No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet
Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
• Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet team finished 22nd in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway after experiencing troubles on pit road throughout the race.
• Harvick started the race from the 24th position and had raced his way into the top 15 by lap 14. He gained two more spots before the caution flag waved for the first time at lap 29 and crew chief Gil Martin called Harvick to pit road for four tires and fuel. As the No. 29 Chevrolet rolled off of pit road, NASCAR called the team back down pit road for a violation as the crew had missed a lug nut on the left front tire.
• The pit road mistake put Harvick back in the 31st position when the green flag waved at lap 34. He made it backup to 22nd before the caution flag waved again at lap 52. Once again the team pitted for four tires and fuel and Harvick restarted 25th at lap 57.
• Clouds started to roll in, the wind picked up, and just over 10 laps into the run Harvick radioed the team that he didn’t know what happened, but the car was “completely sideways” all of a sudden. He continued to battle a loose-handling car for the next three runs, running as high as 12th before brushing the wall at lap 121.
• The team made a chassis adjustment when Harvick brought the car down pit road at lap 137 for tires and fuel. On the subsequent run, Harvick radioed to the team that the car was “terrible in traffic and now it’s tight.” Martin called him to pit road at lap 166 as he noted another car starting to slow on the track. The caution flag waved just after Harvick got back on track after the No. 29 team had completed their stop. The leaders had yet to pit and so Harvick found himself one lap down. As the lead-lap cars hit pit road under caution, Harvick was able to take the wave around and restarted in the 24th position with less than 30 laps to go.
• Harvick made it up to the 17th position before the caution flag waved at lap 197. As he came down pit road The No. 9 car cut in front of the No. 29 Chevrolet in an effort to get to his pit box. The two cars made contact, spinning the No. 9 car around and damaging the hood of Harvick’s Chevrolet. The team assessed the damage as Harvick circled the track and elected not to pit for repairs.
• Harvick restarted in the 18th position at lap 201 for a green-white-checkered finish and dropped several spots in the closing laps to finish 22nd.
• Kyle Busch scored the win in Sunday’s race. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman completed the top-five finishing positions.
• With his win in Sunday’s race, Busch extended his point lead to 10 markers over Johnson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. Harvick and Carl Edwards are tied for third position, 39 points behind the top spot. Matt Kenseth completes the top five.
• Follow along each weekend with Harvick and the team on Twitter. Check out @KevinHarvick for behind-the-scenes information straight from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Get live updates from the track each weekend from @Black29Car, the PR team for Harvick. Also, follow @RCRracing and @RCR29KHarvick for additional information about the Richard Childress Racing organization.
The following is the finish position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the Pure Michigan 400:
• Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished third.
• Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished seventh.
• Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Kroger Ford team finished 10th.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet team finished 14th.
• Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team finished 16th.
• Ken Schrader and the No. 32 Koma Unwind Ford team finished 30th.
• Mike Skinner and the No. 60 Big Red Toyota team finished 42nd.
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Childress Racing teams participating in the Pure Michigan 400:
• Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet finished eighth.
• Jeff Burton and the No. 31 CAT Financial Chevrolet team finished 17th.
• Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet, finished 26th.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will compete in the IRWIN Tools Night Race on Saturday, August 27, at Bristol Motor Speedway. ABC will provide the live television broadcast of the race starting with the pre-race show at 7 p.m. ET. PRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio coverage of the race.