Harvick jumped up one position to 12th in the 2008 Sprint NASCAR Cup Series point standings, just five points behind his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer who is 11th and 204 markers out of the top five with eight races remaining before the start of The Chase.

In qualifying Friday afternoon, the Bakersfield, Calif., native toured the one-mile oval in 29.531 seconds (128.976 mph), knocking down the third-fastest time of the session and grabbing his best qualifying effort of the 2008 season.

Saturday’s practice sessions showed great promise for the Shell-Pennzoil team as Harvick and Company fine-tuned the handling of the No. 29 machine and posted some of the quickest and most consistent laps in the field.

In front of an estimated sell-out crowed of 101,000 fans, the 43-car field took the green flag for the 301-lap event. Though battling a tight-handling Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, Harvick was able to rocket to the lead by lap five and led the next 40 laps of competition.

Green-flag pit stops began on lap 64 and Harvick hit pit road four laps later for a four-tire pit stop that included a small air pressure and chassis adjustments to aid the tight-handling condition. Once the field cycled through the pit stops, Harvick was once again listed as the leader.

The first caution flag of the race flew on lap 85 and crew chief Todd Berrier summoned Harvick to pit road two laps later and called for right-side tires and fuel. Two teams decided to stay on the racing surface during the caution period and Harvick restarted third on lap 90.

“Happy” Harvick continued to run in the top five for the next 82 laps until his No. 29 machine went from tight to way too loose. He began to lose spots and was listed seventh when the caution flag flew on lap 216.

Harvick along with the majority of the leaders opted to stay out during this caution period. However, a handful of teams hit pit road for a gas-and-go stop which ultimately proved to be the call of the race.

The 32-year-old driver restarted sixth on lap 221 and remained there until a caution flag flew on lap 271 for a multi-car incident in turn four. Since Harvick and the frontrunners did not stop during the last caution they were forced to hit pit road for fuel to make it to the end of the race.

The 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion restarted 16th on lap 278. Harvick was able to grab two positions before another caution flag flew on lap 280. Unfortunately, rained moved into the area and the race was red flag on lap 284 and NASCAR made the race official 15-minutes later.

Kurt Busch, who pitted for fuel only on lap 216, won his first race of the 2008 season. The top five was rounded out by Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Elliott Sadler. Harvick’s RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Bowyer finished 12th and 22nd, respectively.

Next weekend the NASCAR Cup Series takes their tour south to the Sunshine State for the third restrictor-plate race of the season.

The Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway will take the green flag Saturday, July 5 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on TNT beginning at 6:30pm EDT and will broadcast coast-to-coast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED Friday, July 4 at 4 p.m. EDT.