Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem Chasing the Cure team was relegated to 32nd-place finish in the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway after the engine expired with 27 laps remaining in the 500-lap event. The Bakersfield, Calif., native started the 263-mile affair from the 12th position and maintained a spot in the top 20 while battling a tight-handling black and pink Chevrolet. Crew chief Gil Martin called Harvick to pit road on laps 47, 99, 129 and 200 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments to alleviate the handling issues that the Richard Childress Racing driver was battling. Back on the race track, Harvick worked his way toward the front of the field moving into the top 10 on lap 206. The 36-year-old driver remained a fixture in the top 10 until the final 100 laps of the event, when he informed the crew that the engine wasn’t performing properly. Harvick forged on holding onto a position in the top 25 until lap 473 when the engine finally expired leaving the Rheem Chasing the Cure team to settle for a 32nd-place result. Harvick fell one position, to 11th, in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, 88 points out of the lead.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:>/b>
“This definitely wasn’t the way I wanted to finish the day, but there are some things that are outside of your control. The Rheem Chasing the Cure team worked so hard today to get the car handling the way I needed it to and I was able to work my way toward the front. I wish we could have had a better finish to show for our hard work today.”