Lap 501: John Andretti spins, but there's no caution. Harvick finishes ninth. He says, "This is the closest we've been here in a while."

Lap 500: On the restart, Harvick is in 10th place. This should be interesting, a green-white-checkered finish ...

Lap 495: Scott Speed, who has had his share of trouble today, pastes the wall again. The caution is out.

Lap 493: Traffic has still not sorted itself out after the restart. Harvick is in 10th place, 3.48 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 489: Harvick is 13th when the green flag comes back out.

Lap 484: After debating what to do during this caution period, Harvick opts to pull onto pit road. The stop is the best one of the day, taking just 14.4 seconds to complete.

Lap 484: A piece of debris on the frontstretch causes another caution.

Lap 475: There are 25 laps to go. Harvick is in ninth place, 7.79 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 466: Harvick takes ninth place by muscling his way past Carl Edwards.

Lap 456: Harvick gets back into the top 10 with a move on Bobby Labonte.

Lap 449: Harvick is 13th on the restart.

Lap 446: Harvick pits during the caution, despite having just stopped about 10 laps earlier. It's a better stop, lasting 14.8 seconds.

Lap 443: The caution is out.

Lap 440: After the cycle of green-flag stops, Harvick is 13th, 15.4 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 437: Harvick is upset that the team waited so long to pit.

Lap 432: Harvick's final stop of the day lasts 16.6 seconds.

Lap 430: Harvick slows to make his way onto pit road.

Lap 413: Carl Edwards takes ninth place from Harvick in turn two.

Lap 411: Harvick says the car is "just horrible sideways."

Lap 400: There are just 100 laps to go. Harvick is in ninth place, 10.34 seconds behind Denny Hamlin.

Lap 385: Jeff Gordon moves Harvick back to eighth place.

Lap 367: Still in seventh place, Harvick is 7.18 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 353: Teammate Clint Bowyer moves around Harvick for sixth place.

Lap 349: Harvick moves back into sixth place after mkaing a move on David Reutimann.

Lap 344: Ryan Newman drops Harvick to seventh coming off turn two. Harvick says the car is getting "looser and looser."

Lap 325: Mark Martin grabs fifth from Harvick.

Lap 323: Harvick is now fourth, 2.72 seconds behind new leader Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 312: Harvick has picked up fourth spots since the restart, moving up to sixth. He's now 2.43 seconds behind leader David Reutimann.

Lap 309: Martin Truex Jr. spins, but there's no caution.

Lap 308: Harvick is 10th when the race gets going again.

Lap 302: Harvick pits. The stop lasts just 14.6 seconds. Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya nearly make contact on exit.

Lap 300: A stalled car causes ... you guessed it ... another caution period. There are 200 laps of the 0.526-mile facility to go.

Lap 281: The caution period has ended. Harvick is sixth in the running order.

Lap 276: A two-car crash in turn two brings out another yellow flag.

Lap 259: Harick is eighth on the restart.

Lap 254: Harvick's pit stall is basically in turn two, so it takes him a while to get there. This stop lasts 15.2 seconds.

Lap 251: A.J. Allmendinger spins at the halfway point of the race. The caution is out. Harvick says the car isn't getting any worse.

Lap 217: Harvick appeared to bounce back and forth between Jimmie Johnson and the wall, but he maintains control.

Lap 216: The green flag is shown to the field again. Harvick is in third place.

Lap 210: Kasey Kahne spins in turn two. Yep ... there's another caution!

Lap 202: Harvick has moved all the way to third when the green flag comes back out.

Lap 198: Harvick says the car is better in the center of the turns, but still needs work off the turn.

Lap 195: Sam Hornish Jr. spins again, to bring out yet another caution.

Lap 187: Now running fourth, Harvick is just 1.06 seconds behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 183: Harvick is sixth on the restart.

Lap 179: Harvick and crew chief Gil Martin agree not to pit, because it's just been 14 laps or so since their last stop.

Lap 177: Penske Racing teammates Sam Hornish Jr. and David Stremme spin on the backstretch to bring out the yellow flag.

Lap 164: The green flag is unfurled again with Harvick in 17th place.

Lap 160: Harvick is on pit road. Just before stopping, crew chief Gil Martin asks if Harvick wants to try a two-tire stop. He doesn't. This time, the stop lasts an acceptable 15.4 seconds.

