting about fellow driver David Gilliland’s driving on her team radio during the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, Patrick hasn’t abandoned her assertion that Gilliland doesn’t race her the way he races against everyone else.

“I watched him move over and let someone by, so no, I don’t think he does and that’s what makes me mad,” Patrick said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “I think he’s getting more attention for this than he deserves.”

Patrick could be heard on her team radio Sunday complaining about how Gilliland tries to take her out all the time. She asked her team to deliver a message: “Tell his spotter that I’m coming after him if he does it again.”

Gilliland gave a four-word response to Patrick through a team spokesman after the Kansas race: “Shut up and race.”

Patrick was particularly annoyed by how aggressively Gilliland raced her last Sunday, but the flare-up in Kansas wasn’t the first time that Gilliland has left Patrick feeling frustrated.

“I’ve felt like he drives very aggressively against me from Darlington last year on,” she said. “It was just a lot more of it last weekend. … He was just driving in a way that I didn’t think was appropriate, and I haven’t thought it was appropriate for a long time.”

Patrick will be racing a Sprint Cup car at Richmond for the first time Saturday night, but she hopes to parlay her success from two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway — NASCAR’s shortest track at .526 miles — to the .75-mile track at Richmond.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming to Richmond,” Patrick said. “I’ve enjoyed racing IndyCars here and I liked driving the Nationwide car, even though we haven’t had the greatest results. There seems to be some similarities between Martinsville and here, so we’re hoping that translates.”

Patrick finished 12th at Martinsville, her second-best finish of the year after a career-best eighth in the Daytona 500.

Follow Ellen J. Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — Danica Patrick is still aggravated by David Gilliland’s driving style and she’s not shy about admitting it.

One week after venting about Gilliland’s driving on her team radio during the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, Patrick hasn’t abandoned her assertion that Gilliland doesn’t race her the way he races against everyone else.

“I watched him move over and let someone by, so no, I don’t think he does and that’s what makes me mad,” Patrick said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “I think he’s getting more attention for this than he deserves.”

But Gilliland doesn’t expect any retaliation on track Saturday night. Gilliland said they discussed their issues before practice Friday consider the matter closed.

“I talked to her a little bit this morning and we’re all good,” Gilliland said. “I feel like it’s maybe just a respect thing between the two of us, and we talked about it and feel like we’re on track to race each other the way we need to.”

Patrick could be heard on her team radio Sunday complaining about how Gilliland tries to take her out all the time. She asked her team to deliver a message: “Tell his spotter that I’m coming after him if he does it again.”

Gilliland gave a four-word response to Patrick through a team spokesman after the Kansas race: “Shut up and race.”

Patrick was particularly annoyed by how aggressively Gilliland raced her last Sunday, but the flare-up in Kansas wasn’t the first time that Gilliland has left Patrick feeling frustrated.

“I’ve felt like he drives very aggressively against me from Darlington last year on,” she said. “It was just a lot more of it last weekend. … He was just driving in a way that I didn’t think was appropriate, and I haven’t thought it was appropriate for a long time.”

Patrick will be racing a Sprint Cup car at Richmond for the first time Saturday night, but she hopes to parlay her success from two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway — NASCAR’s shortest track at .526 miles — to the .75-mile track at Richmond.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming to Richmond,” Patrick said. “I’ve enjoyed racing IndyCars here and I liked driving the Nationwide car, even though we haven’t had the greatest results. There seems to be some similarities between Martinsville and here, so we’re hoping that translates.”

Patrick finished 12th at Martinsville, her second-best finish of the year after a career-best eighth in the Daytona 500.

Follow Ellen J. Horrow on Twitter @EllenJHorrow

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.