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          Squirrel has close call at Atlanta

          • ESPN.com
          Sep 1, 2014, 03:51 PM ET

          Kevin Harvick couldn't believe his eyes. Early in Sunday night's Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a furry critter dashed across the track and down into the infield in front of Harvick's fast-moving No. 4 Chevrolet.

          Harvick Harvick

          That prompted Harvick to say over his radio: "I almost hit a cat! A cat just ran right in front of me!"

          But it wasn't a cat, as video evidence later revealed. It was a squirrel.

          Paul Wolfe, crew chief for Brad Keselowski, later spied the squirrel frolicking near Turns 3 and 4 and warned his driver to beware in case NASCAR decided to throw a caution.

          Keselowski: "What is it?"

          Wolfe: "It's a squirrel, and it's not wearing a helmet."

          It may as well have been a black cat where Harvick's luck was concerned. After dominating a bunch of the race and leading a lot of laps, he was forced into the wall after the first green-white-checkered restart and ended up 19th.

          Of course, Twitter took notice: