Kevin Harvick held off a charging Carl Edwards to pinch victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Arizona in one of the closest finishes in history.

Harvick was forced to defend his lead in overtime on old tyres, and after a lot contact he snuck over the line to win what was his 500th consecutive NASCAR start.

Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin came third ahead of Kyle Busch, while Dale Earnhardt Jr slumped from second to fifth late.

Earnhardt and Harvick stayed out on old rubber while the rest pitted under a caution, leaving them vulnerable at the restart.

But Harvick is a master of Arizona, and his eighth win at the circuit was hard-fought.

The Stewart-Haas driver, who started 18th, slowly made his way up through the field in the opening part of the race and climbed into the top three on lap 83.

However, he had to be patient as Busch, Edwards and Earnhardt all enjoyed stints in the lead, before he jumped past Edwards on lap 169.

Edwards regained the lead through the pits under caution, but the fast-starting Harvick quickly got back past.

His road to victory looked clear in the final laps until Kasey Kahne’s crash caused a caution.

He and second-placed Earnhardt opted to protect what they had and rejected the chance to stop for fresh tyres, bringing Edwards back in contention.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver surged past Earnhardt, but Harvick kept him at bay despite victory seemingly heading Edwards’ way.

Edwards ran consistently high throughout the race after starting second, and he led for 59 laps after getting past Earnhardt on lap 110.

He fell back behind Earnhardt in the final third of the race, but surged past him in overtime in pursuit of Harvick.

Earnhardt had, perhaps, the fastest car on the grid just two days after a poor performance in qualifying, which left him 26th.

He quickly gained places in the early stages, took the lead from polesitter Busch on lap 75 and built a comfortable lead.

But a brake issue in his second stint hampered his charge and saw him fall back through the field, although he recovered well in Phoenix – where he has won three times before.

Busch faded after a promising first half of the race, when he made a mistake in the pitlane.

He overshot his garage and sunk from second to 18th, although he also showed blistering pace to rejoin the top five.

He finished ahead of Earnhardt, his brother Kurt Busch and 2002 Arizona winner Matt Kenseth.

Jimmie Johnson, who was forced to start last after a crash in qualifying left him in his backup car, finished 11th.

RESULTS – 313 LAPS:

Harvick holds off Edwards in another NASCAR photo finish