Harvick Earns 11th-Place Finish

With weather playing a major factor in the weekend's events, Friday's qualifying session was rained out causing the starting line-up to be set by owner's points for the first time in the 2009 season. Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team started the Goody's Fast Relief 500 in the 12th position.

The race remained green at the .526-mile "paperclip"-shaped short track until lap 21 when the first caution flag of the day waved. Harvick had gained two positions in the opening laps of the 500-mile race moving into the top-10 by the time of the first caution. The Bakersfield, California native was just a little tight in the center but did not pit because of the scheduled competition yellow on lap 40.

When yellow waved again on lap 40 crew chief Todd Berrier called his driver down the pit lane to receive an air pressure adjustment, tires and fuel. The Shell-Pennzoil team gained two spots on pit road but had to restart the race in the ninth position after two cars chose not to pit.

Harvick continued to run in the top-10 through a couple more cautions and didn't return to pit road until the fifth caution waved on lap 138. Continuing to only have minor handling issues, the 2007 Daytona 500 Champion reported that he did not need a whole lot of adjustments and the Shell-Pennzoil crew gave him more air pressure changes, tires and fuel before sending him back out on the track for the restart.

It wasn't until lap 252 that Harvick fell out of the top-10 but he didn't stay there long. After pitting again on lap 257, the 33-year-old returned to top-10 running positions.

In the second half of the event the handling on the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy began to go away and Harvick dropped out of the top-10 but remained in the top-15. The two-time Nationwide Series Champion continued to fight a tight race car and just didn't like the way his car was handling. However, Harvick was able to maintain his 12th-place position well into the final 100 laps of the race.

The closing laps of the race saw several caution periods with Harvick gaining one final position in the final 25 laps to finish just outside the top-10 in the 11th spot.

"It was an OK day for us," said Harvick. "I thought we would have run a little better. The car was pretty good. It just wasn't as fast as we needed it to be. Track position was everything today, as usual. Again, a pretty good day, but we were hoping for better."

Harvick's 11th-place run moved the Shell-Pennzoil driver up two spots in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings. He now sits 10th after sixth event.

Jimmie Johnson won the Goody's Fast Relief 500 with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart finishing second and third. Four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.

Next up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the running of the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.  Live television coverage begins on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on FOX.  The event will also be broadcast live on PRN (Performance Racing Network) and Sirius Satellite Radio with coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).