Stewart, Harvick get momentum for 600

CONCORD, N.C. - Considering the vast discrepancy in track characteristics between day and night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart take little away from Saturday's Carquest 300 NASCAR Busch Series race but the solace of a top five finish and a small helping of momentum.

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Harvick finished third in the No. 21 Chevrolet, but said the race was useless as far as information for Sunday is concerned.

"It's kind of like practice, a waste of time. There's nothing you can use for the race tomorrow," Harvick said. "We just have to go home and reassess where we are with our programs and what we're gonna do with everything."

VIDEO CLIPS Kyle Busch celebrates his second victory of 2004 Play video Hear from the top finishers Play video Final laps Play video Harvick and Biffle mix it up Play video Billy Parker takes a hard hit in the early laps Play video

Stewart did plenty with Harvick's Busch Series program Saturday. Driving a Chevrolet owned by Harvick and sponsored by his rock star buddy Kid Rock, Stewart rallied from a rear shock problem to finish fifth.

"We need to get better. We tried to get it fixed," Stewart said. "We had to work our way from the back to the front. I'm pretty fond of Kevin's guys, and Richard Childress' crew. There at the end, Kevin and I were about the same. We had a pretty respectable run."

Stewart starts sixth Sunday in the No. 20 Chevy, while Harvick will roll off 23rd. Neither has ever won the Coca-Cola 600, and Stewart finished 40th in this race last year but rallied to win the UAW GM Quality 500 last fall. Overall, Stewart has finished sixth or better in seven of ten races at Charlotte.

He enters this weekend's event fifth in the championship standings following a fourth-place run at Richmond two weeks ago. One year ago he was 17th in the overall standings.

Harvick finished second in his first career start at Charlotte, the 2001 Coca-Cola 600. In six LMS starts, Harvick has scored three top-10s.