NASCAR Cup

Talladega II: Harvick post-race press conference

KEVIN HARVICK , NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Finished 2nd: "It was real exciting from the driver's seat. But our GM Goodwrench Chevrolet was good all day and Robby (Gordon) and myself and Jeff Burton really worked well together.

Published: Oct 5, 2004, 3:38 PM

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KEVIN HARVICK , NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Finished 2nd:

"It was real exciting from the driver's seat. But our GM Goodwrench Chevrolet was good all day and Robby (Gordon) and myself and Jeff Burton really worked well together. That was the only way we were going to beat the No. 8 (Dale Jr.).

"And we actually drove up there and drove by him. But we had to pit one more time. Myself and Robby got up there and the No. 21 (Ricky Rudd) kind of blocked him and got him back and gave the No. 8 a shot to get up in there and he drove around us. Myself and Dale (Jarrett) were back there watching the No. 8 win again."

DID TEAM OWNERS PLAY A ROLE IN THE RACING TODAY?

"We had a strategy going in - myself and Robby and Jeff - to work together all that we could that was beneficial as long as one didn't put the other one in a bad spot. It worked well all day. We worked together as long as we could and get ourselves to the front, and sometimes it wouldn't. We told each other before the race that we weren't going to get mad at each other and just leave each other hanging for the rest of the day. And that's what we had to do. Once we all three got lined up there, we passed 12 or 13 cars there, and people realized they were going to have to go with us because we were all three lined up. So it was a good day for our team. We've been struggling to get a top five and get back up and have a chance to win the race is what we needed to do."

ISN'T IT SOMEWHAT IRONIC THAT EVERYONE TENDS TO FOLLOW DALE JR. AS THE MOST DOMINANT CAR?

"Well, it pisses me off to tell you the truth. I'm sitting back there running 15th and there are 14 cars in front of me that won't budge and they're running all the way up against the fence. And I'm telling them on the radio that there is no way you can beat these guys if you just follow them around the race track. Once Robby and myself and Jeff got to working together and got down there, then everybody realized that you can pass the No. 8 and I guess it's okay to get behind these three cars instead of sitting back here and run 20th and run up against the wall. I don't want to sit back there and run 15th. I kept going down there and trying hoping that somebody would follow me eventually and eventually it all got split up and we got up there."

ON RCR'S TROUBLES THIS YEAR AND WHAT A GOOD FINISH AT TALLADEGA DOES FOR THE NO. 29 TEAM

"It gives us confidence going into the last seven races or whatever we've got here. But it also doesn't need to send false signals that everything is okay, because everything is not okay. We've struggled. Our downforce stuff is off. Our engines are off. And we've got to make sure we get it better. If we don't, we're going to keep getting beat. And instead of following, we've got to be trying to be the leaders and getting something to get an advantage. If we don't do that, we're still going to be battling for 10th on the downforce tracks -- our restrictor plate stuff. We have a good program for racing and we have a really good race team. They've got to have the support though."

REFERRING TO THE WRECK THAT STERLING MARLING WAS IN, WERE YOU AT ALL CONFUSED COMING DOWN PIT ROAD?

"No. We were on pit road. We knew the caution had just come out. We were going to get gas and that was it. It was like road racing at that point you know you've kind of rolled the dice and got lucky. We didn't really roll the dice, we were planning on coming in. But we got lucky. We put gas in our car and did everything and everybody in front of us that didn't pit had to pit under under caution, and we got track position."

CAN YOU COMMENT ON HITTING YOUR CREW GUY?

"I just picked the wrong pit stall and overshot the pits. But they were all all right. That's the main thing."

-gm racing-

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