In the e-mod division, the headlining NASCAR stars jumped in four e-mods to battle 41 other local drivers in the NASCAR Duel at Sharon Speedway two days after circulating the road course at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Dave Hess was the winner in the first heat race, but Stewart led a handful of laps and finished second while driving the No. 127 e-mod usually piloted by Dustin Fraley. Clint Bowyer finished seventh in the first heat. Quincy Turner won the second heat, with Sharon Speedway co-owner Dave Blaney finishing fourth in the Mike Butler No. 52b. Dwayne Clay took the third heat race, with Harvick scoring a second place finish in his No. X e-mod. In the fourth and final heat, Rob Kristyak took the checkered flag as the winner.

Joe Gabrielson and Dave Willoughby paced the 25-car field to the green flag in the 25-lap feature. Harvick rolled off fourth, with Stewart starting 10th. Willoughby took the early lead, but Harvick quickly slotted into second with a powerful move on the Turn One cushion. The field was halted after one lap when a multi-car incident evolved in Turn Three. Harvick wasted little time on his way to the lead. On the restart, Harvick jumped to the Turn One cushion and powered around Willoughby’s No. 00 machine to take the top spot. While working the fourth circuit, Jeff Sharp also powered around Willoughby to take second. As the tenth lap clicked onto the scoreboard, Harvick led Sharp, Willoughby, Dave Hess and Clay. However, Sharp, who is the most recent e-mod winner at Sharon Speedway, used a lap 11 restart to return the favor. He also used the cushion in turns one and two to take the top spot away from the NASCAR star. Hess was also on the move on the restart, as he found his way to third.

With 10 laps to go, Sharp led Harvick by just over five car lengths. That was when Harvick began his charge back to the front. Harvick closed in on the rear bumper of Sharp with 21 laps on the board. While Harvick had his machine handling on the bottom of the speedway, Sharp found the cushion to his liking. He patiently followed Sharp for a series of laps before the two drivers caught lapped traffic. The slower traffic gave Harvick a slight window, and he capitalized. He used some grip on the bottom of the oval out of Turn Four to secure the lead under Sharp’s machine with two laps remaining. From there, he did not look back, and Harvick went on to score his very first victory on dirt after just eight starts. The rest of the NASCAR stars in the field also drove strong races. Bowyer rolled off last in the feature, and put his dirt modified experience to good use, as he drove all the way to seventh. Blaney rolled off 14th and crossed the finish line ninth. Stewart retired with a mechanical problem, and finished 22nd in the feature. Behind Sharp in second was Joel Watson, who drove a stellar race. Watson started 21st before finishing third. Hess came home in fourth, with Turner rounding out the top five.

Following the race, in a very classy move, Harvick donated his $1,000 winnings to second place finisher Sharp. Harvick was commended by his fellow NASCAR competitors for running a nearly-perfect race. Stewart, Bowyer and Blaney applauded Harvick’s savvy drive despite his limited experience in the ranks of dirt racing.

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