Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Fast Fixin' Chevrolet team captured a fourth-place finish in the Dollar General 300 Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway after leading laps and battling handling issues throughout the 200-lap event. Starting from the 10th position, the California native found speed in his Richard Childress Racing machine moving into the top five by lap three. Harvick maintained his position toward the front of the pack during the early laps as he battled a tight-handling Chevrolet. The Fast Fixin' pit crew made adjustments to the car during scheduled four-tire pit stops on laps 51 and 90 that allowed the two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion to drive to the front and take over the race lead on lap 105. Harvick paced the field for eight circuits before coming to pit road for right-side tires and fuel under caution. Varying pit strategies placed the No. 33 machine in eighth for the lap 117 restart. Harvick quickly returned to the top five in the running order and remained near the front of the field until misfortune struck on pit road in the form of a dropped lug nut on the left-front tire, costing the team valuable track position. Lining up seventh for the ensuing restart, the RCR driver persevered during the final laps working his way back into the top five, while continuing to battle a tight-handling condition, and brought home a fourth-place finish in his 300th Nationwide Series start.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
"I'm proud of everyone on our Fast Fixin' Chevrolet team tonight. We had a great car, but had a little trouble on pit road at the end that cost us a few spots on the track. The team worked really hard and we were able to make up some ground, but still came up a little bit short."