As the Toyota Owners 400 was drawing to a close, it looked like Kevin Harvick would catch Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead, making for a thrilling battle between them. However, all heck broke loose when a caution would come out with six laps to go when Brian Vickers would get into the wall.

Under the caution, both Harvick and Montoya would make their way down pit road for tires, with most of the lead lap cars, while three cars stayed out. Jeff Burton would take over the lead on old tires, followed by Jamie McMurray and A.J. Allmendinger. Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart took two tires to restart fourth and fifth, followed by Montoya and Harvick who took four tires.

Burton would get a good restart with Allmendinger trying to do a three-wide dive move for the lead, however as a result that bottled up the field. In the mess of three-wide passes down the backstretch, Harvick would make his way through the field to take the lead from Burton through turns three and four coming to the white flag.

Harvick would lead the final lap to pick up his 20th career victory and his first of 2013.

“I just want to thank everyone for their support,” Harvick said. “It’s been a tough start to the season. The cars have been really fast. A lot of people thought we’d lay down this year, but there’s no laying down with us.”

Harvick announced before the season started that he would be moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. A lot of people believed that Harvick would be put in the “lame duck scenario” at Richard Childress Racing, not performing well all year.

“It all worked out,” Harvick continued. “Sprint Cup racing is something that you need to take chances. The guys that stayed out took chances. We took a chance by pitting. We’ve been beat by tires this year so we made the call to come down pit road and Gil made a good call.”

Clint Bowyer would slice his way through the field to finish second for his fifth top 10 of the season. Joey Logano finished third for his second top 10 in nine starts at Richmond.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who was on the hunt for his first NASCAR victory, would finish fourth with Jeff Burton rounding out the top five.

“We made the right call when we pitted and when we stayed out and we got the caution at the end. It was no brainer to take tires,” Montoya commented afterwards. “I think it hurt us that we restart on the outside and when you restart there, it just gets packed up. When you start on the outside, where can you go out there? we just got to be happy with this finish after the last couple of weeks.”

Carl Edwards finished sixth, followed by pole sitter Matt Kenseth, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Following the race, Kurt Busch would make contact with Matt Kenseth as he did not agree with Kenseth pushing him out of the way for seventh on the last lap. Then, Stewart would push Busch up into the outside wall following the race after contact on the restart. The pair would have a discussion in the pits afterwards.

“For us, this was a solid run,” Busch said of his ninth place finish. “We were there. Some guys cycled ahead of us, we were able to get by them but all in all, it’s a great top five night for us. You could just tell.

“Green white checkered, some guys took tires, some didn’t, it’s just a free for all. I don’t know what the 14 (Stewart) was upset about. I got hit form the side, from behind. I got hit, he got hit. Kenseth got into me there at the end so that’s why I wasn’t happy with him.”

Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished 12th after being involved in a wreck with Stewart with 74 laps to go. Stewart would get loose underneath Johnson, causing both cars to spin. Kyle Busch would have no where to go, making contact with Johnson. Busch finished 24th. Johnson now leads Edwards by 43 points.

The 400 lap race on the short track would see a total of 11 cautions throughout the evening.

Josh Wise brought out the first caution on lap 45 after he went for a spin due to contact from David Gilliland. Wise finished 28th.

Marcos Ambrose would not have a good night as he would have engine problems on lap 111 for the second caution. He finished 42nd. Ambrose wasn’t the only driver with motor problems as Michael McDowell would drop some fluid on the track for the third caution on lap 145. McDowell finished 41st.

Defending series champion Brad Keselowski would bring out the fourth caution after he got into the outside wall with a flat tire. He would later be blackflagged for not meeting minimum speed after losing a cylinder. He finished 33rd.

Greg Biffle would bring out the fifth caution with a spin due to getting loose off turn four on lap 232. He finished 36th.

Travis Kvapil was the reason for the sixth caution with 109 laps to go due to hitting the wall. He would then bring out the seventh caution with 93 laps to go for being slow on the apron. Kvapil ended up 37th.

The ninth caution came out with 63 laps to go after Mark Martin got loose and got into Kasey Kahne, causing them both to spin. Vickers then made heavy contact with Martin. Martin finished 38th while Kahne finished 21st and Vickers finished 35th.

