Early Accident Costly for Harvick

During Sunday's Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the 2.66-mile track, that question was answered just seven laps into the 188-lap event.

After starting 19th, Kevin Harvick and his No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet were running mid-pack in the field of 43 competitors. Ahead of him, the entries of Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon made contact on lap seven, turning Gordon sideways and setting off a chain reaction crash that collected some 14 cars.

Harvick's machine suffered heavy damage, and he was credited with a 38th-place finish. That dropped him four spots, to 20th, in the NSCS drivers' point standings.

After being examined and released from the Infield Care Center, Harvick watched as his No. 29 crew thrashed to repair the damage and return the yellow and red Chevrolet to the event.

Just 41 laps after being towed to the garage, the Shell-Pennzoil machine was back on the track. A few laps later, Harvick reported he felt something was still wrong with the car's steering, so crew chief Todd Berrier brought Harvick back to the attention of the over-the-wall-crew.

Crew members spent several more laps underneath the No. 29 repairing a loose tie rod, and once Harvick returned to the race, he announced the steering issue had been resolved.

From there, Harvick teamed up with Gordon, whose No. 24 entry was being shown on the same lap as the No. 29, to draft their way around the high-banked facility.

The duo of Gordon and Harvick was separated late in the event when Harvick made an unscheduled pit stop due to a vibration on his Chevrolet. After the team changed four tires and returned Harvick to the race, a quick inspection revealed the problem was caused by severe wear on one tire.

Harvick's RCR teammates, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer, were also a part of the lap seven incident. Mears was able to keep his No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet in contention on the lead lap and finished 16th.

Bowyer spent most of the race in the garage with his crew making repairs to the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet. He did return to the track on the final lap to continue his streak of races completed without a DNF (Did Not Finish), which now stands at 82, and finished 39th.

Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, came from three laps down early in the event to finish on the lead lap in 10th position.

The race was won by Brad Keselowski, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Ryan Newman, Marcos Ambrose and Scott Speed rounding out the top five.

The Sprint Cup Series now heads from the expanse of a superspeedway to the close confines of a short track, as the series heads to the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway for the 10th event of the NSCS season this weekend. This event marks the beginning of a new chapter in the No. 29 team's history, as Harvick begins working with crew chief Gil Martin and an entire new group of crewmen this week.

Harvick has a history of strong finishes at RIR, including a pole, a win and eight consecutive top-10 finishes in 15 NSCS starts there.

The Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 NSCS race will air live on FOX, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Saturday, May 2. Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also broadcast the event. Qualifying for the event will air live on SPEED, Friday, May 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Kevin Harvick Quote: "I'm not sure what happened. I watched the replays, but couldn't really see what started it. I saw (Jeff) Gordon turning sideways and a lot of smoke. It's typical Talladega and it's kind of how the last month has gone for the Shell-Pennzoil team.

"It obviously wasn't the finish we wanted. We wanted to end this chapter on a high note, but you know something like this is a possibility whenever you run a restrictor-plate race. I couldn't be more proud of how the guys busted their tails to get us back out there. They had a lot of damage to fix and we were back out in less than 50 laps. They really got it done."