The hard fought 13th-place finish allowed Harvick to maintain the 10th position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings -- he sits just 29 markers out of ninth and 110 markers out of fifth.

During Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, Harvick toured the 2.5-mile triangle in 53.883 seconds (167.029 mph) to line up the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS 28th for Sunday’s main event. Unfortunately, the qualifying effort was irrelevant because the Shell-Pennzoil crew was forced to change the battery on the No. 29 machine right before the start of the race, forcing Harvick to start the 500-mile contest at the back of the 43-car field.

After taking the green flag 42nd, Harvick set the switch on stun and worked his way to 35thbefore NASCAR displayed the day’s first yellow flag on lap 26. While he earned seven positions during the first 26 circuits, he informed crew chief Todd Berrier that his Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was a little tight through the center of the corners and on exit.

The veteran crew chief called for four new Goodyear Eagles, including an air pressure adjustment, and fuel during the day’s first round of pit stops. A lightning-fast pit stop by the over-the-wall crew netted Harvick five spots on pit road and he restarted 30th on lap 31.

Over the next 100 laps and seven caution periods, Harvick raced as high as 20th and as low as 38th in the running order. However, the adjustments Berrier made on the temperamental Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet seemed to help with the tight-handling condition and Harvick was running lap times as fast as the top five in the running order.

With just over 65 laps remaining, different pit strategies began to unfold which played a major factor in the outcome of the event. The 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner was 18th when several of the frontrunners hit pit road for green-flag pit stops on lap 137. “Happy” Harvick worked his way into the 11th spot before Berrier summoned his driver to pit road on lap 152 for four fresh tires and fuel. He returned to the racing surface 36th.

Over the next 15 laps, the Bakersfield, Calif., native worked his way into the 14th position before another round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 167. Harvick climbed the leaderboard to eighth before he made his final stop of the day on lap 175. After a routine four-tire pit stop, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner returned to the racing surface 32nd before the 10th caution flag on lap 177.

Several team pitted allowing Harvick to advance up the leaderboard board and gain valuable track position for the final 19 laps.

Harvick was scored 19th on the day’s final restart but was able to slice and dice his way to the 13th spot before the checkered flag flew on lap 200.

Kasey Kahne captured his second victory of the season. Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton rounded out the top five. Harvick’s other RCR teammate Clint Bowyer spun coming off turn three on lap 80, caused heavy rear-end damage strapping him with a 39th – place finish.

Next weekend, Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil Racing team head for the Irish Hills for the first of two stops at Michigan International Speedway. Live coverage of the LifeLock 400 will be televised on TNT Sunday, June 15 beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will also broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 14th points-paying race on the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be telecast live on SPEED June 13 at 3 p.m. EDT. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will provide qualifying updates.