Richard Childress wore the expression of someone who's learned to operate "in the big picture" as he calmly, thoughtfully answered the tough questions about how his mighty racing organization has endured the struggles and frustration of a winless 2009 season.
Lost in all the Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin championship storylines, and the Dale Jr. non-championship hysteria, is the quiet dismay at RCR, which had three cars in the Chase for the Championship a year ago and not a single one of its now four-car stable qualify this fall.
Harvick led most of the race and then passed Earnhardt with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining. Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.
We're still a few months away from learning who the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be, giving us a little time to banter back and forth about who should be in that critical first class.
I'm curious to see how everything plays out with the criteria for induction. With three premier but separate series – the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – how do you arrive at the finalists given the dominant success several drivers have enjoyed across the three different divisions?
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears gave all the right answers in deferring to the boss' orders, but clearly neither driver was exactly overjoyed by Richard Childress' decision this week to swap their two crews.
"Everybody's positive about it,'' Harvick said, walking quickly to his team trailer after NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.
"When you own the company you have to make the decisions you think are right.''
For for the first time in 2009, Kyle Busch left a race weekend without a race-winning trophy in hand and didn't appear a bit pleased with the way that happened.
Kevin Harvick nudged Busch's No. 51 in turn four at Martinsville Speedway and passed him for the lead with 10 laps to go in the rain-postponed Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250 to win the event, but not before Busch fell deep in the field.
While trying to straighten out a fender by brushing the infield wall under caution, Busch crossed the pit road commitment line and earned a penalty for not pitting. Busch was relegated to a 17th-place finish in the Kroger 250, and afterwards, dashed directly towards the track's exit to the motor home lot.
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kevin Harvick proved just how strong his organization is Saturday by winning the Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway in his own race car.
Harvick led 44 laps in his Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned Chevrolet, his first victory in a car fielded by the race team he built with his wife.
"It is very emotional, he's tried so hard, so long in his own stuff," Delana Harvick said in Victory Lane. "Today was his day."
Two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway, Kevin Harvick failed to finish -- snapping a streak of 81 straight races that the California driver had been running at the checkered flag.
Harvick was just three finished races shy of breaking the modern era record until a ruptured oil filter sent the No. 29 "streaking", if you will, into ACS' turn one wall.
This week, though, Harvick was featured on the Performance Racing Network's "Garage Pass" and delivered the news: the streak didn't have to end.
A friend from Denver -- a new NASCAR fan -- called up the morning after the Daytona 500 disappointed and feeling like he got short-changed.
He said stopping the race 48 laps short felt like watching an NFL game being played in bad weather with the referees just deciding whoever was ahead in the third quarter got the win.
As I explained to him -- and as Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth has unfortunately felt obligated to explain on every talk show appearance he's made since earning his first 500 trophy -- everyone knows the game and Kenseth's team simply played it best.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It wasn't a full race, but for the driver from Cambridge, Wisc., it's still the Daytona 500.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, won the rain-shortened 51st running of the Daytona 500 Sunday night after NASCAR stopped the event 48 laps from the scheduled distance.
Richard Childress wore the expression of someone who's learned to operate "in the big picture" as he calmly, thoughtfully answered the tough questions about how his mighty racing organization has endured the struggles and frustration of a winless 2009 season.
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- 
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- 
For for the first time in 2009, 
Two weeks ago at
A friend from Denver -- a new NASCAR fan -- called up the morning after the Daytona 500 disappointed and feeling like he got short-changed. 
