Another Top-10 Showing for Harvick, Shell-Pennzoil Team

Following last weekend's runner-up finish, Kevin Harvick and his No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team posted another impressive run this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, scoring their second top-10 finish in as many races.

Harvick's Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Impala SS spent the majority of the event inside the top 10 in Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 en route to a ninth-place finish.

The strong showing comes as no real surprise, considering the No. 29 crew has posted top-10 results in all but one of its last 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the .75-mile oval. The finish also gained Harvick another spot, to 22nd, in the NSCS point standings with 10 races remaining in the 2009 season. Rolling off from the 19th position, Harvick quickly demonstrated his brand new Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet was a force to be reckoned with.

The 33 year-old driver charged forward five positions in just the first 12 laps of the 400-lap event, and by lap 36 his yellow and red RCR machine was posted in 10th on the leader board.

As the race progressed, the team's ascent through the field continued and Harvick cracked the top five for the first time on lap 82. A loose handling condition on Harvick's entry caused crew chief Gil Martin to call for minor tire pressure adjustments on the team's first pit stop on lap 45, and Harvick retained his position inside the top 10 over the next 200-plus laps.

When he did fall back, it was never very far, as Harvick was shown no lower than 11th for the remainder in the event. As the air temperature cooled and track conditions changed, Harvick and Martin continued making minor tire pressure and chassis adjustments on almost every pit stop to help the handling on the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy. The changes kept Harvick comfortably inside the top 10 over the race's last 100 laps, resulting in his team's fifth top 10 showing of 2009.

The race was won by Denny Hamlin, with Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch rounding out the top five.

Harvick wasn't the only RCR entry to post a top 10 run at RIR, as Clint Bowyer and his No. 33 team finished sixth. Fellow RCR drivers Jeff Burton and Casey Mears finished 18th and 30th, respectively.

Flag-to-flag coverage of the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, Sept. 20 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on ABC.  The race will also be broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio.  Qualifying for the 27th points-paying race on the 2009 Cup Series calendar will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, Sept. 18 beginning at 3 p.m. EDT and will also broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Kevin Harvick Quote: "I'm happy to get another top 10, but I think we had a top five car. The guys had a tough time on pit road tonight. It's frustrating. Still, it was a decent finish, so we'll take it and try to improve next week."