Jarrett wins Budweiser Shootout.

Dale Jarrett used a final-lap pass of Kevin Harvick and a hefty push from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win his third Budweiser Shootout Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Jarrett's last-lap pass capped a thrilling six-lap sprint to the finish after a red-flag period stopped the action for approximately 15 minutes to repair a gate that had been damaged in a multi-car crash.

Reflecting on that pass, DJ, said: "I saw as we took off I was able to get by a few cars and I saw the outside line was really going. Once Rusty pulled down that left me out there, but I knew I had Junior behind me and I knew he was wanting to go to the front so he wasn't gonna leave me. He didn't really have anywhere to go, so I just decided to stay there. I knew I could run wide open.

"The places that Junior was hitting me were the right places to really give me that push. The young man can drive and, again, he had a fast car but we had a fast car too. It's fun to get back to Victory Lane."

Dale Jr. and the #8 Budweiser team finished second, while Harvick was third.

"I did all I could to push him [Jarrett] to the front," added Dale Jr. "I pushed as hard as I could, and then once he was in the lead, it was his job to hold me off. He's been a good friend to me on and off the track, so if I can't win, I'm happy he could win it, and that I could help him win. You don't win these races alone, and at least I played a role, ya know?

"The top line was where it's at. If you were on the inside lane, you were really crowded with no room for error, but the outside was good. You have a lotta room to work up there. I was in the outside line at the end, but I just wasn't leading. Maybe one more lap and we coulda had him.

"There was a lot of pushing and shoving and a lot of blocking and weaving around, so it was pretty exciting out there. Some of the guys ended up in the fence, and some of them crashed their cars up a little bit. Once you weed them guys out, you could get up there and have some pretty civilized racing."

Jarrett has now won the Budweiser Shootout three times, more than any driver except the late Dale Earnhardt, who won the season-opening all-star race six times.

Dale Jr., who earned $113,000 for the second-place finish, has now finished sixth, second, first and second in four Shootout starts.