Kevin Harvick wins NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan

He already had horsepower, handling and the points lead. Now Kevin Harvick has a win this season at a track other than Talladega or Daytona.

Harvick passed Denny Hamlin with 11 laps to go Sunday, then held on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

It’s yet another sign that Richard Childress Racing is back after a disappointing 2009, and Harvick is the championship favorite with three races left before the Chase for the Cup begins.

“Everybody was embarrassed last year, and we’ve really been running pretty well since probably the last six or eight weeks of last year,” said Harvick, who clinched a spot in the 10-race Chase. “It didn’t just happen today.”

Harvick’s No. 29 team gambled by staying on the track instead of making a pit stop during a late caution. It paid off with Harvick’s third win of the season and his first this year on a non-restrictor-plate track.

The victory was another significant step in the resurgence of Richard Childress Racing — and it came at a track where RCR typically hasn’t been very strong.

“Somebody’s got to beat Jimmie [Johnson] this year, and it might as well be RCR,” Childress said.

Hamlin finished second, followed by Roush Fenway Racing drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth.

Team owner Jack Roush was back at the track this weekend, days after his release from a hospital where he was treated for serious injuries suffered in a plane crash.

“It’s great,” Edwards said. “We really wanted to get a win for him today, but that’s a strong performance for us.”

Edwards has finished seventh or better in six consecutive races, and he likes his chances going into the Chase. But nobody has been as consistent as Harvick this season.

“I really don’t see how he can’t be, really, the favorite going into it,” Hamlin said.

Ryan Newman and Joey Logano tangled on the track, then had to be separated by NASCAR officials after the race.

“He races me way too hard; he races everybody too hard,” Logano said. “I’m not the only one that complains about it every week.”

Newman was not available for comment.

Etc.

Top-fuel points leader Larry Dixon remained perfect in final-round appearances in 2010 with his victory at the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd, Minn. Bob Bode won in funny car, Jeg Coughlin won the pro stock title and Andrew Hines won the pro stock motorcycle title.