News » ." Busch was trying to win a Nationwide event

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kevin Harvick kept waiting for Kyle Busch to get physical on the final lap. That moment never came. "I was prepared to get hit," Harvick said. "Its the last lap, and thats what youre supposed to do. Kyle Busch isnt my favourite person, but I enjoy racing him." Harvick raced to his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year and 40th overall, holding off Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Harvick pulled ahead of Busch on the 60th lap and led 132 of the 195 laps. Busch had won six of the previous Nationwide events this year in which he also won the pole. Sam Hornish Jr. was third, followed by Kasey Kahne, rookie Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Austin Dillon, Regan Smith and Brian Scott. On the final lap, Harvick expected that Busch would "bomb it in" for a collision in the middle of the track between Turns 1 and 2, so he hit the brakes in hopes of getting hit squarely enough to hold the car tight and keep the lead. Busch, though, decided to stay clean. "I try not to do those things although my reputation doesnt really perceive it that way," Busch said. "So, I essentially screwed up. If I would have went to the middle again, I probably could have made up ground on him and tried something in (Turn) 3. You live and learn. You learn for tomorrow." The victory marked a redemption of sorts for Harvick, who lost the lead on the final lap last year in the Nationwide event at Atlanta when Brad Keselowski bumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the front straightaway and Stenhouse went ahead for good in Turn 3. Harvick finished third last year. He has made seven starts this year, and hasnt finished lower than fifth in his last six events. Harvick accused Stenhouse last year of throwing a water bottle out of his car to cause a late caution. With that bitter memory in mind, Harvick crew chief Ernie Cope made sure to save a fresh set of tires in case of another late caution. When Jeff Green crashed into the outside wall on lap 182, causing the fourth and final caution that allowed the leaders to change tires, Copes strategy paid off. "If the caution comes out and youve got more than three laps on your tires, youre probably going to put them on," Cope said. "The tires are just huge. At this place, they fall off big time. We had two sets to go, and we pitted with 50 to go. We couldve made it on gas, but if we pitted again we were going to put them on." When the race restarted, Busch moved past Kahne and was side by side with Harvick with six laps to go. Busch was a single car length back with three laps to go, but Harvick wouldnt let him get low and never relinquished the lead. "There at the end we were a touch too tight, but we were in control of the race from the restart and able to control the bottom and do what we needed to do," Harvick said. "He had a great car on long runs." Busch was trying to win a Nationwide event at Atlanta for the first time. He has won one Sprint Cup race and four Truck races, but now has five runner-up Nationwide finishes at Atlanta. Busch has nine Nationwide victories this year. "For the last restart, we even made changes to free up our race car, and it just wasnt enough," Busch said. "It was too tight, even there, to make any runs on the outside of Kevin. I had one run on him through 1 and 2 and he blocked me up to the fence. I had to lift so I didnt wreck. But it is what it is. Its just racing, I guess." In the Nationwide points race, series leader Hornish moved 10 points ahead of Dillon. Derwin James Chargers Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Kellen Winslow Chargers Jersey . -- Billy Donovans bench came up big, bailing out top-seeded Florida in a tight game against what was supposed to be an overmatched opponent. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-lance-alworth-jersey.html . A player confirmed to TSN on the condition of anonymity that he received his ballot yesterday. Another confirms hes been told to expect his shortly. "The unions executive committee insists a strike vote does not mean were pushing away from the table," the player said. "But we want the league to know were serious about our position. Nasir Adderley Youth Jersey . -- Jesse Lussier scored 8:24 into overtime as the Halifax Mooseheads erased a four-goal deficit to beat the host Val-dOr Foreurs 6-5 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. Melvin Gordon III Jersey . - Dolphins safety Louis Delmas has been carted off the field with a right knee injury against the Ravens.WASHINGTON -- Every point matters more than ever to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, who are part of a logjam in the Eastern Conference -- and on the outside of the playoff race, looking in, at the moment. So blowing two-goal leads, as the Capitals tend to do, and losing key players such as centre Nicklas Backstrom to injury are not exactly what they want. All of those bad things happened to the Capitals in a 5-4 shootout loss Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, who came back after Ovechkin scored two early power-play goals. "Obviously, you miss Backy, but every team has guys that go out," said Capitals coach Adam Oates, who would only say that Backstrom has an upper-body injury. "Youve got 19 other guys that have got to do the job. Weve got plenty of guys that can do the job." Also "being evaluated," as Oates put it, after the game was defenceman Jack Hillen, who was involved in a scary moment halfway through overtime, colliding with Ovechkin at centre ice. Hillens helmet slammed into Ovechkins chest, and the game was put on hold for a bit. Ovechkin got the wind knocked out of him and took a knee, but returned to the game. Hillen got the worst of the impact and remained face-down on the ice while a trainer checked on him. Washington is ninth in the East, one spot out of the playoffs based on tiebreakers, even though it is one of four teams with 80 points, alongside No. 7 Columbus, No. 8 Detroit and No. 10 Toronto. The Capitals have nine games left, starting Saturday at home against Boston. So among the Capitals, there was a mix of relief at the idea of picking up one point against Los Angeles -- and disappointment at failing to get two after leading 2-0 thanks to Ovechkin before the game was 7 1/2 minutes old, and then being ahead 3-1 entering the third period. "Theres no excuse. We have to find a way to win when we are up two goals," Washington forward Marcus Johansson said. "It hurts a lot. You never know when it comes down to it -- in or out (of the playoffs) by one poinnt.dddddddddddd" Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored in the shootout for the Kings, and goalie Jonathan Quick caught Eric Fehrs attempt after rookie forward Evgeny Kuznetsov whiffed on Washingtons opening shot. Kuznetsov had tied the wild, back-and-forth game with 41.5 seconds left in regulation on his first NHL goal, a short-hander that came when he reached in to knock home a loose puck after it trickled through Quicks pads on Ovechkins shot. Plenty of fans thought Ovechkin was responsible for his third goal of the night, and they tossed their hats onto the ice. But his total stayed at a league-leading 48. While Kuznetsovs goal got the crowd excited, in the end, the Kings wound up winning their seventh consecutive road game and their fourth game in a row overall. They began Tuesday sixth in the West, and their playoff status is looking a lot more secure than Washingtons. Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter wasnt pleased with the way his team started Tuesday. But he liked the way his players turned things around. "We just kind of hung in there," Sutter said. Mike Richards, Dwight King, Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings in regulation. The most important goal might have been Kings, which came 45 seconds into the third period and pulled Los Angeles within 3-2. "The boys stuck together, stuck with it," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "We knew the whole time we were going to get back in that game." NOTES: LW Dustin Penner netted his first goal for the Capitals since arriving from Anaheim at the trade deadline. ... The Kings have seven victories in a row over Washington. ... Midway through the second period, Capitals F Troy Brouwer and Kings D Willie Mitchell were both called for penalties after a skirmish in front of Quicks net. Brouwer stayed down on the ice for a bit, then was helped up and led to the locker room. It wasnt immediately clear what was wrong. ... The Kings record is eight straight road wins, in the 1974-75 season. ' ' '