Kevin Harvick Earns a 13th-Place Finish at Auto Club Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400
March 24, 2013 Auto Club Speedway

Kevin Harvick drove the No. 29 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet to a 13th-place finish after showing dominance in the Auto Club 400. The California native started the 200-lap event from the 14th position and quickly settled into the top five by lap 23. Happy with the handling of the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, crew chief Gil Martin called Harvick down pit road on lap 69 for four tires and fuel. During the stop, NASCAR officials cited Harvick for speeding on pit road which resulted in a drive-through penalty, putting Harvick back to the 27th position. As the laps ticked away, the 37-year-old driver posted some of the fastest lap times and worked his way back toward the front, settling back into the top five on lap 122. Harvick remained a fixture in the top five until he began to lose grip in the red and black machine, causing him to lose track position during late-race restarts. Harvick fell back as far as 14th during the final laps, ultimately crossing the finish line in the 13th position. With the top-15 finish, Harvick moved up two positions, to 15th, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

This was not the result our team should have left with today. The Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was really fast all day, we just lost grip and track position at the end. We’ll enjoy a weekend off, then regroup and hope for a better result when we go to Martinsville Speedway in two weeks. – Kevin Harvick

Race Notes

• Started – 14th, Finished, – 13th,  Laps led – 1, Points – 15th
• Harvick ranks fifteenth in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing point leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
• According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Harvick was the second-Fastest driver Late in a Run, had the third-best Driver Rating (110.4), was the fourth-Fastest Driver Early in a Run and ranked fourth in Average Running Position (7.010).
• The RCR entries posted the fastest laps of the race for 19.1 percent of the race, with Harvick with 26 laps.