Kevin Harvick, right, and the No. 29 crew had a tough day at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock

Clutch troubles hamper Harvick's chances

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Kevin Harvick sat on a stack of tires in the Martinsville Speedway garage, head in hands, as the Advance Auto Parts 500 field sped by in the background.

He couldn't believe this was happening, especially since it had happened to teammate Dave Blaney last weekend at Bristol: a potential top-five run foiled by a part failure.

"We've got something wrong with the [clutch] pedal," Harvick said. "Same thing happened to Dave Blaney last week, and I don't really know why.

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"It won't engage the clutch, so not the way we wanted to run. There's not much you can do about it. We don't know what's wrong."

Harvick started fifth, and was a top-five mainstay throughout the first half of the event before Joe Nemechek brought out the day's eighth caution with a blown right front tire.

Harvick pitted with the leaders, but following the pit stop was unable to get moving. His team attempted to get the car fired by pushing Harvick down the entire pit road. Unsuccessful, they then surrendered the effort to Blaney, who eased up to Harvick's bumper and attempted to push him to a start.

No go.

So on Lap 263, Harvick took the No. 29 Chevrolet to the garage to replace the clutch.

"It's no good," Harvick said of his fortune. "[The clutch] started screwed up. It's the clutch pedal. We don't know what's wrong. We have all new assemblies this year, and they don't work."

The crew eventually returned Harvick to the track, where he salvaged a 35th-place finish. However, he dropped seven spots to 13th in the point standings. Harvick now trails leader Jimmie Johnson by 256 points.