Harvick by a nose in crazy Daytona finish.

Kevin Harvick pulled off one of the most dramatic Daytona 500 victories in the 49-year history of NASCAR's biggest race, passing sentimental favourite Mark Martin just yards from the flag as everyone else crashed behind them.

Harvick was able to get his #29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet alongside Martin in turns three and four on the final lap of a green-white-chequered flag overtime finish, out-dragging Martin to the finish line by less than the width of his front bumper.

Not only was the winning margin one of the narrowest in Daytona 500 history, the final lap will also go down as the craziest in '500 folklore as virtually every one else behind the front two wiped each other out coming out of the final corner.

Harvick, who started the 202nd and final lap from outside the top five, crucially chose to break to the outside groove as Martin doggedly clung to the low line in an effort to hold off the stronger cars of Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle. As the field roared down the backstretch for the final time, Harvick also received a huge bump draft from Matt Kenseth while Busch lost momentum with an unsuccessful lunge on Martin.

With Busch bobbling entering turn three Martin seemed to have the race in the bag but such was the momentum gained by Harvick that the two leaders were neck and neck as they came off turn four. With that elusive Daytona win almost in his grasp Martin still kept his nose ahead as he and Harvick entered the tri-oval but in a fashion reminiscent of his first Cup Series win in Atlanta in March 2001 Harvick was able to use the extra momentum of the high groove to nose ahead in the last 200 yards and score his first '500 victory on the sixth anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death.

Behind the front two all hell broke loose as Busch and Matt Kenseth made contact whilst battling for third place coming off the final corner triggering a crash that wiped out nearly everyone following them. Harvick's RCR teammate Jeff Burton somehow managed to squeeze through the melee to take third spot with Mike Wallace and David Ragan virtually the only other 'survivors' in fourth and fifth.

The race had looked so much different with 50 laps to go than the final results sheets suggest with the opening three quarters of the event dominated by Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. Bud Shootout winner Stewart made his intentions known early on as he battled polesitter David Gilliland and then the elder of the Busch brothers for top spot with typical Stewart aggression.

Kurt Busch moved into the lead thanks to a quick first pitstop, which occurred after Boris Said's lap 16 spin and the driver of the #2 Penske Racing Dodge resolutely defended his line against Stewart, who finally took the lead during the second round of stops, which took place under green flag conditions.

Stewart held the lead until the round of pitstops that followed the second caution of a bright, breezy but chilly afternoon at the 80-lap mark. First Stewart ran over some debris after Kyle Petty's spectacular tyre failure and then stalled his car whilst trying to leave pit road. Then Stewart was further delayed when Gilliland and Robby Gordon collided directly in front of him on pit road before suffering his fourth slice of bad luck when he exceeded the pitlane speed limit. As a result Stewart was forced to take the restart in 40th position with a car that had some slight cosmetic damage.

As Busch continued to lead, ably supported by his younger brother, Stewart began the arduous fight back to the front of the field, which took longer than the driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet had anticipated as his car developed a tight condition in traffic.

A lengthy green flag run following the lap 85 restart allowed Stewart to get back on terms with the leaders and, after a protracted battle with both Busch brothers, Stewart finally forged ahead again on lap 149.

With the two best cars in the race running 1-2, the final 50 laps looked to be a straight fight between the #20 and the #2 until disaster struck on lap 153 when Stewart touched the inside apron in turn three and slowed momentarily. With Busch following just inches behind contact was inevitable, the net result being both cars making hard contact with the outside wall sustaining terminal damage.

The race now opened up significantly with DEI's Martin Truex Jr assuming the lead following the resulting round of yellow flag pitstops. Truex Jr held Mark Martin at bay for several laps until Matt Kenseth swept into the lead on lap 170, three laps before defending series and Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson lost control of his #48 Hendrick Chevrolet and slapped the back straight wall. Johnson then collected Jeff Green, Denny Hamlin, Tony Raines and David Reutimann to bring out the fifth caution flag, sending everyone to the pits for what could have been the last time.

It was here that Martin's #01 Ginn Racing crew pulled their masterstroke, giving their new driver just two fresh tyres to send him out in the lead. Martin held the lead on the restart, which only lasted three laps until the caution was out again, this time for a crash involving Carl Edwards, Dave Blaney, Ken Schrader and Clint Bowyer that saw Blaney careering down pit road at full pelt before sliding back onto the track straight into Schrader and Bowyer.

Greg Biffle, Martin's former teammate in the renamed Roush-Fenway Racing team, now emerged as Martin's closest threat when the green flag waved with eleven laps to go but Biffle could not stop the advancing Kyle Busch from taking second spot. Once in second Busch wasted no time in trying to pass Martin and forced the veteran driver to pull out all the defensive stops as the race entered its final ten tours.

With five laps to go the yellow flags were out again after Kenseth tapped Roush teammate Jamie McMurray into a spin coming off turn two. Several drivers including Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt Jr were caught up in the aftermath and NASCAR elected to red flag the race for a green-white-chequered finish.

Busch remained Martin's closest challenger for the final restart and had the faster car but Martin simply refused to budge, making Busch go for the kind of moves that eventually resulted in him losing that all-important momentum going down the back straight for the final time.

Coming off the final turn third place still looked possible for Busch, who would have acted as the perfect pusher for Martin on the run to the chequered flag but Busch's car was unsettled and he slewed sideways into the rapidly advancing Kenseth to trigger the biggest last lap crash in Daytona history.

As Harvick proceeded to break the hearts of every Mark Martin fan in the 200,000 strong grandstands and the millions of TV viewers at home, Burton, Wallace and Ragan crept through the carnage to complete the top five with the first of the cars damaged by Kenseth and Busch's spinning machines, Elliott Sadler, coming home in sixth.

Sadler's Evernham Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne also sustained minimal damage and crossed the line in seventh place with poleman Gilliland bulldozing his way through Kenseth's car to take eighth. Joe Nemechek and David Stremme also received only light damage and rounded out the top ten with JJ Yeley and Jeff Gordon completing the top 12 somewhere in the infield grass.

Every other finisher was involved in the carnage with Bowyer crossing the finish line upside down and on fire for 18th position and Juan Montoya taking a solid 19th place on his Daytona debut despite being sideswiped just before the chequered flag. Dale Jarrett was the top Toyota finisher in 23rd spot, one place ahead of Busch and three places in front of Kenseth. Earnhardt Jr was classified 32nd with Johnson 39th and Stewart 42nd.

Despite enjoying one of the most emotional triumphs of his career, Harvick won't have long to party before the Cup Series heads west to California for next weekend's event in Fontana where another 42 rivals will be looking to dethrone him.