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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- This is what many fans had awaited. No more talk of mergers or teams closing shop, but racing. Stick 'em on the track and let 'er rip racing -- just like they did in the old days.

Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout was that rarity in sports -- an event that matched its billing. The exhibition race featured a record 14 leaders, 23 lead changes and eight cautions. Cars often wrestled side-by-side for the lead or wrecked.

Or both, as happened on the last lap.

Kevin Harvick, who was fifth at the start of the final lap, shot through the field and won, crossing the finish line as smoke rose from a four-car crash in turn 3.

"That was some wild racing,'' he said.

Harvick, who led only the last lap, finished ahead of Jamie McMurray. Tony Stewart, in his first race with his own team, placed third with Jeff Gordon and AJ Allmendinger completing the top five.

Harvick wasn't the only driver amazed by the night's action.

"It was crazy,'' said Gordon, who dodged three accidents. "It was absolutely madness out there. I'll tell you what, these things are turning into bumper cars the way the draft works and the way these things drive. It's a free-for-all. I'm just happy we came home sort of in one piece.''

Said Tony Stewart: "I had a blast.''

So should have the fans.

They saw two-wide, three-wide and even four-wide racing in a race extended three laps by a late caution. The racing was just as exciting on pit road where two cars were forced into the grass on a late stop.

"They're a handful,'' Jeff Burton said of the cars, "but they are putting on a heck of a show.''

For all but McMurray.

"It will be a long night,'' he said. "I'll think about what I should have done differently.''

Harvick slipped between Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in turn 2 and passed McMurray for the lead down the backstretch. Seconds later, a tap from Casey Mears sent Johnson spinning into Hamlin. Kyle Busch also was involved.

Harvick, who won the 2007 Daytona 500 in a sprint to the finish as the field wrecked behind him, enjoyed a more leisurely pace this time, as the caution ended the race with him ahead.

"They ought to cancel testing every year,'' Harvick said, noting NASCAR's testing ban this season that made the offseason last longer for fans.

"That was a lot of built-up race car drivers looking for something to hang out on the edge. I think everybody got a good show.''

RULE CHANGE: NASCAR announced before the race that it is making a rule change for restarts.

NASCAR has marked a 50-foot long restart zone where the lead car can accelerate and restart the race. The start of the area is marked by a white line across the track (and double red lines on the outside wall). The end of the area is marked by a white hashmark on the track (and single red line on the outside wall).

Previously, the lead car could restart the race anywhere near the double red lines on the wall. What NASCAR has done is control when drivers can restart the race. It eliminates some of the games that drivers played with each other. NASCAR officials said they would look at changing the size of the restart zone.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long @news-record.com