RaceBeat by Rich Romer

NASCAR Winston Cup: An aggressive move by Kevin Harvick set the stage for his first win in a year. It also brought a new round of criticism for NASCAR's bad boy, but not before a late-race gamble on gas by crew chief Gil Martin paid off. Harvick was told to stay on the track while most of the other leaders pitted, but that earned him a victory in the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The hard-charging Harvick listened to his crew chief and barely made it. He had to walk to victory lane after running out of gas as he tried to do some celebratory tire-smoking doughnuts.

Harvick's big break came on the 197th of 267 laps when he dived to the bottom of the slightly banked track on the main straightaway trying to pass Kurt Busch. Harvick wound up losing control and skidded through the paved apron area below the white line in the first turn. On some tracks, that is considered out of bounds. Not at Chicagoland. Harvick was able to regain control and pit after several drivers, including Jimmy Spencer, spun or crashed in his wake. That allowed Harvick to make what turned out to be his final pit stop with 68 laps remaining. Jeff Gordon, who also stayed on the track during the last round of stops and finished second, called Harvick's move onto the apron "stupid.'' The victory that ended a season-long slump would not have been possible if Martin hadn't taken his gamble during the last of seven caution flags.

Sterlin Marlin wound up 16th, the first car a lap down, while Martin was ninth, cutting the lead to 49 points. Johnson trails by 89, Gordon by 95 and Stewart by 157 at the halfway point of the 36-race season.

NASCAR Busch Grand National Series: Johnny Sauter went 112 miles between pit stops Saturday and outran pole-sitter Todd Bodine following a red-flag restart to take the NASCAR Busch series Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Sauter last pitted on lap 125 for fuel and four tires, along with Bodine and Joe Nemechek. The gamble paid off with the trio able to maintain track position when the race was stopped on lap 195 after Kasey Kahne crashed in turn 4. Bodine finished second, followed by Jeff Burton, who had the fastest car most of the day, and Nemechek. The caution came after many of the early contenders had made final pit stops under green to take fuel. NASCAR officials stopped the field on the backstretch for five minutes, setting up the dash to the finish. Points leader Greg Biffle was one those who pitted and found himself a lap down. He finished eighth and padded his points lead to 47 over Jason Keller and 150 over Jack Sprague. Biffle had to start from the back of the 43-car field because he changed engines after Friday's qualifying. The race was punctuated by numerous caution periods at the 2-year-old speedway, including a crash on lap 125 when Scott Riggs hit the wall on the backstretch on the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Riggs, who had led 50 laps of the race, was taken to a Joliet hospital, complaining of sore ribs. It was Sauter's third top-10 finish of the year and his first career victory.

Earlier this season he finished third at Las Vegas and sixth last week at Daytona. Burton was dominant through the first and third legs of the race, but became a victim of fuel mileage and was forced to give up the lead and pit. The crashes caused more than damaged equipment, causing a shuffle in the points standings. The biggest winners were Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Randy Lajoie.