Cut tire keeps Harvick from victory at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kevin Harvick was the hottest driver on the track in Wednesday night's O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Maybe a little too hot.

	Kevin Harvick has one Craftsman Truck Series victory. He nearly had a second on Wednesday. Credit: Autostock

Harvick led 124 of the 200 laps around Bristol's high-banked short track, but as he was driving to the white flag, his right-front tire went flat, and Harvick slammed the wall.

Harvick went from a dominating victory, his second in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, to a disappointing 10th-place finish.

"The Goodyear guys just told me it melted the bead," Harvick said. "You know, just disappointed more than anything. It took a pretty good shot. I've never come to the white flag, leading the race, just cruising along and pop the tire.

"Live and learn. I guess it's just not meant for me to win many races in this truck."

"This is my favorite place. It's either feast or famine for us, it seems like. We've been very successful here. We were successful tonight. We just came up one lap short."

Harvick, who led comfortably from lap 75 to lap 198, was in unknown territory.

"I've never had that happened coming to the white flag," Harvick said. "I've wrecked, got wrecked or wrecked somebody coming to the white flag. But never had a mechanical failure on the last lap. Nothing wrong with the tire. We just got a little too aggressive and melted the bead."

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Goodyear engineers told Harvick the tire was otherwise fine, and the setup of the truck didn't cause the failure. Harvick blamed it on not getting enough cooling to the tire.

"It just went," Harvick said. "We probably just got a little too aggressive: no brake ducts, no hoses. We wound up having to use a little more brake in the race than we did in practice. Just one of those deals."

Harvick qualified 10th but was clearly one of the trucks to beat, easily moving to the front of the field. But under an early caution, crew chief Butch Hylton brought Harvick to pit road as soon as Harvick could make it on fuel.

"That's the only way to do it," Harvick said. "Once you get up front here, you can set your own pace and you don't have to burn your stuff up in traffic."

The strategy was brilliant, and Harvick had it in the bag. Until ...