11th Place Run At Darlington

Kevin Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil team took advantage of the many cautions to gain valuable track position in Saturday night's running of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The No. 29 team returned to competitive form after turning in a solid run taking the checkered flag in the 11th position after several weeks of poor finishes. 

The first of 17 cautions waved on lap four with Harvick running in his starting position of 24th. When the second caution flag waved a few laps later Harvick reported to his crew that he was a little loose getting into the corner and tight coming off the corner. He also reported that he was having trouble passing on the track and was stuck behind a group of cars keeping him in the 24th spot.

The caution at lap 17 allowed the Bakersfield, California native his first opportunity to come to pit road. Crew chief Gil Martin called for fuel only to help gain the valuable track position and Harvick returned to the track for the restart in the 14th spot.

The 2007 Daytona 500 Champion continued to race in the top-15 throughout the middle portion of the 500-mile race. The many cautions allowed the Shell-Pennzoil team to make several adjustments on the No. 29 Chevy to help the handling.

Harvick remained in the top-15 but reported that he thought he had a flat tire following a restart on lap 189. After several laps with his crew and spotter observing it was determined that he didn't have a tire going down and the problem worked itself out.

When caution waved on lap 214 Harvick returned to pit road for service. Crew chief Gil Martin decided to take on fuel only once again to gain more track position. Once the green flag fell for the restart Harvick was posted in the top-10 in the sixth position. A four-tire change during his next pit stop put the Shell-Pennzoil driver back out of the top-10 with several of the other teams not pitting.

Another two-tire stop at lap 250 moved the two-time Nationwide Series champion back in the top 10 where he remained until the closing laps of the race. With the first solid run in weeks, Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil team took the checkered flag just outside the top-10 in the 11th position.

"It was a good night for the Shell-Pennzoil team," said Harvick. "The guys worked hard all weekend. Our Chevrolet was really pretty good all night. I just got too tight at the end and couldn't hold off the (No.) 17.  We had to throw a lot of different pit strategy at it tonight to get some track position, but I felt like Gil (Martin) made good adjustments and the pit stops were solid. We needed a good finish after the past few weeks, so I'm happy we were able to give Shell, Pennzoil and RCR a strong run."

The Shell-Pennzoil driver gained two positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings moving into the 21st position.

Mark Martin took the win at the track "too tough to tame" with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart finishing second and third. Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five.

Next up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the Sprint All-Star weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Live television coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Showdown begins on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on SPEED. 

The event will also be broadcast live on MRN (Motor Racing Network) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio with coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Sprint All-Star Race will follow with coverage beginning at 8:30 Eastern Daylight Time on both SPEED and MRN, Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Preceding the racing action will be live coverage of the Pennzoil Victory Challenge beginning at 6:00 p.m. on SPEED.