KEVIN HARVICK COLLECTED A COOL $1 MILLION AS WINNER OF THE NEXTEL ALL- STAR CHALLENGE

TEAM CHEVY TAKES THE STRIPE IN TOP SIX FINISHING POSITIONS; FIRST WIN FOR CHEVROLET RO7 ENGINE

Concord, NC - Kevin Harvick captured the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge and collected a $1 million paycheck in his No. 29 Pennzoil Platinum Monte Carlo SS at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Harvick beat two-time All-Star winner and defending Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Monte Carlo SS to the finish in the reverse order of last year's race, when Johnson beat out Harvick.

Mark Martin, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Jeff Burton, No. 31 at&t Monte Carlo SS, Tony Stewart, Home Depot Chevy, and Johnny Sauter, No. 70 Yellow Monte Carlo SS finished third through sixth, respectively, giving the bowtie brigade a top six sweep.

Harvick's win marked the 13th victory for Chevrolet in 23 years running of this non-points event under the lights at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

This was the second million-dollar payday for Harvick, who also earned $1.5 million for winning the '07 series-opening Daytona 500 in February and established himself as a winner of two major events in the sport.

"To win the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race is pretty cool," said Harvick, who gave car owner Richard Childress his first win of the All-Star since racing legend Dale Earnhardt won in 1993. It also marked the 20th year anniversary of Earnhardt's famous pass in the grass.

Childress and Harvick also celebrated the first victory for the new Chevrolet RO7 engine. "This was the first win for GM's RO7 engine and I'm just really happy that Richard Childress Racing got it," said Childress, who just recently formed an engine program with Dale Earnhardt Inc. "We're excited about doing our new deal with DEI. I know that's what Dale would want us to be doing today. Hopefully we can all work together and make both outfits a lot stronger. Kevin really got the job done all night. I'm just proud of the whole team."

The Series returns to regular points racing next Sunday evening, May 27th at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on the tour.

TODD BERRIER, NO. 29 PENNZOIL PLATINUM MONTE CARLO SS - WINNING CREW CHIEF:

"How about that? Pretty exciting race, anything could have happened out there. We have had some bad luck and now we have some good luck. We came here with the car and the attitude to win."

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 PENNZOIL PLATINUM MONTE CARLO SS - WINNER:

"This Pennzoil Platinum Chevrolet was really good all night. We were terrible down here at the test and these guys decided to bring back a different car than the car we raced last year. To win the All-Star race is just a lot of fun. Jimmie (Johnson) and I raced hard. He taught me a little something there getting into Turn 3. I was way over-driving it. I've just got to thank everybody on this Pennzoil Platinum Chevrolet team. To win the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race is pretty cool."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S/POWER OF PRIDE MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED 2ND:

"We got off to a rough start tonight. We had a problem with a left-front rub and we had to work that out and then we were just kind of behind. But I'm just proud of my guys. They did some great adjustments in the pit stops and really got the car right in the end. Unfortunately we lost a lot of track position throughout the day, but we still passed a lot of cars and came awfully close."

MARK MARTIN, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED 3RD:

"It was a blast, man. It's an honor to represent all our soldiers and to drive the U.S. Army race car. Ryan Pemberton and this team gave me a shot to win this thing and with 10 to go, we were nose to tail, the three of us, and I searched for everything. I ran the high groove, which is not normal for me. It was anybody's race right there at that point. With about three to go, I had pretty much used my right front up and kind of fell off there. But man, it was a good race. Even though we weren't swapping the lead back and forth, it could have been any of the three of us at that point."

AT THE END OF THE RACE, YOU STUCK YOUR HEAD INSIDE OF JIMMIE JOHNSON'S CAR WINDOW. WHAT WAS THE CONVERSATION? "I told him he was one heck of a race car driver."

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 AT&T MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED 4TH:

"We were pretty good. We got fast there as those top two or three guys. We put ourselves in the right position on the restart with Kevin. He went through one and two there and hadn't lifted yet. I tried. We just got a little tight there at the end. Great night for RCR. Real proud of everybody. I think that might be the first Chevy R07 engine win. Proud of all my at&t guys, they worked real hard. It was a good night.

