Harvick innocent, but title dreams are over.

Kevin Harvick watched his 2005 Nextel Cup title hopes all but disappear during Saturday's Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when he caught the worst end of a personal spat between Dale Jarrett and Ryan Newman.

Although Harvick claimed that he and his #29 GM Goodwrench Richard Childress Racing team had 'shot themselves in the foot' after he finished 37th in the 24th round of the 2005 championship, he or his team could hardly be blamed for the crash that took them out of the race and left Harvick six places and 122 points out of contention for the end of season 'Chase for the Championship.'

The weekend got off to a good start for Harvick, who went into the race just four places out of the top ten and still in with a fair shout of making it into the chase. He was 12th fastest in the weekend's only practice and the #29 car was very fast on long green flag runs.

In qualifying, Harvick battled a tight condition during his two Bud Pole qualifying laps around the half-mile high-banked concrete oval, posting the 19th fastest time of the evening at 15.248 seconds.

In pre-race ceremonies on Saturday, Harvick, along with Reese's presented a $10,000 cheque to Kyle Petty and his Victory Junction Gang Camp. Following the presentation, Harvick spent some time with Hollywood director/actor Quinton Tarantino.

Early in the race, Harvick kept his #29 Chevrolet glued to the bottom of the track, and worked his way into 15th position by passing Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart. "The car is too loose into the corner and off," Harvick told crew chief Todd Berrier. On lap 68, Sterling Marlin blew a right front tyre, bringing out the first caution of the evening. The GM Goodwrench crew took advantage of the yellow and changed all four tyres, making an air pressure adjustment to tighten up the chassis. Harvick restarted 12th.

The GM Goodwrench/Reese's Big Cup Chevy continued to run in top-15 during the first quarter of the race. On lap 172, the caution was displayed for the fifth time for a spin in turn two. The entire lead pack hit pit road, but the GM Goodwrench team decided to gamble and stayed out. Harvick took over the lead and gained five valuable points for leading a lap.

With only 35 laps on the tyres, everybody expected the #29 to be able to stay in the top-five. But on the restart, Harvick was a sitting duck. He could no longer hug the bottom and quickly dropped back in the pack. Fortunately, the yellow waved just 11 laps later and Harvick was able to pit. He was now 22nd.

Now with fresh tyres, the #29 raced its way from the back. While Harvick made progress, he was never able to get back in the top-15. On lap 317, an apparent "pay back" crash involving Dale Jarrett and Ryan Newman clogged the track in turn two. Harvick dove to the apron and missed Jarrett's machine. But, Newman slid down the track and into Harvick's Chevy. The contact ripped the right front suspension off the car. Harvick told the crew that the throttle was hung as well, before climbing from the wreck and walking to the care centre.

While Harvick made the mandatory trip to the infield medical office, the GM Goodwrench team went to work cutting away sheet metal and repairing the front suspension. Harvick was cleared by the doctors and returned to his motorhome to monitor the repair work via radio and change into a dry fire suit. Feeling that the car was unrepairable, Harvick actually got ready to leave the circuit and was therefore a little surprised when the call came on lap 400 that the team had made repairs and was ready to return to the track.

Unaware that Harvick was preparing to leave the circuit back in his motorhome, Harvick's team scrambled fellow driver Scott Riggs, whose car had retired with transmission problems, while they tried to find Harvick. Riggs was fully suited and booted and ready to take the wheel when Harvick was finally located, the regular driver of the #29 machine returning to the track on lap 425.

Despite wasting 25 laps while they tried to find the driver, Harvick was able to pick up two positions on the racetrack, taking the chequered flag in 37th position. Even so, the finish virtually ended the GM Goodwrench team's hope of making the Chase for the Championship, as Harvick is now 16th in points, 122 markers out of 10th with two races to go.