GM Goodwrench team Race Report:
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. (February 15, 2004) - NASCAR's new premier series sponsor sure knows how to get things started. A visit by President George Bush, Ben Affleck, Whoopi Goldberg, and LeAnn Rhimes helped kicked off their inaugural 2004 season. As far as the racing went, the 46th running of the Great American Race wasn't so great. A massive wreck and off-sequence pit stops left a crippled and divided field, allowing Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sail to his first Daytona 500 victory. GM Goodwrench driver Kevin Harvick was up front all race, but got off pit sequence and couldn't catch the leaders, even with help. He finished fourth, his second top-five finish in three season-openers.
With the great racing that's gone on since the start of Speedweeks, most expected this year's race to be one to remember. Stricter rule and aero-packages evened up the playing field and laid the groundwork for better racing, which is exactly how this Daytona 500 began. The 43-car field hit the 2.5-mile superspeedway two-wide like a freight train under sunny skies, but it didn't last long.
Mark Martin's blown engine on lap eight was a blessing for Team GM Goodwrench. The caution allowed the No. 29 Chevy to pit for tires and gas, putting the team in their fuel window. The stop dropped Harvick back to 18th for the restart on lap 12, but he quickly pushed his way back towards the front on the high side. By lap 20, he was in the top-five for the first time. Six laps later he broke into the top-three.
Drivers in the field that didn't pit under the first caution started green flag pit stops around lap 30. When Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart pitted, the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet took the lead. Three laps later the caution flag flew for a spin in Turn 4. Harvick relinquished the lead to pit for four tires, fuel, and a slight air pressure adjustment. A 13.9-second stop put him seventh when racing went green again on lap 39.
It took a few laps for the field to figure itself out because of the pit sequence. There were several cars up front that were at the tail end of the lead lap and getting by them was a challenge. Harvick used both the high and low lines, but couldn't do much. He sat ninth when another caution flag flew on lap 59. Tight in the corners, crew chief Todd Berrier went with an air pressure adjustment along with four tires and fuel.
Harvick restarted in the same position he came in when the next green flag flew on lap 65. He took to the low line and pushed his way to sixth on lap 71, narrowly escaping the massive wreck on the backstretch that involved 11 cars. The opportunity gave Harvick and the leaders a chance to come down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. It took 10 laps to clear debris and remove a shaken-up Michael Waltrip from his No. 15 Chevy, then they went back racing with the silver and black racing machine in the seventh position.
A lot of shuffling went on over the next 35 laps. Harvick made it all the way to fourth before the car got hot and he had to run up high. That allowed a few drivers to sneak underneath and pushed the No. 29 Chevy back to ninth at the halfway point. With the car now loose and tight, Berrier had Harvick pit on lap 108 for four tires, fuel, and tape off the front grill.
The majority of cars that pitted with Harvick provided a nice draft to get him back within reach of the leaders. He was fourth in a small breakaway of the top-five cars and shuffled around with them over the next 15 laps. When the leaders came to pit road on lap 136, Harvick did his best to follow but was boxed in on both sides. Harvick, Jeff Gordon and a few others had to wait for the next lap to take four tires and fuel.
Green flag pit stops spread the field into a bunch of small drafting lines. Harvick sat seventh, behind Jimmie Johnson and in front of Elliott Sadler, but the three of them couldn't go anywhere. Everyone waited until the last round of pit stops to see if they could get in a better position to make a move on the leaders.
A quick pit stop by Team GM Goodwrench on lap 170 moved Harvick to fifth for the final run, out front of a line of cars trying to draft their way to the small lead pack. They were able to pass Gordon, but didn't have enough to catch the leaders and that left Harvick fourth at the checkered flag.
"It's been a good couple of weeks for us and the GM Goodwrench Chevy," said Harvick on pit road after the race. "We just came up a little bit short on all ends of the stick - the Shootout, the 125s, and now today. It's a good way to start off the season. I just wish the racing was a little bit better for the fans. I was bored. My foot hurts from riding in line. Everyone stayed in line and did all they could. Once we lost the pack and made a mistake getting on to pit road, we just never got back up there. Our car was capable of winning, we just didn't put ourselves in the right spot."
Next up for Kevin Harvick and Team GM Goodwrench…It's on to the sandhills of Rockingham, N.C., for the Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway on Sunday, February 22, 2004. TV coverage of the race will start at 1:00 p.m. EST on FOX. If you can't get to a TV, check your local MRN affiliate beginning at 12:30 p.m. Remember, times and dates of the race may change so check your local listings.