Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Jimmy John's team earned an eighth-place result at Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon after starting from the seventh position and battling handling issues during the 400-lap affair. The California native maintained a spot within or near the top-10 throughout the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks while battling loose and tight-handling conditions. The Gil Martin-led pit crew executed multiple scheduled two and four-tire pit stops, along with an array of chassis adjustments, in an effort to neutralize handling of the Jimmy John's Chevrolet. Speedy stops on pit road allowed Harvick to gain valuable track position, working his way up to as high as third for the lap-285 restart. As the race progressed, the Richard Childress Racing veteran alerted the team he was still battling a loose-handling condition, which ultimately caused him to fall back in the field crossing the finish line in the eighth position. Following the top-10 finish, Harvick gained two spots in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings moving up to fifth.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
"Our Jimmy John's Chevrolet was good one run, really loose one run and really tight the next run. At the end we were loose and tight, so we lost a few spots and weren't able to make our way back toward the front. The team really worked hard today and the pit crew was on top of things, so were able to hang in there and get a solid top-10 finish."