Mid-Race Damage Leads To A 26th-Place Finish

Harvick was credited with a 26th-place finish, which moved him up one spot, to 26th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

On lap 77, a huge crash on the backstretch involving 13 cars forced Harvick to drive his Richard Childress Racing entry through the infield grass to avoid the incident. Unfortunately, the splitter, a horizontal piece attached to the bottom of the nose on the No. 29 machine, suffered damage as he drove through the grass. The transition from the asphalt to the turf pushed the splitter back, causing it to rub against the left front tire.

In all, Harvick came to pit road three times during the caution period as the crew did its best to pull the splitter away from the tire and repair the damage. As the race returned to green flag conditions on lap 82 and the leader crossed the start-finish line, Harvick was between Turns 1 and 2 on the track.

Having no drafting help, it wasn't long before Harvick was passed by race leader Denny Hamlin, putting the No. 29 car a lap down on lap 94.

Over the next 44 laps, the race was slowed for caution twice more, giving crew chief Gil Martin and his crew an opportunity to bring Harvick back to pit road multiple times during each caution period to work on the splitter.

With just 13 laps remaining, a caution for debris gave Harvick a chance to get back on the lead lap when the team elected not to pit as the leaders came to pit road. By staying out, the No. 29 Chevrolet returned to the tail end of the lead lap as the race returned to green-flag conditions with just 11 laps remaining.

The team's strategy paid off when the final caution flag of the race came out on lap 154 for a two-car wreck. Martin called his driver in for fresh tires, preparing the Pennzoil Platinum machine for a four-lap dash to the finish.

Restarting in 28th position, Harvick managed to pick up two spots by lap 159. As the field was coming to the checkered flag, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart made contact while running first and second, respectively. Busch spun out, setting off a spectacular chain reaction crash that collected a number of frontrunners.

Stewart was credited with the win, with Jimmie Johnson crossing the finish line in second. Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five finishers.

Harvick's RCR teammates, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Casey Mears, were involved in separate incidents throughout the restrictor-plate showdown and finished 16th, 29th and 34th, respectively.

The NSCS competitors now head to Illinois for another Saturday night event. The 1.5-mile oval has been one of the No. 29 team's best tracks, as Harvick has two wins, five top-five and six top-10 finishes in eight NSCS starts there.

The LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, July 11 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Race coverage will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT and broadcast worldwide on the MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 19th race on the 2009 NSCS schedule will be televised live on SPEED Thursday, July 9 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

"Obviously this wasn't the finish we were looking for with our Pennzoil Platinum Chevrolet. We were passing cars and working our way back into the top 10 when I cut across the grass on the backstretch to avoid a wreck. We ended up having significant damage to the left-front splitter, which pretty much took us out of contention. We'll keep our heads up and move on to Chicago. It has been a good track for us in the past, so hopefully we can put something together and have a strong run."