Truex Jr. would bring the 10th caution out with 56 laps to go after going for a spin while battling for second with Kurt Busch.

With late race pit stops and a late green white checkered, Kevin Harvick would go from seventh to first on the final restart to take the victory in the Toyota Owners 400.

Lap 1 Kenseth leads off turn two

Lap 4 Kenseth leads Gordon Vickers Bowyer Kahne Logano Truex Montoya Busch Martin

Lap 6 Busch passes Montoya

Lap 13 Bowyer passes Vickers

Lap 16 Kahne passes Vickers

Lap 22 Kenseth leads Bowyer Kahne Vickers Logano Truex Busch Montoya Gordon Martin

Lap 25 Martin passes Gordon

Lap 26 Ambrose passes Gordon

Lap 32 Truex and Busch pass Logano

Lap 33 Montoya passes Logano

Caution lap 45 Joh Wise goes around after contact from Cassill. Wise was trying to dive underneath Gilliland. Leaders hit pit road. Kenseth leads Bowyer Vickers Montoya Truex Logano Kahne KuBusch Ky Busch. Reuitmann gets the lucky dog

Restart lap 47 Kenseth pulls ahead of field once again going into turn one and two.

Lap 49 Kenseth leads Vickers Truex Bowyer Montoya Kahne KyBusch Ku Busch Logano Martin

Lap 52 KyBusch passes Kahne

Lap 55 KuBusch passes Kahne

Lap 74 Kenseth leads Vickers Truex

Lap 77 Kenseth leads Vickers Truex Bowyer Montoya KyBusch KuBusch Kahne Logano Martin

Lap 95 Kahne passes KuBusch; Johnson and Martin pass Logano

Lap 98 Kenseth leads Vickers Truex Bowyer Montoya KyBusch Kahne KuBusch Johnson Martin

Lap 101 Kahne passes KyBusch

Lap 102 KuBusch and Johnson pass KyBusch

Caution Lap 111 Marcos Ambrose slowed on the backstretch due to lack of oil pressure. Leaders head down pit road. Bowyer leads Vickers Kenseth Johnson Montoya Truex KuBusch off pit road.

Restart lap 116 Bowyer gets the jump on the restart on the field, ahead of Kenseth and Vickers

Lap 118 Bowyer leads Kenseth Vickers Montoya KuBusch Johnson Truex Keselowski Martin Harvick

Lap 133 Bowyer leads Kenseth Montoya Vickers Johnson KuBusch

Lap 136 Bowyer leads Kenseth Montoya Vickers Johnson KuBusch Truex Keselowski Martin Harvick

Lap 141 Johnson and KuBusch pass Vickers

Caution lap 145 debris as fluid suspected due to Michael McDowell having problems. Bowyer leads Kenseth Montoya off pit road. Reuitmann gets the lucky dog.

Restart lap 154 Bowyer gets away on the restart

Lap 157 Bowyer Kenseth Montoya KuBusch Johnson Martin KyBusch Vickers Harvick Truex

Caution lap 158 Keselowski hits the wall in turn two. “Got a flat or something down the straightaway.” Vickers pits with Kahne, Stewart, Gordon, Stenhouse among others. Leaders stay out.

Restart lap 168 Bowyer pulls ahead of Kenseth on the restart

Lap 170 Bowyer leads Kenseth KuBusch Montoya Johnson KyBusch Harvick Martin Truex Logano

Lap 184 McMurray passes Logano

Lap 186 McMurray passes Truex

Lap 208 Bowyer leads Kenseth KuBusch Johnson KyBusch Montoya McMuray Harvick Martin Edwards

Lap 215 Edwards passes Martin

Lap 216 McMurray passes Montoya

Lap 217 Bowyer leads Kenseth KuBusch Johnson KyBusch McMurray Montoya Harvick Edwards Martin

Lap 219 Kenseth passes Bowyer for the lead

Lap 229 Kenseth leads KuBusch Johnson KyBusch Bowyer McMurray Montoya Edwards Harvick Martin

Lap 231 Edwards passes Montoya

Caution lap 232 Biffle goes for the spin after getting loose off turn four. Leaders hit pit road. Kenseth leads KuBusch KyBusch Johnson Bowyer McMurray Edwards