"It is a tough race track, those tires are really tough, the rubber is just pretty hard. Not conducive to this type of racing, just flat out. Not made for this kind of racing but will be good for the 600 next weekend."

TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED FIFTH:

"We got fifth, so pretty happy. It was a good night for us. We started dead last because of the motor change. To go from 21st to fifth is pretty good considering how bad we have run here the last two or three years. So I am pretty happy with it.

"We will keep that for next week. We came here to run 80 laps and we did that. We didn't care where we finished, we just wanted to finish the race tonight and to break the jinx of the last three years of crashing out of thing."

REGARDING HOW THE HOME DEPOT TEAM WILL USE WHAT THEY LEARNED TONIGHT AS A TUNE-UP FOR THE COCA-COLA 600: "That's what this race is all about [working toward the Coca-Cola 600.] That was the best we've run here in at least the last three years. We've crashed out the past few times. My goal was to run 80 laps tonight and I did. We started dead last because of the motor change and we got up to fifth and we're really happy with that. That was a good run for the Home Depot team."

ON IF HE THOUGHT THE HOME DEPOT TEAM HAD A GOOD NIGHT: "I ended up fifth. It was a good night for us. We started dead last and to go from 21st to fifth was a really good night. Considering how bad we've run here in the last two or three years I'm pretty happy with it tonight."

ON IF WHERE THE HOME DEPOT TEAM FINISHED WAS IMPORTANT: "Our goal was to run 80 laps and we did that. We didn't care where we finished we just wanted to finish."

REGARDING THE HOW THE FOUR PHRASES AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE EVENT AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE APPROACH: "It's a lot to do in four phases. This tire is so hard and track position is so important. The track's finally come around. Humpy's finally got him a good race track now we've just got to get a good race tire to compliment it. The racing can be better if Goodyear will work with everybody but I'm not sure if that will happen or not."

ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CARQUEST MONTE CARLO SS: POST CRASH QUOTE - FINISHED 20TH - OUT ON LAP 16 OF FINAL 20-LAP SEGMENT

"Well, it's the All-Star. We had a good car. We had a real good car - a car that could win the race. Matt (Kenseth) got us on that restart and we got back there a little bit, so strategy was playing out. And the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) was struggling to get by the No. 31 (Jeff Burton) and Kyle (Busch) got a good run and got down into (Turns) 1 and 2 and touched there. It's just unfortunate. All these Kellogg's CARQUEST crew guys have worked their tails off and done a real good job. We had a real fast race car. We've had too many on the hook here lately, and we didn't need that. Kyle has gone to the infield care center to get checked out and make sure he's okay. That's what's important. Hopefully it was a good show for the fans."

DENNY HAMLIN, NO. 11 FEDEX MONTE CARLO SS: POST CRASH QUOTE - FINISHED 17TH OUT ON LAP 17 OF FINAL 20-LAP SEGMENT

"I think me and the No. 25 (Casey Mears) were battling for last or something like that (laughs). It was just a night I'd soon forget. We didn't run very good at all. We ran a whole different front-end package than we've ever run in the past two years. And it just didn't work. It just looked like he got loose and thanks to him, now we're out of our misery and ready to go home.

NEXTEL ALL-STAR CHALLENGE POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON AND MARK MARTIN:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S/POWER OF PRIDE MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED 2ND: "The final laps we got close and got position, started to put a lot of pressure on Kevin. Our cars were pretty even at that point. I was a little out of control behind him in traffic. Got close a couple times and was trying to get inside of him and got real loose off of two. At that point, I was trying to get a last lap run on him and I got to the top one and two and made up some ground, I kind of wish I would have tried that sooner. Earlier in the night the outside lane wasn't really working for us. Maybe I could have done something a little different there a little sooner to get along side of him. I threw all I had at him, came up a little short. A little disappointed the way the event started for us. We had problems with the left front tire rubbing the fender and the tire to the cords and had to work on that by coming in a couple of times. Even though we had those problems to rebound back, to drive through pack to the front and race for this thing was a decent night, but I wish we could have won it."

