 Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team began the 50th running of the Daytona 500 with hopes of being able to repeat their performance from 2007 and score a second victory in a row in the Great American Race.
In the early laps of the event, Harvick informed the Shell-Pennzoil crew that something was wrong with his Chevrolet. It was on the sixth circuit that Harvick radioed he felt the engine was getting ready to blow up. The No. 29 Chevy fell to the back of the pack and was running in the 32nd position on lap nine.
Several circuits later at lap 18, Harvick radioed once again stating his Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was handling okay but was just a little slippery. He was running in the 25th position at this half way point through the tire run. He also reported temperatures between 215 and 220 degrees.
With another seven laps down, handling issues continued to be the focus for the No. 29 team. Harvick was handling well in turns one and two but was fighting loose conditions in the middle of turn three and a tight condition coming off of turn four. By lap 32, the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet continued to get tighter.
Lap 34 brought the beginning of the first cycle of green-flag pit stops. Harvick brought the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet in on lap 36 for adjustments, four new Goodyear tires and fuel. “It feels like the brakes are on all the way around”, Harvick told his crew while pitting. Crew Chief Todd Barrier called for additional tape on the grill along with the other adjustments and sent Harvick back out onto the track.
Racing continued and the RCR crew planned their next pit stop around lap 77 with the knowledge of knowing that lap 79 was the furthest they could go.
Harvick continued to fight handling problems and what felt like an extremely slow race car. He commented to his crew on lap 64, “How could we be so fast all week long then come race day, we are so slow.” Team owner Richard Childress came over the radio and tried to calm Harvick down.
It was only a handful of laps later that Harvick reported to the No. 29 crew that he felt a pretty good vibration. Todd Barrier brought the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy in on lap 75 for tires, fuel and adjustments. He told Kevin that on the first run there was a blister on the right front tire but after this second run the tires looked good.
Just five laps after the green-flag stop the caution flag waved for the first time for debris on the track. Green-flag racing resumed on lap 84.
Harvick had the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy running in the 26th position on the 91st circuit. Lap 120 saw Harvick on pit road once again this time for adjustments to fix a continued tight condition. In addition, the Shell/Pennzoil crew gave him tires and fuel before sending him back out on the track to resume the race. Harvick was still not happy with the power and reported the No. 29 was “so slow”.
The second caution period came out on lap 150 and Harvick brought his Chevy down the pit lane to the attention of his crew. When exiting the pits, Harvick made contact with the No. 5 car but no damage was incurred.
Approaching the closing laps of the race Harvick managed to race his way into the top 15 and posted a top-10 running position at one point.
Contact with the No. 22 car on track brought out yet another caution flag. Again the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet did not suffer any damage and was able to continue to race.
Several caution periods came out in the closing laps of the race as Harvick remained in the top 15 before taking the checkered flag in the 14th position.
“We were just slow. They did a great job, really, of working on the car during the day and making it better, but we were just slow. Our car just wouldn’t go.”
The No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team will now prepare for the second event of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at California Speedway next Sunday.
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