Restart lap 240 Kenseth pulls ahead of the Busch brothers through turns one and two

Lap 243 Kenseth leads KyBusch KuBusch Bowyer Johnson Edwards

Lap 245 Kenseth leads KyBusch KuBusch Bowyer Johnson Edwards Montoya Martin Keselowski Stewart

Lap 250 Harvick passed Stewart

Lap 251 Edwards passes Johnson

Lap 254 Busch looking for the lead by Kenseth, takes it going into turn three

Lap 255 KyBusch leads Kenseth KuBusch Bowyer Edwards Johnson Montoya Martin Keselowski Harvick

Lap 267 KyBusch leads KuBusch Kenseth Edwards Bowyer Montoya Johnson Martin Keselowski Harvick

120 to go KyBusch leads KuBusch Edwards Bowyer Montoya Kenseth Johnson Martin Keselowski Harvick

110 to go Keselowski goes to pit road with a vibration.

Caution 109 to go Travis Kvapil hits the wall. Leaders hit pit road. KuBusch leads KyBusch Edwards Kenseth Bowyer Montoya Johnson off pit road.

Restart 105 to go Ku Busch gets the jump on the restart on Kyle Busch while Carl Edwards jumps into second

101 to go KuBusch leads Edwards KyBusch Bowyer Johnson Harvick Kenseth Martin Montoya Stewart

98 to go Edwards and KuBusch battle for the lead as Johnson passes Bowyer

96 to go KuBusch leads Edwards KyBusch Johnson Bowyer Harvick Kenseth Martin Montoya Truex

Caution 93 to go Kvapil slow on the apron. Leaders hit pit road. Some took two tires, some took four tires. Commitment violation on Busch Vickers and Cassil. NASCAR changes mind on Kyle Busch penalty with regards to the line.

Restart 80 to go Kurt Busch and Edwards go into one side-by-side and Busch comes off turn two with the lead.

74 to go KuBusch leads Edwards Kenseth…..Stewart and Johnson go around, Busch collected for the caution. Stewart gets loose and slides up to Johnson and Busch no where to go, hits Johnson. Some of the leaders pit, others stay out. Busch leads Edwards Kenseth Earnhardt Bowyer off pit road. Top six drivers stayed out.

Restart 66 to go Montoya gets the jump on the restart ahead of Harvick and Truex

64 to go Montoya leads Harvick Truex Keselowski KuBusch Kenseth Bowyer Martin Logano Burton

63 to go Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne wreck on the backstretch. Mark got loose, Kahne underneath caused contact and both spun, Vickers hits Martin. Kyle Busch gets the lucky dog. Harvick gives up second spot to pit.

Restart 57 to go Montoya leads the field off turn two ahead of Truex

Caution 56 to go Truex goes for the spin after closing the door on KuBusch in a battle for second behind Montoya. “I was giving him the bottom; I guess he was just being impatient.” Truex on KuBusch

Restart 51 to go Montoya gets the jump on the restart

49 to go Montoya leads KuBusch Kenseth Bowyer Logano Almirola Gordon Harvick Edwards Keselowski

42 to go Montoya leads KuBusch Kenseth Bowyer Logano Harvick Almirola Gordon Edwards Keselowski

40 to go Harvick passes Logano for fifth

38 to go Harvick passes Bowyer for fourth

36 to go Harvick passes Kenseth for third

30 to go Bowyer passes Kenseth for fourth

23 to go Keselowski falls out of the top 20 as he is off the pace. He has dropped a cylinder.

22 to go Montoya leads KuBusch Harvick Bowyer Kenseth Logano Almirola Burton Gordon Edwards

Keselowski is given the blackflag due to not reaching minimum speed with being down 7 cylinders. 21 to go Montoya leads Kurt Busch & Harvick

19 to go Harvick passes Kurt Busch for second.

14 to go Montoya leads Harvick KuBusch Bowyer Kenseth Logano Burton Almirola Edwards McMurray

Caution 6 to go Vickers gets into the wall. Leaders head down pit road. Edwards leads Stewart Montoya Harvick Kenseth off pit road. Burton stays out to take the lead.

Restart Burton gets the restart Dinger goes for the dive but misses harvick makes his way around them and makes the pass on Burton for the lead.

White flag.

Kevin Harvick takes the win.