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And Gordon, last week's winner at Watkins Glen International, ended up sixth.
That's the best combined finish of all three cars this season. In fact, it's the best combined finish for RCR since Childress began fielding three cars in late 2001.
"It's not only good for myself, it's good for Richard Childress Racing, which had all three of its cars in the top six," Park said. "I'm glad it's over with, man. A top five, that's pretty cool."
 | VIDEO CLIPS | |  | Hear post-race comments from Harvick, Kenseth
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| |  | Bodine, K.Wallace walk away from a fiery crash
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Top-five finishes had been rare for RCR before this season. The team had 10 last year, and only seven the season before.
But in 2003, the three teams have finished in the top five 11 times: six by Harvick, four by Gordon and one by Park.
Harvick, for one, believes his No. 29 team is as good as when it was the No. 3 driven by the late Dale Earnhardt.
"We're every bit as good as they were the last five years," Harvick said. "We're winning races and we're in the top five every week. I feel right now that this is part of my team. It's Todd (Berrier) and Gil (Martin) and all the guys from my Busch car.
"Obviously, there is a respect factor from Dale's point. He built our organization up to what it is today and had a big part to do with that with Richard.
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| Kevin Harvick moved up a spot to fourth in the standings. Credit: Autostock |
"But it feels good to go get in the car and know that I've been a part of building something. Right now I think we're better than we were in 2001 by quite a bit and I think that's starting to show. It's a lot of fun."
Harvick should be having fun. He's finished in the top five in four of the last five races, with a victory at Indianapolis and a second at Michigan and New Hampshire.
Harvick didn't lead the most laps at Michigan, but after pitting for gas and tires with 52 laps to go, he charged through the field to challenge the leaders.
"We had a dominant car all day and as you know from (Saturday's Busch race), the dominant car doesn't always win," Harvick said. "Ryan (Newman) had a better car at the end of that last run.
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| Since winning at Sonoma, Robby Gordon has piled on five top-10 finishes. Credit: Autostock |
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"There was no doubt about it. He got around me and just got too far out in front of me for me to catch him. The car was a little bit freer than it had been all day. It was really strong at the end of the run but it was just a little bit too late. But we'll take it."
Park will certainly take his result. He hasn't finished as high since coming home second at Dover more than two years ago.
"It was a great run for the America Online Chevrolet, Mike Beam and all the guys," Park said. "We're brand-new and me and (crew chief) Mike (Beam) are just jelling together.
"It was a great effort on their part. We got good gas mileage and Mike made a good call in the pits. I was conserving there at the end and Robby was catching me, so we had get to racing there when I didn't know if we had enough fuel to go the last lap.
"It was great. That's what having great teammates like Robby and Kevin Harvick is all about. I'm just happy to be here with a good top-five finish for a team that's new, it's been struggling."
Park's finish came at a good time. Last week at Watkins Glen, Childress said he'd make a decision on who would drive the No. 30 car by the middle of October.
R. Gordon: Third-best in last six races
Gordon's future with RCR is certainly secure, and his No. 31 team is much improved. With victories at Watkins Glen at Sonoma, Gordon has finished seventh or better in six of the last eight races.
"It was a good run for us all in all," Gordon said of Michigan. "I raced Steve pretty hard. That was kind of fun. It is what it is. We just continue to get better and better as a team, the cars are getting better and we're scoring more points, so that's a good thing."
It's always a good thing when all of your drivers leave smiling, which is what happened to the RCR bunch Sunday.
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