NASCAR Cup Series

Harvick wins big as Talladega runner-up

Published Nov. 1, 2010 2:18 a.m. ET

foxsports

Kevin Harvick executed his Talladega game plan perfectly — well, almost.

While he didn’t win the Amp Energy Juice 500, finishing second to teammate Clint Bowyer was one hell of a consolation prize.

In the early laps at Talladega on Sunday, Harvick was in command. He’d been to the point four times and led seven laps while title rivals Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson struggled to keep pace.

But things didn’t go as smoothly later in the race.

Harvick received collateral damage from a wreck triggered by Dale Earnhardt Jr. running into the back of Jeff Burton on Lap 134. After multiple trips to the pits to ensure the car’s drivability, Harvick returned to the battle but was shuffled to the back. Three laps later, he was in a melee again.

"I knew we had some damage on the front,” Harvick said. “The side-skirt, I just saw the cars wrecking in front of me, and we were able to just jerk left and try to stay out of the wreck. As the race went on, I could see the bear bond (repair adhesive) and tape start to fly off the front, so I knew we had a big dent up there.

“It is a little bit worse than I thought. It was actually with the hood detached from the nose. They did a good job fixing it."

Still, he was concerned.

Harvick conserved his equipment, reserving the integrity of the nose for drafting in the closing laps when track position mattered most. His team and others at RCR lined up possible racing partners so when the opportunity arose, Harvick would have help.

It was go time as the race restarted following the fifth caution with four laps to go and Richard Childress came over the radio to spotter Bill O’Dea and made sure David Reutimann would offer an assist.

The two-car breakaway came with Bowyer getting an assist from Juan Pablo Montoya and Reutimann clinging onto the rear of the No. 29 Chevrolet. As the two pairs pulled away coming to the white flag, a five-car wreck ensued behind the leaders.

Although it appeared Harvick held the lead entering Turn 1, NASCAR’s timing and scoring loops declared Bowyer the winner. The final rundown wasn’t determined until the post-race interviews had begun.

“When it came down to the restart, I thought we were in better shape than we would have been just letting it play out,” Harvick said. “I knew the No. 00 was a good pusher behind me. I just got myself attached to the 56. I saw cars start peeling away from the front of him. I could feel him hitting the front of his car into my car. It was one of those deals where it was time to go. You just got to keep pushing and hope for the best there.

“Cool that it came down to myself and Clint. We didn't know who won. I knew that we had beat him to the start/finish line, but I didn't know when the caution had come out.

“Great day for RCR, great day for our points position. We're headed to Texas.”

When the dust settled, Harvick was scored second, Johnson seventh and Hamlin in ninth. Johnson extended his points lead to 14 over Hamlin, but the 38 points separating third-place Harvick from Johnson with three races remaining is the closest margin between first and third since NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup format began.

As a result, Harvick expects the final three contests — Texas, Phoenix and Homestead — to be hardcore.

“One of the three guys is going to finish in the top five overall over the last three races,” Harvick said. “If you're not able to do that and be in contention to lead laps, you're probably not going to win the championship.

“You can't be conservative. You can't go there hoping for a top 10 because, as you've seen over the past few years, top fives, leading the laps is what it's going to take over the next three weeks. I just believe it's one of three cars that is going to do that, and hopefully we can keep pace.”

Let's make a deal

What will it take for Chip Ganassi to decide?

Ford Racing has been courting Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to join its camp since the Brickyard 400 in late July.

In the past three months, Ford has sweetened the pot while Ganassi keeps returning to General Motors requesting more money to stay.

The latest deal? Ganassi would receive $4 million per car and a piece of the Earnhardt Childress Racing Technology — which makes the engines for his teams as well as Richard Childress Racing — if he remains with Chevrolet. A similar deal has been proposed by Ford with Ganassi vaulting to the No. 2 position in the blue oval camp as opposed to fourth at Chevy behind Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.

However, there appear to be two concerns with the Ford scenario. Given Jack Roush’s long relationship with Ford, would the Ganassi organization be treated as equals, or would Roush Fenway Racing interfere with the program? And second, since Roush’s name is on Roush Yates engines, would the Ganassi powerplants be equal?

Last year, Ganassi participated in the manufacturer dance with Toyota before opting to remain with Chevrolet. The outcome was revealed during the fall Texas race. Expect history to repeat itself.

Numbers game

Say what?

Kevin Harvick while sitting next to Jimmie Johnson during the post-race news conference: “No offense to him, but someone else needs to win.”

Johnson: “Says who?”

Harvick: “Everybody but them wants somebody else to win. I like Jimmie as good as anybody. But for the sake of the sport, one of the two of us needs to make something happen. I can promise you that (laughter). “