A Good Race Spoiled for Harvick and Shell-Pennzoil Team
LOUDON, N.H. – A potential top-10 finish for Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team came to a crashing halt on lap 175 of the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.
Working their way to the 15th position just past the halfway point of the event, Harvick & Co. were gathered up in a multi-car incident that put them in the garage for repairs and left them saddled with a 34th-place finish. The unfortunate result moved them to 27th in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after 17 races.
Rain cancelled Friday afternoon’s scheduled qualifying session, thereby setting the field based on owner points leading into the event. The No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS would take the green flag for Sunday’s scheduled 301-lap event in the 25th starting spot, on the inside of the 13th row.
Dark clouds and cool temperatures greeted the estimated 101,000 New England race fans as the 43-car field took the green flag at 3:15 Eastern Daylight Time. The first of the day’s 11 caution flags waved on lap 13 with Harvick being shown in 23rd place. Crew chief Gil Martin kept his driver on the racing surface while a couple of the frontrunners and a number of cars behind Harvick chose to come in for service.
Two more caution flags waved before NASCAR threw a scheduled competition yellow on lap 45. After the day’s fifth caution on lap 60, racing resumed four laps later and Harvick, running in the 27th position, made a slow but steady march toward the front. He was 24th by lap 100 and 22nd by lap 120.
The Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was still 22nd when yet another caution slowed the field on lap 151, the race’s scheduled halfway point. Accurate work by the over-the-wall crew picked up two spots for their driver when racing resumed on lap 159. Harvick made quick work of the first five cars in front of him, moving into 15th place by lap 165.
The day’s seventh caution slowed the field on lap 169 but Martin again chose to keep his driver on the racing surface to maintain track position.
Just prior to the lap-175 restart, Harvick commented on the team radio that the No. 29 Chevy was getting better with each adjustment. When the green flag waved, what started as contact between two cars in front of Harvick immediately following the restart became an eight-car wreck that gathered up the No. 29, as well as the cars of Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Casey Mears.
Major damage to the front end and more minor damage to the left-rear corner of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet sent the team scrambling to the garage to make repairs. After the installation of a new radiator and oil pump, as well as cosmetic work on the crumpled areas of the Impala SS body, Harvick pulled back onto the track 38 laps down to the leader in the 35th position. Thanks to the yeoman effort by the pit crew, Harvick was able to pick up one position in the running order before rain halted the race 28 laps shy of the scheduled distance.
In front of a native New England crowd, Connecticut’s Joey Logano earned his first NSCS victory in the rain-shortened event. The balance of the top-five finishers included Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch David Reutimann and Tony Stewart. Harvick’s teammates Mears, Clint Bowyer and Burton finished 11th, 20th and 31st, respectively.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next heads south for its second visit of the season to Daytona International Speedway.
Flag-to-flag coverage of the Coke Zero 400 from DIS will take the green flag Saturday, July 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT and broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 18th points-paying race on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will be telecast live on SPEED Friday, July 3 beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES
“There were cars spinning and I tried to slow down and minimize the damage as much as you can at that point. I don’t know … I hit two or three cars as they were coming up the race track the wrong way. They just wrecked in front of us and I couldn’t get slowed down. I’ve got to thank the Shell-Pennzoil guys – they worked hard today. It was a tough way to end the day for our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. The car was running really good and we made up a ton of position there on the last run. We had a good car. I hate for it to end that way. This is typical for the year. It’s been a rough year but we’ll try to get back out there.”
Race/Date: LENOX Industrial Tools 301 – June 28, 2009
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, N.H.
Start Position: 25th (qualifying rained out … field set based on owner point standings)
Finish Position: 34th
Points Position: 27th (lost two positions)