Caution Flag Proves Costly for 29

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team were contenders throughout most of the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday. But an ill-timed caution flag cost them a shot at a top-10 finish.

Starting from the ninth position, Harvick demonstrated the strength of his Chevrolet Impala SS in the early going, picking up six positions on the very first lap. A fuel-only pit stop got him out ahead of the field, allowing him to take over the lead on lap 77. After leading nine laps, Harvick continued to keep his Richard Childress Racing entry in the top 10 for three-quarters of the 285-lap race.

Around lap 221, Harvick brought his car to pit road for tires, fuel and chassis adjustments. Just as his RCR pit crew completed its work, a punctured tire on Jeff Gordon’s car caused Gordon to hit the wall, scattering debris on the track surface. When NASCAR displayed the caution flag to allow track workers to clean up the debris, Harvick found himself a lap down to the race leaders.

Adding insult to injury, the team then received a speeding penalty, as NASCAR determined Harvick had exceeded the pit road speed limit after exiting his pit stall.

The timing of the caution flag, coupled with the penalty, dropped Harvick back to 23rd position for the lap 228 restart. Not content to accept defeat, the Shell-Pennzoil driver proceeded to regain four positions over the next 11 laps.

As the race wound down, the Bakersfield, Calif., native worked his way into position as the first driver one lap down, putting him in contention to receive the “Lucky Dog” pass, which would return him to the lead lap. A pit stop on lap 260 allowed his team to put tires on the No. 29 Chevy and make a final chassis adjustment to free up a tight handling condition that had plagued the driver for much of the race.

When Paul Menard crashed on lap 270, Harvick returned to the lead lap, putting him into 18th position for the final dash to the finish. The only negative was that he had to restart from the tail end of the longest line, which meant that some lap-down cars restarted between Harvick and the drivers on the lead lap he would need to pass to improve his position.

One more bit of good fortune came the team’s way when Jimmie Johnson spun with just five laps remaining to bring out the final caution flag of the race. NASCAR rules call for lead-lap cars to take part in single-file restarts when there are less than 20 laps remaining in a race, giving Harvick a shot to gain more positions.

Restarting the race in 15th position, Harvick fought his way to 12th by the time the checkered flag was displayed, salvaging a top-15 finish out of a potential negative.

In addition to Harvick’s solid result, his RCR teammates, Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet) and Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet), put on a spirited battle in the closing laps and finished second and third, respectively. A tire problem on Casey Mears’ No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet cost him several laps, and he brought home a 30th-place finish.

With the result, Harvick now holds the 11th position in the Sprint Cup Series drivers’ point standings while team owner Richard Childress is 11th in the owners’ standings. Bowyer sits second in points, while Burton is 18th and Mears is 27th.

The RCR contingent now heads back east to Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of the fourth points race of the 36-race Sprint Cup Series season. The Kobalt Tools 500 will be held at AMS on Sun., March 8, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and will air live on FOX, Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

The track is the site of Harvick’s first Sprint Cup Series victory, which happened in this race eight years ago. In just his third start in the No. 29, Harvick beat Jeff Gordon to the finish line at AMS by .006 seconds.

Kevin Harvick Quote:

"Our Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was pretty good. We just got caught a lap down when we pitted just before (Jeff) Gordon blew a tire. I'm proud of the way the guys battled back to get us back on the lead lap and salvage a top 15. I was a little too tight most of the day, but I'm pretty happy with how we ran. I think we could have been top 10 if that caution hadn't bitten us."