Harvick OnLine: Post-Race Report: Aaron's 499

Harvick Rallies to a Sixth-Place Finish at Talladega

Race/Date: Aaron’s 499/April 29, 2007
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Start Position: 41st
Finish Position: Sixth
Points Position: Ninth

Two things come to mind when the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway – big packs of cars running door-to-door at 190 mph and big wrecks.

Despite eight caution flags that consumed nearly 15 percent of the total laps of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy finished the event practically unscathed and brought home a sixth-place finish. The strong run resulted in Harvick’s fourth top-10 effort of the season and moved him up two spots, to ninth, in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.

In time trials Saturday morning, Harvick lapped the 2.66-mile mega-oval in 51.241 seconds (186.882 mph), lining him up in the inside of row 21 in the 41st starting position. The No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was setup to run in the draft which resulted in the poor qualifying effort.

The beginning of the 188-lap event was typical restrictor plate racing for the Shell-Pennzoil team as Harvick jumped to the 17th position on lap 12, moved into the top five on lap 42 and then fell to 29th on lap 47.

The first caution flag of the event flew on lap 72 for debris. Crew chief Todd Berrier summoned Harvick to pit road for a routine four-tire stop on lap 74. “Happy” Harvick restarted the race in the 15th position on lap 77.

Another caution flew on lap 80 and was a big break for the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Team because the bright yellow-and-red machine was suffering from a bad vibration. The 11-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner hit pit road for another set of Goodyear tires and racing fuel. Since the majority of the field did not pit, Harvick restarted the race in the 28th position.

The first ‘Big One’ came on lap 130, starting about mid-pack and collecting six cars, including Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammate Jeff Burton. While under caution on lap 132, Harvick brought the No. 29 machine to pit road in the 13th position to the attention of his Shell-Pennzoil pit crew who immediately jumped into action. The crew serviced the car with four tires and fuel. The Bakersfield, Calif., native hit pit road again on lap 134 to top off with fuel that, hopefully, would help with track position in the final laps of the race. “Happy” restarted the race in the 16th position on lap 136.

The Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet was strong and it showed. Harvick powered into the 13th position on lap 139 and hung around the front of the enormous pack of cars until the caution flew on lap 161, this time for an accident in turn two. The 2006 NASCAR Busch Series champion made the left-hand turn down pit road on lap 162 for another fuel-only stop.

Back under green on lap 165, the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was listed in the 14th position. Harvick began to make his move to the front of the field when another caution flew on lap 175 for debris on the track.

The 31-year-old driver remained on the race track and took the green flag on lap 178. With a 10-lap shoot out to the end, Harvick knew it was only a matter of time before everyone started to make more aggressive moves to get to the front of the field. However, on the first three laps of the restart everyone stayed single file. Finally, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson made a move to the bottom of the race track. Harvick decided to stay in the top line of the draft because that is where his car ran best all day. Just as the top line was working their way past the bottom draft, a caution flew for debris.

It set up a three-lap sprint to the finish, with Harvick in the seventh position. However, before the field reached full speed, a wreck far behind the leader brought out the caution and effectively ended the race. Harvick was sitting sixth when the caution flag flew.

Gordon won his 77th career victory, followed by Johnson, Kurt Busch, David Gilliland and Jaime McMurray.

Harvick’s RCR teammates, Burton and Clint Bowyer, finished 34th ant 35th, respectively.

Newt week, short track action heats back up when the NACAR NEXTEL Cup Series visits Richmond for the first of two stops at the division’s famous three-quarter mile “Action Track.”

Live coverage of the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway will take the green flag Saturday, May 5 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and will be telecast live on FOX. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 10th of 36 points-paying NEXTEL Cup Series races will air live on SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Friday, May 4 at 6 p.m. EDT.

KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 29 SHELL CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS –

“This was another good day for the Shell-Pennzoil team. You hate to see a caution flag end the race but that is how the cards fell today. I am not sure if I had enough to get to the front of the field but I would like to say that we had a chance. I am looking forward to going back to Richmond next week and, hopefully, continuing this top 10 streak.”