Lap 158: The caution is out for debris on the track. Harvick says that the chassis changes made so far today have only made the car worse.

Lap 153: Harvick is still in 14th place, 6.4 seconds behind leader Juan Pablo Montoya.

Lap 140: Harvick is locked in heavy traffic.

Lap 137: Harvick is 14th on the restart.

Lap 134: "I can tell you ... we don't have a chance to win," Harvick fumes.

Lap 132: Harvick is on pit road. The crew finishes up in 16.8 seconds. It's not a good stop. "What the h*** is happening?" Harvick complains. "Can't race like that ... it just doesn't work." Crew chief Gil Martin evidently agrees, saying, "That one just sucked."

Lap 129: Dale Earnhardt Jr. pops the wall for the second time today. The caution is out. Harvick will take on four tires and wedge in the left rear of his car.

Lap 115: Harvick says that he's tight in the center of the turns and loose off.

Lap 103: Just in front of Harvick, Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer are trying to figure out a way to get past Jeff Gordon. They're racing hard, and Harvick's spotter tells him to be on the watch for trouble.

Lap 99: Gaining two spots up to seventh, the Shell Chevrolet is now 2.19 seconds behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 95: Harvick is ninth when the race goes back to green.

Lap 90: Harvick's second of the day lasts 16 seconds.

Lap 89: The caution is out for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s accident. Harvick says that the changes made on the previous stop haven't really helped.

Lap 72: Harvick is running 10th, 5 seconds behind leader Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 63: Crew chief Gil Martin says that up and down pit road, teams are experiencing worn right-rear tires.

Lap 56: Water temperature is still an issue. Harvick says it's now up to 250 degrees, and adds that they need to take some tape off the grille.

Lap 54: Teammates Harvick and Clint Bowyer make contact, sending Bowyer up the track a bit.

Lap 51: The green flag is back out with Harvick shown in 12th place.

Lap 48: Harvick asks who took two tires on the stop, and who took four. He sees four cars in front of him that took four. He also asks if the stop was slow, to which crew chief Gil Martin replies, "Not really."

Lap 47: Harvick steers onto pit road with the rest of the field. The stop takes 16 seconds to complete.

Lap 46: The crew is going to take the track bar down in an attempt to remedy the car's looseness.

Lap 44: Michael Waltrip brings out the caution for his spin off turn two.

Lap 40: It's 10 laps until the competition caution. Team owner Richard Childress remarks that Harvick is really getting some bite off the corners.

Lap 39: Harvick blows by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for seventh place. Harvick now trails leader Jeff Gordon by 4.15 seconds.

Lap 26: The car's handling is getting worse. It's very loose.

Lap 20: Now in sixth place, Harvick is 2.77 seconds behind leader Ryan Newman. He says the car is loose.

Lap 15: Harvick has position under Richard Childress Racing teammate Casey Mears, taking over the seventh position.

Lap 13: Harvick is ninth on the restart.

Lap 9: The car is "pretty good ... so far," according to Harvick. Its water temperature is high at about 235 degrees.

Lap 8: The caution is out for a multicar crash.

1:47 p.m.: The green flag is flying!!!

1:47 p.m.: There will be a mandatory caution at lap 50.

1:46 p.m.: Team owner Richard Childress wishes the team well, momentarily interrupting a conversation about the team's pit-road speed.

1:43 p.m.: The field is rolling off pit road. The race will go green the third time by the starter's stand.

1:42 p.m.: Crew chief Gil Martin and Harvick's spotter have just finished discussing how far up pit road Martin can see, to help Harvick find his pit stall later.

1:38 p.m.: The crowd at Martinsville gives the command to start engines.

1:31 p.m.: The group Mountain Heart is in the process of singing the National Anthem.

Race Day, 1:30 p.m.: Rev. Mike Hatfield gives today's invocation.

Pre-Race: Kevin Harvick has never scored a top-five finish in Cup competition at Martinsville in 16 career starts. His best finishes here are a trio of seventh-place finishes. However, Harvick has finished 12th or better in six of the last seven races here.

Harvick qualified 10th for today's event. It's his seventh straight start here of 12th or better.