Fontana doesn't bring out the best in the RCR stable

FONTANA, Calif. -- There was no single reason why not one of Richard Childress Racing's cars finished on the lead lap Sunday in the Auto Club 500, not an underlying problem or any shared misfortune.

Each team produced its own unique set of challenges.

Richard Childress, team owner for RCR, came down from the track suites to the garage after the race collecting explanations.

Auto Club 500

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
2.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
3.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
4.	Greg Biffle	Ford
5.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
6.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
7.	Carl Edwards	Ford
8.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
9.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
10.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
19.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
24.	Casey Mears	Chevrolet
32.	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
38.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet

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"Kevin [Harvick] was really good but he blew an oil filter off, the oil filter blew up," he said. "And Clint [Bowyer] was good but he got behind early. We don't know what happened to [Jeff Burton]. We have a lot of work to do when we get back,"

Their performance was as dreary as the Southern California weather that plagued Sunday's race, which produced four cautions for rain.

On the bright side, Childress said he gleaned some helpful insight from the No. 07 of Casey Mears that could help the team heading into next week's race at Las Vegas.

Mears, in his second race with the new team, finished 24th.

"It was just a really long day. We were just off as a whole," Mears said. "We just need to collectively get together and find out what we need to work on. We got some right front fender damage there at the end and that kind of gave us the direction I think we might need to work with. We learned a lot.

"We got a tough start. But I can tell that these [crew guys] don't get down, which makes it pretty cool. You're going to have days like this but it's just unfortunate we're having them right out of the gate because it's tough on everybody. But we'll get it sorted out and be better for Vegas."

Burton finished 32nd, two laps down, and spent most of the race in the back of the field.

"This certainly wasn't our best effort," he said. "We struggled with a loose handling Chevy for the entire race. We'll just have to re-group and start over in Vegas."

Harvick said his car was "decent" and managed to run up front most of the race. He was in 12th when on Lap 207 -- without warning -- trouble came heading into Turn 1.

"The motor blew up and I just got in my own oil going in the corner there," said Harvick, who as a result crashed into the wall. "We were full speed all the way to the end of the straightaway and the bottom fell out there and just went straight. The worst part about it is we were wide open all the way to the corner and then the bottom just fell out as soon as I let off the gas. There was no warning whatsoever."

Harvick said he had a top-10 car.

"We got off a little bit that run and tightened it up a little bit too much," Harvick said after his 38th-place finish.

Harvick's streak of 81 consecutive races without a DNF -- the longest in Cup Series history -- ended Sunday. The last time he did not finish a race was in 2006 at Dover International Speedway.

In his career, Harvick has just 14 DNFs in 288 starts.