Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Jimmy John’s team ran strong throughout the Auto Club 400 and then used pit strategy to improve their position and earn a fourth-place finish in the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway. With weather forecasts predicting rain on Sunday afternoon, Harvick and crew chief Shane Wilson made plans for a rain-shortened race long before ominous weather set in at the two-mile speedway. Starting from the seventh position in front of an estimated crowd of 90,000 people, Harvick battled various issues on the No. 29 Chevrolet throughout the race, including a lack of grip and difficulty on restarts with fresh tires. The Bakersfield, Calif. native was scored in the sixth position when the caution flag was displayed for rain at lap 123. With several teams opting to pit, the No. 29 team remained on the racetrack, moving up to fourth in the running order. Shortly thereafter, the red flag was displayed and the field was stopped on pit road. Following a short period and continued rain in the area, NASCAR officials declared the race complete and Harvick was credited with the fourth-place finish. He remains second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.
Start - 7 Finish - 4 Laps Led - 0 Points - 2
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
“I think that was the right call at the end there, to stay out and not pit. It got us a fourth-place finish. Our biggest battle today was that the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet did not take off well at the beginning of a run and then we spent the rest of the time making up track position. Shane Wilson and the guys made changes on the car throughout the race and towards the end the handling was really good.”