Kevin Harvick moved to 13th in the standings. Credit: Autostock

Harvick shows plenty of downforce power

Debris on grill helps car turn, lead 33 laps at California

FONTANA, Calif. -- Kevin Harvick knew he had a good car in the Auto Club 500, just needed a bit more downforce on the front end of the GM Goodwrench Chevy to truly show his mettle.

Problem was, he didn't want to waste time adding tape to the grill.

	Checkered history Kevin Harivck posted his best-ever finish at Fontana on Sunday: Race Finish 2001 25th 2002 35th 2003 29th 2004-spring 9th 2004-fall 28th 2005-spring 6th Sunday's top finishers talk about their day at Fontana Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Turns out he wouldn't need that tape, after all, after a secret weapon fell from the sky.

"We had a piece of paper on the grill that we elected to leave on there, and it was really helping the car turn," said Harvick, who would eventually finish sixth.

"We just needed to put some more tape on the grill, it looked like. With 20 laps to go it fell off and we got tight, lost some ground."

Lost some ground in Sunday's race, maybe. But compared to seasons past, he's gaining at California.

In five California Speedway starts prior to Sunday, Harvick had only finished in the top 10 once (last May).

In the other four starts, he finished 25th or worse each time, including a 28th-place run here last fall.

"We've never run good out here, so to come out and run in the top-10, top-five all day is really big," Harvick said. "We were runner up in the Busch race, then to come out here and almost get a top-five is really good for us."

Harvick leaves Fontana 13th in the point standings, up 13 positions from last week. He'll take it.

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"I think we passed 15 or 16 cars in the first 10 laps, drove right to the front and stayed there all day," he said.

So he owes it all to a stray piece of debris?

"Naw, we still had a top-10 car, anyway," he laughed. "But it definitely helped."