Harvick crew chief didn't want to lose track position

By Bob Pockrass
Monday, May 08, 2006
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BAMBI MATTILA / NASCAR SCENE

Kevin Harvick's car was so good out front during the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway that crew chief Todd Berrier didn't want him to pit on lap 289 with Harvick leading the Nextel Cup race.

While Harvick stayed out, the rest of the field pitted. Running on older tires, Harvick eventually lost the lead and was sixth when everyone pitted again under caution with about 50 laps remaining.

Harvick, who led 272 laps of the race, wound up third.

Berrier figured if Harvick pitted on lap 289, other drivers would stay out.

"When you're leading the race, they're going to do the opposite of what you're going to do," Berrier said after the race. "That's kind of the way it works. ... I didn't want to come back and be 10th on the race track."

If there were no cautions after the pit stops on lap 289, only Harvick would have had to pit. But Berrier was confident that everyone would pit again.

"I knew everybody would [pit again]," Harvick said. "Not that they had to. I knew they would. And they did."

Harvick's car got tighter over the final 100 laps.

"We weren't aggressive enough [with changes]," Berrier said. "It's awful easy to play it a little bit different when you're chasing somebody instead of getting chased. It's just a bad position to be in."

The crew chief obviously was disappointed.

"We had a good car, but at the end of the day we didn't win the race," Berrier said. "It hurts."

Mentioned Drivers: Kevin Harvick

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2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings

Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

1 Jimmie Johnson 6492
2 Mark Martin -108
3 Jeff Gordon -169
4 Kurt Busch -211
5 Tony Stewart -285
6 Juan Pablo Montoya -289
7 Greg Biffle -321
8 Denny Hamlin -352
9 Ryan Newman -411
10 Kasey Kahne -476
11 Carl Edwards -520
12 Brian Vickers -666

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