March 2, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz.—In a race that began with an air of inevitability as thick as the storm clouds that pelted Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday night, Kevin Harvick survived a succession of late restarts to win Sunday's The Profit on CNBC 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. In his first season with Stewart-Haas Racing and his first with crew chief Rodney Childers, Harvick entered the race as an overwhelming favorite and delivered, despite the best efforts of Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who chased Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet to the checkered flag. Having…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—In a race that started in broad daylight and ended 42 minutes before midnight, and with a swatch of tape covering part of his grille, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the rain-interrupted 56th running of the Daytona 500 Sunday night at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt was a car-length ahead of Denny Hamlin when NASCAR threw the seventh caution of the race a split second before Earnhardt crossed the finish line to win the Great American Race for the second time in his career. Under NASCAR's new Chase for the Sprint Cup format, Earnhardt's 20th career…