MARK MARTIN, NO. 01 U.S. ARMY MONTE CARLO SS - FINISHED 3RD: "We started in the back and we had a great run. We kept getting better. The format, 20 lappers are pretty short for me. Not my specialty, I am very proud of the U.S. Army team. We got great results. With 10 to go, I knew I had a shot to win and I ran the fool out of it. Kevin nor Jimmie neither one were faster than I was, we were all very equal. I looked really hard to try and make something happen for about seven laps, then with three to go, I had abused my right front to the point I didn't have what I needed to get it done."

JIMMIE - ON GOOD FINISH BUIDLING MOMENTUM FOR COKE 600: "It is as close as you can get to the 600 conditions and you have all the teams. Everybody is at pace. It is not like a test session where you can't tell what somebody had for tires. Not sure if everybody has their good engines or the right car or whatever might be going on, this is real racing. So what you learn tonight, you can really apply to the 600. Granted it is later in the race. The beginning of it is the magic to find the balance of it. I would say if I was in the No. 29 shoes, I would be coming back with a lot of confidence, and have a very good idea of where I would want to be at the end of the 600 race."

JIMMIE - ON WHAT WAS WRONG EARLY ON THAT CAUSED THE EXTRA PIT STOP: "When the race started, I was dragging the track really bad. I think we missed the travel a little bit on the fronts and the chassis was getting in to the ground and also the tires were up in the center wells and on the left front tire. Once we made the first pit stop, I got really tight, on that first run. Came in and took the tires off and was leaving pit road, Chad (Knaus, crew chief), said I had to come back in the pits, we had something rubbing and we need to look at it. So that is why we came back in and worked on it and tried to get the front-end heights where we need and pound that fender out. As I was catching Kevin, early in that run he left the bottom, I am not sure if he was tight or loose, but I could see he gave me a little window of hope. I kept chasing him on the bottom trying to force him to make a mistake. But he drove a solid race. At the end of the last lap, I thought, well the bottom hasn't worked, for me yet and I knew Mark was making some ground up there, but it hadn't worked for my setup earlier in the race. I thought it was the last lap; I had a cushion behind me so I thought what the heck. I got in one and two and got right to the No. 29 bumper and said why didn't I try that a lot sooner, but that is racing."

MARK: ON CHANCES HIS TEAM HAS FOR 600 NEXT WEEK: "We feel good about it. With 10 to go, there wasn't a faster car on the race track. Certainly my specialty is a little bit longer than 20 laps. We feel great. We also know that there are 15 cars that can really get it done and showed a lot of speed tonight. Then there is another four or five that will show speed next week that didn't this week. There is really a lot of good cars. You look at the guys that finished up front here tonight, they will be strong, but they aren't the only ones and if I were a writer they aren't the only ones I would be talking about. I would be talking about the awesome race we are going to see next Saturday night.

JIMMIE: CHANCES HIS TEAM HAS FOR 600 NEXT WEEK: "I feel really confident about coming back and what we need to have. The No. 17 (Matt Kenseth) and the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) both had some trouble, so I expect them to be favorites. But as Mark pointed out, coming through the pack and racing tonight, it seemed like clean air made a difference being in the first two or three cars but outside of that, when I was running mid-pack, I didn't really have a lot for anyone. The cars were pretty equal through the field. I don't really have a clear favorite going in to it. I think we will have to wait until next weekend and see how things shake out."

MARK: ON IF MATT KENSETH AND JEFF GORDON WOULD HAVE BEEN STRONG COMPETITION IF THEY HADN'T HAD ISSUES: "Yes, the both had trouble. But you never know. Every run is a little bit different. Sometimes, you will be awesome one run and maybe not so awesome the next one. It is hard to say. You can only go off the final result. Other than Jimmie, the teams that were in the front didn't have major trouble and had really good runs. I am not in to the what-ifs."

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE: WINNING DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 PENNZOIL PLATINUM MONTE CARLO SS; WINNING CREW CHIEF TODD BERRIER AND WINNING TEAM OWNER RICHARD CHILDRESS

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 PENNZOIL PLATINUM MONTE CARLO SS: "Everybody is just extremely excited. Just really proud of these guys on our team to bring back a different car that what we tested for two days. We just didn't hit on a whole lot, Todd (Berrier, crew chief) got sick and had to go home, he had to get better. Everything just worked really well tonight. We got around them there on the outside and once we got the track position, we were ok. The No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) ran us down. After about seven or eight laps, I just kind of changed what I was doing and tried to plant my car on the bottom and picked up speed.

