Solid Effort Nets Kevin Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil Team Top-10 Finish in Martinsville

Race: Tums Fast Relief 500 – October 25, 2009
Venue: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway
Start: 10th
Finish: 10th
Points: 21st (Maintains Position)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet team turned a top-10 qualifying position into their seventh top-10 finish of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway in Sunday’s 500-lap race.

After posting the 17th quickest time in Friday’s afternoon practice session, Gil Martin and team made a few tweaks to the set up on the red and yellow Chevy for qualifying later in the day. Harvick was able to make the most of the adjustments and was clocked at 19.774 seconds, a lap fast enough to earn his top-10 starting position of 10th.

With heavy rains rolling through the area on Saturday morning, NASCAR was forced to cancel both NSCS practice sessions for the day. But, with their strong practice and qualifying effort on Friday, the Shell-Pennzoil race team was confident and ready for the task of Sunday afternoon’s event.

When the green flag flew, the Bakersfield, Calif., native wasted little time showing the strength of the No. 29 Chevrolet Impala SS by climbing to sixth by lap 20. The first round of pit stops took place under caution on lap 47.

A slight chassis adjustment was called for to assist Harvick with the handling through the tight, flat turns. Though able to remain in the top-10 running order, Harvick was still in need of grip up off the corners, a condition that continued throughout the race, despite various adjustments in the early stages of the event.

After pitting on lap 160, with Harvick running 16th when the caution flew on lap 176, Martin called for the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy to remain on the track to gain back their earlier track position. Restarting sixth, Harvick was finally able to flex the muscles of his No. 29 machine motoring his way up to third place by lap 190.

With the strategy working well, Martin once again decided to forego pit road through the next two caution periods in favor of track position. This allowed the No. 29 Chevy to remain in the top 10 through the midway point of the Tums Fast Relief 500.

As the laps clicked off in the 263-mile event, small adjustments proved to be the way to go for the remainder of the day as Martin worked through minor chassis and air pressure changes during each of the final four stops.

The adjustments allowed the 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner to race with the front pack throughout the final laps, and to claim his 10th-place finish in the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet.

The top-10 finish helps Harvick remain 21st in points. With four races remaining in the season, the No. 29 team trails Joey Logano by 49 markers.

Virginia native Denny Hamlin captured his second victory at the narrow, paper-clip-shaped track, beating Jimmie Johnson to the checkered flag. Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five finishers.

Harvick’s RCR teammates Jeff Burton, Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer finished 15th, 18th and 19th, respectively.

Next weekend, NASCAR's senior circuit heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the final restrictor-plate race of the season.

Live coverage of the AMP Energy 500 from Talladega Superspeedway begins Sunday, November 1 at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and telecast live on ABC. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 33rd points-paying race on the 36-race tour will be broadcast live on SPEED Saturday, Oct. 31 beginning at 12 p.m. EST and heard worldwide on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE: “Good job all around today by the Shell-Pennzoil team. This is the closest we have been in a long time to putting a total weekend together. Great job to all the guys.”

RCR Developmental Driver to Participate in Drive for Diversity Combine

WELCOME, N.C. (October 14, 2009) – Richard Childress Racing developmental driver Ryan Gifford has been selected for the 2009 Drive for Diversity Testing and Evaluation Combine.

Gifford, along with 29 other participants, will take part in both on-track and off-track evaluations at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. October 19 and 20. Each driver will be rated on their driving skills, how they handle sponsors and field questions from the media.

“I’m excited about getting selected to participate in this program,” Gifford said. “The Drive for Diversity Combine should give me an opportunity to improve not only my driving skills, but also the other responsibilities that go along with being a top-level driver.”

Gifford began racing go-karts near his hometown of Winchester, Tenn. at the age of nine. He moved his way up the ranks on local dirt tracks before catching the eye of Mike Dillon, Vice President of Competition at RCR and owner of Team Dillon Racing. He was signed to RCR’s driver development program in 2008.

“Ryan is a young driver with a lot of potential,” Dillon said. “He gives great feedback to his team, no matter what he’s driving, and he’s excelled in dealing with the media and sponsors. He’s adapted quickly to stock cars, and I think the Drive for Diversity program will help him grow even more.”

This season, Gifford has driven a host of dirt and asphalt late model stocks, along with five combined starts in the NASCAR Camping World Series East and West divisions. In those NCWS starts, the 20-year old driver has two second-place and four top-10 finishes. He has completed all 715 laps contested and boasts a 6.2 average finish.

“This season has been fun,” Gifford said. “We’ve had some solid runs and I’ve learned a lot about how these heavier stock cars handle. Being involved in the Drive for Diversity Combine is definitely going to teach me a lot more and, hopefully, will allow me to turn those solid runs into victories next season.”