HAMPTON, Ga. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. won a late gamble on gas, but that wasn't enough to overcome Kevin Harvick's dominance. Harvick led most of the race and then passed Earnhardt with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining. Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.

Earnhardt and Keselowski had enough gas, but were still passed by Harvick and Busch, who finished second. Earnhardt was third, followed by Keselowski and Jeff Burton.

"I would have been glad to steal a win," said Earnhardt, who said the decision to remain on the track when the leaders stopped for gas was his only chance to beat Harvick.

"We had a pretty good chance of making it and that was our only real shot of getting a win. It didn't work out in our favor but that was the best call to make for us."

Harvick led 131 of the 195 laps. He led Busch by about 7 seconds and Earnhardt by about 15 seconds when Harvick and Busch made the late pit stops.

Busch's pit stop was faster than Harvick's, but Harvick had the advantage of the big lead before the stop.

Harvick's advantages of fresh tires and the faster car enabled him to pass Keselowski with six laps left before catching Earnhardt with two laps left.

"I cut it a little bit closer than I would like to at the end," Harvick said.

It didn't look so close to Busch.

"Harvick was gone," Busch said. "What a non-race that was, but hopefully it was a show at the end. … Man that 33 was great. Flawless."

Harvick claimed his second Nationwide Series win of the season with the race team he built with his wife, Delana. He also won in Bristol, Tenn., in March.

Carl Edwards, racing for the first time since breaking his right foot playing frisbee with friends Wednesday, finished seventh.

Busch, Edwards and Keselowski have combined for 12 Nationwide Series wins this season, including six by Busch.

"It's tough when those guys are winning so many races," Harvick said. "We felt like we had been able to run with them a couple of times but hadn't been able to close the deal. Tonight we were able to close the deal."

Busch recorded his 22nd top 10 finish of the year. He is 221 points ahead of Edwards in the standings. Harvick is 15th in the points standings.

Harvick qualified 18th on Saturday for Sunday night's Pep Boys Auto 500 and is 24th in the Sprint Cup standings.

Harvick is winless in the Sprint Cup Series since winning the 2007 Daytona 500.

Owner Richard Childress said Monday that Harvick will remain with the team next season.

Degree V12 300 Results

1. (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 195 laps, 149.7 rating, 195 points, $50,825.

2. (8) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 195, 128.7, 175, $38,025.

3. (1) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 195, 117.7, 170, $29,700.

4. (19) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 195, 106.5, 165, $29,018.

5. (15) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 195, 105.3, 155, $23,925.

6. (11) Joey Logano, Toyota, 194, 109.6, 150, $19,875.

7. (12) Carl Edwards, Ford, 194, 101.3, 146, $21,285.

8. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 194, 94, 142, $19,245.

9. (3) David Ragan, Ford, 194, 87.5, 138, $18,900.

10. (4) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 193, 94.4, 139, $18,525.

11. (5) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 193, 110.4, 130, $17,175.

12. (9) Paul Menard, Ford, 193, 90.8, 127, $16,675.

13. (16) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 193, 90.3, 124, $16,275.

14. (24) Michael Annett, Toyota, 192, 79.4, 121, $24,793.

15. (6) David Gilliland, Dodge, 192, 80.2, 118, $16,375.

16. (7) Trevor Bayne, Toyota, 192, 82, 115, $21,543.

17. (33) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 192, 66.8, 112, $21,468.

18. (29) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 192, 75, 109, $21,368.

19. (37) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 192, 61.7, 106, $21,293.

20. (40) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 191, 72.3, 103, $24,143.

21. (18) Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 191, 66.9, 100, $21,118.

22. (26) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 191, 59.6, 97, $21,043.

23. (25) Steve Wallace, Chevrolet, 191, 68.6, 94, $21,368.

24. (31) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 190, 51.5, 91, $20,893.

25. (38) Matthew Carter, Ford, 189, 45.4, 88, $20,993.

26. (34) Eric McClure, Ford, 189, 43.5, 85, $20,793.

27. (39) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 189, 44.6, 82, $20,743.

28. (28) Peyton Sellers, Chevrolet, 189, 58, 79, $14,225.

29. (22) Chase Austin, Chevrolet, 186, 42.3, 76, $20,643.

30. (41) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Dodge, 185, 43.5, 73, $20,868.

31. (21) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 132, 55.9, 70, $20,513.

32. (32) Kelly Bires, Toyota, engine, 127, 72.6, 67, $20,453.

33. (42) Brian Keselowski, Dodge, transmission, 71, 38.6, 64, $20,418.

34. (36) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, handling, 46, 45.7, 61, $20,383.

35. (23) Michael McDowell, Dodge, transmission, 41, 33.8, 58, $13,885.

36. (43) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, transmission, 38, 51.7, 55, $13,850.

37. (13) Jason Keller, Ford, engine, 31, 52.8, 52, $20,283.

38. (30) Casey Atwood, Chevrolet, engine, 12, 35.9, 49, $20,228.

39. (35) Chase Miller, Toyota, electrical, 9, 39.6, 46, $20,188.

40. (14) Mark Green, Chevrolet, electrical, 9, 33.9, 43, $20,123.

41. (17) Kevin Lepage, Dodge, ignition, 6, 34.9, 40, $13,590.

42. (27) Johnny Chapman, Chevrolet, rear end, 4, 28.5, 37, $13,545.

43. (10) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, electrical, 3, 34.2, 34, $19,937.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 145.228 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 4 minutes, 4 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.138 seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 14 laps.

Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Earnhardt Jr. 1-5; K.Harvick 6-27; K.Busch 28-46; K.Harvick 47-49; K.Busch 50-52; K.Harvick 53-85; K.Busch 86-87; Bra.Keselowski 88; R.Sorenson 89-90; K.Harvick 91-125; K.Busch 126-146; K.Harvick 147-182; D.Earnhardt Jr. 183-193; K.Harvick 194-195.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): K.Harvick, 6 times for 131 laps; K.Busch, 4 times for 45 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 2 times for 16 laps; R.Sorenson, 1 time for 2 laps; Bra.Keselowski, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: 1. K.Busch, 4,209; 2. C.Edwards, 3,988; 3. Bra.Keselowski, 3,917; 4. J.Leffler, 3,532; 5. J.Allgaier, 3,010; 6. S.Wallace, 2,994; 7. J.Keller, 2,873; 8. B.Gaughan, 2,857; 9. M.Bliss, 2,835; 10. M.McDowell, 2,796.

NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race. The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR NASCAR PHOTO GALLERY