Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser/Rheem team captured asixth-place finish Saturday night during the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race after battling a tight-handling condition throughout the non-points event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Richard Childress Racing team started the 90-lap affair from the fifth position and ran within the top-10 before developing a tight-handling condition. During the early laps, Harvick and RCR teammate Paul Menard made contact causing the No. 29 Chevrolet to tap the outside wall and fall back into the 10th spot. Harvick wheeled the black and red machine onto pit road during the first competition caution period between the first and second 20-lap segments for a routine stop that included four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Harvick revisited pit road for a second time during the caution allowing the crew to repair damage to the right-rear quarter panel sustained earlier in the race. The No. 29 team restarted the second segment in the 18th position and worked their way to 10th by the end of the second segment on lap 40. As the laps ticked away, Harvick continued to battle the tight condition while running within the top 10 during the final two 20-lap segments. Per the rules of the Sprint All-Star Race, Harvick made one last visit to pit road during the final caution that came between the fourth and fifth segments of the race for another round of adjustments, positioning the Bakersfield, Calif., native 16th for the restart of the final 10-lap sprint. During the closing laps Harvick continued to work his way toward the front of the field settling into the sixth position by the time the checkered flag fell.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“We had a really fast car during the last segment tonight, the guys made some good adjustments at the end. There was a lot of great racing tonight, I just wish that final segment would have been 20 laps instead of 10 and we might have had a chance to put the Budweiser/Rheem Chevrolet in Victory Lane.”