Joliet, Ill. ? Kevin Harvick won for the second straight year at Chicagoland Speedway, passing up a late pit stop to gain the lead, then pulling away Sunday to win the Tropicana 400.

And he just barely had enough fuel. Harvick ran out of gas while driving celebratory doughnuts in front of the packed grandstand.

Harvick, right.

The top Winston Cup rookie in 2001 picked up his third career victory but first in the 12 months since his last visit to the suburban Chicago track.

The race’s dramatic finish was set up on lap 240 of the 267-lap event.

Pole-winner Ryan Newman, who was leading the race, nearly crashed as his right front tire went flat. Jerry Nadeau lost control of his car and crashed behind Newman.

The seventh caution of the race allowed the leaders to pit, but Harvick and Jeff Gordon who had been running ninth and 10th, respectively stayed on the track.

Gordon, the four-time and defending series champion, couldn’t get past the new leader on the restart on lap 248, and Harvick’s Chevrolet distanced itself steadily to the finish.

“The biggest worry I had was on the restart,” Harvick said. “Jeff Gordon is great on restarts. When he didn’t get me there, I thought we could win it.”

Harvick won by 0.812 seconds, finishing about eight car-lengths ahead.

“My car was great in clean air, but when I got up close to him, the front end just took off,” said Gordon, whose winless string is now 26 races. “He drove the line he need to run and I’m just happy to come in second.”

Tony Stewart, who appeared to have the fastest car on the track through most of the last half of the race, wound up third after taking gas only on his last pit stop.

Jimmie Johnson, who started 37th in the 43-car field, finished fourth overall.

Carpentier quiets DaMatta

Cleveland Patrick Carpentier’s engine didn’t blow, his wheels stayed on, and he didn’t run out of fuel.

He had a fairly uneventful trip around the race track for a change. And a winning one.

Carpentier, beset by mechanical problems last week in Toronto, finally got some luck and his second career victory, winning the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland on Sunday to end Cristiano da Matta’s CART winning streak at four races.

“For once, we had everything going our way,” said Carpentier, who took the lead on Lap 49 when defending champion Dario Franchitti broke down. “We had no problems, zero problems.”

Carpentier, who blew an engine during Saturday’s practice session, won by 17.059 seconds over Michael Andretti, and 28.295 seconds over Paul Tracy.

Kenny Brack was fourth, and Alex Tagliani fifth in the 18-car starting field, quickly reduced to 16 following a four-car pileup on the first turn.

Carpentier averaged 120.998 mph over the 115-lap race Cleveland’s longest since 1983 on the temporary 2.106-mile Burke Lakefront Airport course.

Da Matta has dominated the circuit all season, and was seeking a record fifth straight win. But the Brazilian was done after just 21 laps because of an electrical problem in his engine.

“It’s a huge shame,” da Matta said. “What happened was just one of those things in racing. I’m not disappointed about not setting a new record. The streak doesn’t mean anything to me. The championship is my goal.”

The 30-year-old Carpentier, whose best finish this season had been fourth at Japan in April, won for the first time since the Michigan 500 last season.

That victory came on an oval track. Now Carpentier, one of the better road racers on the circuit, has a road course victory, too.