Notes: Kenseth takes blame for Harvick crash

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- A simple miscommunication might have cost Kevin Harvick a top-10 finish in Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Harvick had restarted eighth, sandwiched between Matt Kenseth and Sterling Marlin, with 79 laps remaining after the race's ninth caution.

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Harvick quickly passed Kenseth, but only five laps later, Kenseth hit Harvick's car in the left rear, sending Harvick into the wall.

Harvick pitted and remained on the lead lap, but his car was badly crippled. Less than 20 laps later, he was in Turn 2 when he got tied up with Derrike Cope and Ricky Craven.

Despite all that, Harvick remained on the lead lap, but was 19th at the finish. His finish knocked him back two spots in the Nextel Cup point standings, to 10th, 164 behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Harvick quickly left the racetrack without comment. Kenseth said he thought Harvick was signaling him to pass him, and when he realized that was not Harvick's intent, it was too late.

"That was my fault," Kenseth said. "He was running on the outside and I was on the inside. I had been having trouble getting going on restarts and everyone would kind of get by me on the outside.

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"He had a good run on the outside and we were still kind of side-by-side and he started waving at me out of his window. I assumed he just wanted me to stay on the bottom, so I drove in there on the bottom like I always did and he hooked a left in front of me and just hit the brakes.

"I just couldn't get whoa'ed up in time."

The incident didn't spoil Kenseth's run into eighth place, only his third Martinsville top-10 finish in nine career starts.

"It was a lot better than we expected," Kenseth said. "We sure run bad here, usually, so to finish eighth and get a top 10 here, I'm pretty happy with that.

"You always want to do better and be a contender to win, but we came a long ways from where we were yesterday in practice."

Rudd unhapppy with Kahne

Virginia driver Ricky Rudd was somewhat incensed after he felt Kasey Kahne cost him a shot at a top-10 finish.

	Kahne (left) finished 21st in his first Martinsville start.

"We were alright until we got to the lapped car of Kasey Kahne," Rudd said. "I don't know what he was doing. He was racing us really hard. He was a lap down and we were on the lead lap and we got together (because) he wouldn't get out of the way.

Kahne had lost a couple laps earlier in the race when his Dodge had also suffered a flat.

"His fenders were stuck out there real wide," Rudd said. "I don't know if he had a previous wreck or what, but a fender cut our tire down and we had to pit and lost two laps. I think we had a top-10 car, but we just ended up 20th."

Rudd suggested Kahne needed a driving lesson.

"It (run-in) was uncalled for," Rudd said. "He was racing too hard. He was laps down. I guess he's got something to learn. He's a great driver but he's got some etiquette to learn."

Sadler finishes 12th despite brake problems

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Elliott Sadler, another Virginian who has only one Martinsville top-10 finish on his resume, was securely in 10th with less than 50 laps to go when his brakes began to fade. Sadler finished 12th.

"That's pretty disappointing to have a fifth or sixth place car most of the day," Sadler said. "I just wore my brakes out from using them too much.

"I wore my front ones out and all I had was rear brakes left at the end of the race and I really couldn't race with those guys. I learned a lesson today and we'll try to get 'em next week."

Jarrett rallies to score top-10 run

Conversely to Sadler's result, Robert Yates Racing teammate Dale Jarrett was coming on at the end. Jarrett pitted late and went from 19th to 10th with only 37 laps to go.

VIDEO CLIPS Robby Gordon has trouble with his teammate Play video Ken Schrader hits the wall Play video A hole in the track damages Jeff Gordon's car Play video Drivers discuss track conditions during the long delay Play video Final laps Play video Victory Lane Play video Hear from the top five finishers at Martinsville Play video

"We had good strategy but not very good execution," Jarrett said. "We'll work on that, but we just never got the car to where I could get up off the corner.

"That's why I couldn't pass at the end even with the fresher tires. We had good strategy and worked hard and made a top-10 out of it."

Dale Jr.: Motor was 'awful'

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quite bemused early in the Advance Auto Parts 500, when he determined that he was unable to advance any further into the top-five in the race due to a weak engine in his Chevrolet.

"I didn't think we could build a motor that was that awful," Junior said over his radio at one point within the first 30 laps.

He persevered to never fall below 20th, and to run in the top-five for the entire second half of the race.

Morgan-McClure to run two cars at Talladega

Morgan-McClure Motorsports will run two Chevrolets next weekend in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

In addition to its standard No. 4, MMM will also run a No. 04 Chevy for Eric McClure.

McClure said Robert Larkins would be the listed crew chief for the car, but that he would be part of a "committee" that would oversee it.

Team owner Larry McClure said Sunday he has a meeting set Monday with former sponsor YokeTV.com, with a possibility that the organization could still sponsor his car for more races this season.