Race/Date: Ford 400 – Nov. 16, 2008

Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, Fla.

Start Position: Fifth

Finish Position: Second

Points Position: Fourth (Gained one position)

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. That is exactly what happened to Kevin Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil Racing team on Sunday evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After starting fifth for Sunday’s Ford 400, Harvick battled with an ill-handling race car but was able to maintain his footing in the top 10 for the majority of the race. However, a call by crew chief Todd Berrier to top off their gas tank during the last caution period, with 59 laps to go on the 1.5-mile oval, landed the No. 29 team a second-place finish in the 2008 finale.

The top-five showing propelled Harvick from fifth to fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, equaling his career-best performance in 2006.

With the second-place finish, Harvick closed out the final 10 races of the season with an impressive 9.1 finishing average.

When the 43-car field took the green flag, Harvick began his march up the scoring pylon. He was fourth on lap four, third two laps later and second by lap 27. The 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner maintained the second position for the next 22 laps but was suffering from a tight-handling Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS.

Green-flag pit stops began on lap 49 and Berrier elected to keep his driver out on the race track for three more circuits so he could lead a lap and gain five valuable bonus points.

Harvick made the hard left-hander down pit road on lap 42 with Berrier calling for fresh tires, with a minor air pressure adjustment to two of the four tires and a full tank of fuel. After the field cycled through the green-flag stops, Harvick was listed second on lap 54.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native maintained the second position for the next 34 laps but developed a loose-handling condition that would plague him for the majority of the race. He fell to fifth before the second round of green-flag stops began on lap 124.

Berrier summoned his driver to pit road two laps later for four fresh Goodyear’s, fuel and a spring rubber to the left-rear. Harvick was fifth when green-flag stops concluded on lap 137.

The 2007 Daytona 500 winner pitted three times over the next 63 laps and received major air pressure and chassis adjustments to improve the handling on the Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. The crew was able to get the bright yellow and red machine back up to speed and Harvick was able to return his attention to the front of the field.

The call of the race came during the final caution flag on lap 206. Berrier summoned Harvick to pit road for a gas-and-go stop. Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon were the only other drivers on the lead lap to follow this strategy.

The two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion restarted 16th on lap 206 and began working his way through the field. On lap 216 he was 15th, 14th on lap 217 and 13th on lap 219 when the leaders began their green-flag stops for fuel. Since Harvick topped off with fuel on lap 206, he didn’t have to stop for the remainder of the race.

The 32-year-old driver took over the second spot on lap 265 when Matt Kenseth and David Ragan ran out of gas. Just when it looked like Harvick would get his first win of the season, Carl Edwards’ gamble on fuel paid off and he finished 7.54 seconds in front of the No. 29 machine.

McMurray finished third, Gordon was fourth and Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer was fifth.

Harvick’s fellow RCR teammate, Jeff Burton, was involved in an incident on lap 177, ultimately finishing seven laps down in the 40th spot.

Jimmie Johnson won his third-consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Edwards, Greg Biffle, Harvick and Bowyer rounded out the top five in points. Burton finished sixth in the final run down.

KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET IMPALA SS –

“We were about a lap short on fuel after we came in and pitted and topped off. The Shell-Pennzoil guys made a great call on the final caution to come down and get fuel. We were here to try to win the race and get fourth in points. We got half of that accomplished. I didn’t think we were even racing the No. 99 (Carl Edwards). I was just going as fast as I could to keep Jamie (McMurray) behind me. However, Carl made it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win but we had a great finish to a pretty good season.”