Notes: Harvick continues consistency in the Chase

DOVER, Del. -- While some Chase contenders are making noise either by winning races or blowing engines, Kevin Harvick is positioning himself as the quiet, consistent threat to win the Cup championship.

The No. 29 team's sixth-place finish Sunday at Dover International Speedway marked Harvick's eighth consecutive top-10 finish.

"The Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet was awesome [Sunday]," Harvick said. "I think we only made a few minor adjustments on it during the race. I am just really proud of all my guys and I really think we still have the momentum to win this thing."

Crew chief Todd Berrier said it's a good way to start the Chase, but in order to win the Cup championship, the team is going to have to take it to the next level.

"We need to win a race. But if you can run 10th or sixth or fifth, you can win a race. That's what you've got to do," Berrier said. "You've got to crawl before you can walk. I think we are consistently a lot better and looking for a little something to take that next step."

Scary Monster

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a dismal race with a 24th-place finish at Dover. The No. 88 suffered a blown right-rear tire on Lap 141. Earnhardt managed to keep his Chevy off the wall, but the tire damaged the fender of the car.

"I didn't really know where I was on the racetrack. That thing scared me. It sounded like a shotgun going off. By the time I got un-scared, I was a little bit behind on trying to correct it. But it was loud," said Earnhardt, who finished three laps down to the leader and now sits ninth in the Chase standings.

Earnhardt blamed the Dover track and contends drivers can only run the bottom.

"If you move to the top, it's just like what we had at Indianapolis. It wears the tire out," he said. "They need to fix it."

The No. 88 team never was able to repair the damage and just lost laps as result of the damage.

"I really hate how it hurt our points race, but that was the best we could do [Sunday]. We didn't put the right setup underneath it. Me and Tony [Eury] Jr. worked on that direction [Sunday], but it was the wrong direction. So, we'll try to rebound next week."

Best of the rest

Mark Martin was the only driver mixing it up at one point with the Roush Fenway 1-2-3 sweep. He finished fourth.

"Tony Gibson and these guys gave me a shot to win this thing and I can't tell you what it means to me," Martin said of his crew chief and crew. "I was up on the wheel and I gave it everything I can and everything I have. You know, it just wasn't enough for that 45-lap run.

"Man, this thing was awesome on long runs, it was really coming before that last caution. Even after that last caution, I thought we might have something for them, I just couldn't run with those guys for about 20 laps, they were really fast."

Complete Coverage
• Inside the Chase for the Sprint Cup