TOP-FIVE FINISH DERAILED BY LATE-RACE INCIDENT FOR SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVY AT SONOMA

Source: Shell-Pennzoil Racing
Date: 06/23/2008

A poor qualifying effort didn’t slow down Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS but contact with Jamie McMurray and Tony Stewart with five laps to go did and the team had to settle for a 30th-place finish in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

The finish dropped Harvick three spots, to 13th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. Fortunately, the Bakersfield, Calif., native only sits two points out of 12th and 34 points out of the top 10. A less-than-desired qualifying effort Friday afternoon lined Harvick up 32nd for Sunday afternoon’s start. At the drop of the green flag, Harvick slowly worked his way up the leaderboard and was listed 21st when green-flag pits stops began on lap 24.

Fuel mileage was the talk of the town with Harvick’s crew chief Todd Berrier calculating whether the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy could make it on two stops if they pitted late enough in the first run. After pitting on lap 26 for four fresh tires and fuel, the 32-year-old driver returned to action 41st in the running order. However, he wouldn’t stay there long as a caution flag flew three laps later forcing all the other teams down pit road for their first stop of the day.

Harvick was listed sixth for the restart on lap 32. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner continued to run in the top 10 until he made his final green-flag pit stop on lap 67 for four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel. He returned to the racing surface 40th but another caution flag waved just two laps later and allowed Harvick to restart sixth on lap 74.

Harvick continued to run in the top five when a caution flag flew on lap 101 for a single-car incident. This bunched the field back up and gave Harvick a better chance to win the race. Unfortunately, going into turn seven on lap 105, Harvick over drove the turn and wheel-hopped his bright yellow and red Chevy. Harvick made hard contact with McMurray and Stewart which sent all three of the cars spinning, forcing NASCAR to display the fifth caution flag of the afternoon.

The 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion was forced to bring his damaged Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet down pit road for repairs. The unfortunate contact ultimately strapped Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team with a 30th-place finish.

Kyle Busch captured his fifth Cup Series win of the 2008 season. David Gilliland, Jeff Gordon, Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears rounded out the top five. Harvick’s other RCR teammate Jeff Burton crossed the finish line 13th.

Transporter drivers carry the bulk of the load this week as NASCAR’s senior circuit makes the 3,100- plus mile trek from Sonoma to Loudon, N.H. for next weekend’s 301-mile race at the “Magic Mile.

The LENOX Industrial Tools 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, June 29 at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 12:30 EDT and broadcast from coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, June 27 at 3 p.m. EDT.

KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET IMPALA SS –

"The Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was really fast all day. I made a mistake late in the race and drove the car in too deep and wheel-hopped it. I feel bad for involving the No. 26 (Jamie McMurray) and the No. 20 (Tony Stewart). Hopefully we can turn things around next week at Loudon."

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend