Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 13th Annual Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 6, 2013
Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

On paper the race may seem a clean-cut day for Kevin Harvick on Sunday at Kansas Speedway, but in reality, the paper is a bit deceiving.

Harvick started the race out front and finished there too, but he was challenged to remain on his game throughout the many restarts which could have meant trouble for the No.29 team. Harvick may have earned the win, but the biggest story of the day was a shift in Sprint Cup challengers at the top. Kansas was filled with chaos and to top all of that off, one of the top championship contenders, Kyle Busch, was caught up in a wreck that may have wiped his shot at the title away.

The craziness that went on throughout the day started right at the beginning of the race. On lap one in turn one, a multi-car wreck tore up the cars of Danica Patrick and David Reutimann. Patrick was loose heading into the turn and she slid down into Reutimann and then back up into Cole Whitt. Patrick then went nose-first into the outside wall on a hard impact which destroyed her car. Kyle Busch saw this mess unfold in front of him and  had to spin through the grass to avoid having his day ended before it even really got started.

Jimmie Johnson was able to get around the dominant Harvick to take the lead on lap 83. A debris caution came out four laps later and it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. getting off of pit road first to take the lead. Like Johnson’s time out front, Earnhardt Jr.’s didn’t last long either with Matt Kenseth taking over the top spot on the restart.

Kansas claimed its first Chase victim during the sixth caution of the afternoon on lap 136 when Justin Allgaier over corrected his car off of turn two and took a hard impact into the outside wall, then slid down the track and collected Chaser, Ryan Newman. The side of Newman’s car sustained heavy damage putting him back in the garage.

Trouble struck for points leader Matt Kenseth under the yellow when he was caught speeding on his exit from pit road. His teammate, Kyle Busch, along with Kevin Harvick stayed out under the caution and the two took over the top two spots. Harvick was able to hold the lead from the drivers who pitted.

One of the strangest cautions of the day came out on lap 155 when heavy smoke was coming from atop the hill in turn one. A brush fire apparently started and its smoke was limiting the drivers’ vision heading off into the first turn. Once the smoke settled, Logano became the new leader on the restart.

Kyle Busch’s day took a bad turn once the race entered its last 100 circuits. He had been doing a good job of staying out of trouble all day, but trouble found him twice in less than twenty laps. The first incident occurred with 81 laps remaining when Juan Pablo Montoya turned Busch when the two were racing on the frontstretch. Busch slid down and back up the track and a swerve by Mark Martin kept Busch’s car damage-free. Martin made slight contact with the wall.

Then with 68 laps to go, the 13^th caution of the day was for Busch yet again. He was racing three-wide going down into turn one and a Carl Edwards bobble sent Busch down into Brian Vickers and then back into the outside wall with a hard impact. The No.18 car was destroyed and for the most part, so was his shot at the championship. Busch wasn’t pleased as he fell victim to Kansas once again.

Harvick found his way back to the front with 44 laps left to run. He led until the 14^th caution of the day brought everyone down pit road and Jeff Burton made it off first. Harvick didn’t wait long to take the spot back as he did so soon after the restart. The 15^th and last yellow flag of the day came with 24 laps remaining when Brian Vickers got loose in turn two and went nose first into the outside wall. The impact lifted the No.55 off the ground and destroyed the race car.

The action settled down following that wreck and it was clean sailing to the finish for Harvick. He faced no challenge in the closing laps as he made his name in the championship hunt clear when he crossed the finish line first.

In a day where one contender basically had his name taken out of the hunt, another emerged. Kevin Harvick had been consistent through the first three Chase races, but this win showed he is serious about contending for the title in his last go around with Richard Childress Racing. Keeping an eye on Harvick over the next few weeks may not be such a bad idea since he is fired up about chasing down points leader Kenseth and second-place Jimmie Johnson.

Results via ESPN.com