Despite racing in the top 10 for the entire Food City 500 and leading 32 of the 500-lap event, Kevin Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil racing team grabbed their second top-five and fourth top-10 finish of the 2008 season.  

The second-place effort was Harvick and company’s fourth consecutive top-10 performance.  The rock -solid result allowed the Bakersfield, Calif., native to remain third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, only three markers out of second and 33 points shy of the lead. 

Severe weather, including hail and thunderstorm warnings at Bristol Motor Speedway, cancelled Friday’s qualifying session.  That allowed the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS to line up 10^th on the starting grid based on 2007 car owner points. 

The green flag flew just past 2 p.m. local time before a crowd estimated at 160,000.  Harvick powered his way to fifth in the opening laps but a loose-handling race car kept him from battling with the leaders.  A predetermined competition caution was displayed on lap 50 and crew chief Todd Berrier summoned his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and a minor chassis adjustment.  Sound work on pit road allowed Harvick to gain one spot in the pits and when the green flag waved again on lap 57, the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS was fourth. 

It didn’t take long for Berrier’s adjustment to culminate and before long, the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was charging up the leaderboard.  Harvick was battling for the second spot when the day’s third yellow flag waved on lap 95. 

Berrier summoned Harvick back to pit road one circuit later for tires including a minor chassis adjustment and to top off the bright yellow and red No. 29 machine with fuel.  A lightning-fast stop by the Shell-Pennzoil over-the-wall crew was for naught when Harvick had to slam on his brakes to miss contact with the No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr.  

Back under green, now in fourth, the 32-year-old driver began to suffer from a tight-handling condition and fell back to fifth before the caution was displayed on lap 190 for a multi-car incident in turn two.  Berrier summoned his driver to pit road three laps later, calling for four fresh tires, fuel and the addition of two spring rubbers to the right-rear of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. 

He lost one position as green-flag racing began again on lap 197.  Harvick’s Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet continued to improve as he began to work his way up the leaderboard.  He was fifth on lap 213, third on lap 239 and second when the caution flag flew on lap 279.   Once again, Berrier called his driver to pit road for another round of adjustments which continued to improve the handling on the No. 29 machine. 

“Happy” restarted third on lap 304 and quickly powered his way to the second spot on lap 314 and finally took over the lead on lap 346.  Unfortunately, loose-handling conditions returned to the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy and the 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner relinquished the lead back to Tony Stewart on lap 351. 

Another caution was displayed on lap 375 for a single-car incident in turn two and Berrier seized the opportunity to keep working on the car’s handling.  The Shell-Pennzoil crew chief called for four tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment as the No. 29 team worked for their second win at the world’s fastest half-mile. 

Harvick’s Chevy once again came to life and he charged his way to the lead on lap 388.  The 2007 Daytona 500 winner led for the next 26 circuits but relinquished the lead to Stewart on lap 415 when loose-handling conditions returned.  

The ninth caution flag flew on lap 491 and Harvick gave up second place to hit pit road for fresh tires, hoping enough people behind him would do the same thing to help make that the right move.   The 2006 NASCAR Nationwide champion restarted the race fourth. 

Harvick was quick to pass Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the restart.  However, on lap 498, “Happy” cut to Stewart’s low side through turns one and two but then pushed up the track and sent Stewart into the wall bring out the days final caution flag and setting the stage for a green-white-checkered finish.  

Harvick restarted the race third and was able to pass Denny Hamlin before crossing the finish line second. 

Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, Jeff Burton, took the victory in dramatic fashion holding off Harvick and his other RCR teammate, Clint Bowyer, for a one-two-three RCR finish.   Greg Biffle and Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.  

Following a weekend off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Martinsville Speedway for the first of two stops on the 2008 schedule. 

Live coverage of the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 from Martinsville Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, March 30 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Easter Daylight Time (EDT).  The race will also be covered live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.  Qualifying for the sixth of 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races will be televised live on SPEED Friday, March 28 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT. 

KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET IMPALA SS - “Our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet was pretty good all day.  We started with a plan and we got a little bit tight in the middle and we were able to loosen it up to compete for the win.  Todd (Berrier) made a great call at the end to come in and get tires.  We came out fourth which was the first car with fresh tires.  There at the end, I just got loose underneath of Tony (Stewart) and put him in the wall.  You know, it’s just the way it goes sometimes.  I just made a mistake and hopefully we can move on from this.”