 Kevin Harvick fought and ill-handling race car for majority of the Samsung 500 but perseverance to get it right paid off with an 11th-place finish for the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil crew at Texas Motor Speedway. The “never give up” attitude allowed Harvick and company to maintain their second-place spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. “Happy” is just 59 markers behind his Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammate and points leader Jeff Burton. The Bakersfield, Calif., native was the 29th of 47 drivers to make a qualifying attempt on Friday afternoon. The 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner lapped the 1.5-mile oval in 28.801 seconds (187.483 mph). The lap was the 21st-fastest time of the session and lined Harvick up on the inside of the 11th row for the 500-mile event. Under clear blue skies early Sunday afternoon, the 43-car field took the green flag to begin the scheduled 334-lap contest around the 1.5-mile quad-oval. The 2007 Daytona 500 winner was quick to inform his crew that their Chevrolet Impala SS was way too tight. The race was barely underway, on lap 28, when a single-car incident in turn four brought things under caution for the first time of the day. Crew chief Todd Berrier summoned his driver into the pits for service which included fuel, four fresh Goodyear tires with an air pressure adjustment and the addition of a spring rubber in the right rear. A small delay in the pits to add the spring rubber to the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy caused Harvick to lose seven spots on pit road and he restarted 28th on lap 33. The 32-year-old driver continued to run in and around the top 25 but it was quickly found that the characteristics of the new set of tires and adjustments did not seem to help the bright yellow and red machine’s handling problems. Harvick also informed his crew that his oil temperatures had fallen to 165 and it was soon discovered that there was a big hole in the grill of the No. 29 machine. A scheduled green-flag stop on lap 83 found Harvick in 25th, and one lap down to the leaders. A wedge adjustment was made to loosen up the handling. The adjustment, however, proved to be too much as Harvick now found the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet to be too loose. The No. 29 Chevy was 25th when the second caution flag waved on lap 108. More adjustments were made to hopefully cure the problems on the Shell-Pennzoil machine. Back to racing, Harvick maintained his track position and began to battle for the “Lucky Dog” award. Another caution flag flew on lap 130 and Harvick made the hard left turn down pit road. Four tires, fuel and another chassis adjustment were in order for the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. Lightning-fast work by the over-the-wall crew allowed the 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion to be the first car on the inside row for the restart on lap 136. Harvick maintained pace with the leader and when the caution flag flew on lap 175, he was awarded the “Lucky Dog” and was back on the lead lap. The 2007 NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Challenge winner hit pit road three laps later and his crew went to work on the grill of the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet and Harvick restarted 24th on lap 180. It was after the repairs that Harvick began a slow but steady march up the running order. He was 20th on lap 184, 17th on lap 207 and 16th when green-flag pit stops began on lap 227. Berrier summoned Harvick to pit road three laps later and called for four tires, fuel and another round of chassis adjustments. Even though Harvick’s Chevy was clocking times as fast as the top 10 he found himself one lap down to the leaders on lap 243. Another round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 276 and Harvick would visit pit road four laps later for four tires including an air pressure adjustment and fuel. In the closing laps, perseverance paid off and Harvick worked the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy into the 11th spot before the checkered flag finally waved on lap 339. Carl Edwards won his third race of the year with Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in tow. Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Harvick’s RCR teammates Burton and Clint Bowyer finished sixth and 10th, respectively. Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil Racing team head back west to Grand Canyon State, the site of next weekend’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Live coverage begins Saturday, April 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on FOX. The race will also broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for round eight of the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series championship will air live on SPEED Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates.
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