"Just pretty awesome to put your name on that trophy. I know I haven't been the biggest fan of the All-Star race but I guess I have a million reasons to be now. I think anytime you have something you don't have success; we have torn a lot of stuff up in the past. I guess tonight makes it better and I understand why everybody likes it so much, just a lot of fun to be a part of.

"Any time we come and tear our cars up and don't get anything for it, other than thanks for being here, makes it hard to swallow just for the fact our guys have to go home and work on the car and we get a little bit behind. Being on the other side of the fence is a lot better. In the end, it is going to even itself out.

"Tonight we are here for the fans, to race as hard as we can. Whether I like something or not, when they throw the green flag, I am going to drive it as hard as I can and these guys are going to do the pit stops as fast as they as can, Todd is going to make the calls that he thinks are right and we are going to go after it as hard as we can. Whether we like a race track, dislike it a race track, an event, whatever the case may be, we are going to race as hard as we can."

TODD BERRIER, CREW CHIEF: "When the last segment started, we were thinking that the No. 5 (Kyle Busch), actually didn't even pit at all and got way out there. I figure there were a lot of guys that were going to play it that way. Part of me wanted tires, but I knew that we needed the track position to get out front and go. Because pretty much anyone that got out front was way faster than the second place guy, so we elected to take that gamble and that was what we were here for was to win so, pretty fortunate it all worked out."

RICHARD CHILDRESS, TEAM OWNER: "To win what was the Winston and now is the All-Star is pretty huge wins for us. This is the fourth win for RCR and to watch Kevin won it there and beat Jimmie and the whole Hendrick crew, I just have so much respect for Rick (Hendrick) and his whole organization. This is their home track. Just to see Kevin do such a great job of driving, one of the best I have ever seen, no pressure got to him. He just did a great job, this means a lot."

KEVIN - ON WHAT HE LEARNED FOR COKE 600: "We had our new Chevy R07 engine in the car tonight and that was our first crack at it in the car and obviously it ran really well. We were really able to compete. These mile and a half tracks have been our weakness this year; we struggled at Texas and Las Vegas. We came here with a different car and different engine package and we were able to be competitive all night. I think the worst we were was fourth the whole night. We put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win and we were able to pull it off."

KEVIN - ON DETERMINATION TO BEAT JIMMIE JOHNSON TONIGHT: "It was only a check and a trophy on the line to tonight so I was going to do all to make it happen. Last year he got track position on us if I remember right and I am not sure exactly what happened, to tell you the truth, I didn't even remember we finished second to tell you the truth so I guess that tells you how much emphasis it put on winning at the All-Star race, I had forgotten that we finished second."

TODD - ON BOOST IT GIVES TO THE TEAM: "There is no doubt coming here and winning a race at Lowe's Motor Speedway with the No. 48 still in the race, racing you hard for the win, when they have had such success here, it does give us a big boost. Especially knowing these mile and a half tracks have been tough for us and these tires are really, really hard, it is something that is hard to get a handle on. So it is a big stepping-stone for us to know we have made some right changes and doing a lot of things better than maybe we did say at Las Vegas earlier in the year. But I would also feel better if we were talking about it next Sunday in here instead of tonight."

RICHARD - ON CHEVROLET DOMINANCE: "I have been in this sport long enough to see the cycle come and go and go and come and go and I think right now the cycle has swung over to Chevy. Tonight was the first win for an R07 GM engine. For RCR to win that, it meant a lot to us. Our engine had worked hard on this new program and to see the performance they put out tonight made me extra proud of that. Chevy right now, well, things are just going our way. Two years ago, Roush won a lot of races and had five cars in the Chase and we weren't doing that great in Chevrolet. It just comes and goes, I have been in the sport long enough to see that. But we are all working as hard as we can.

RICHARD - ON WHAT A WIN WITH JEFF BURTON WOULD HAVE MEANT NOW THAT AT&T IS ON THE CAR: "It would have been... I was pulling for both of our drivers when they were running one-two. They have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. It would have been great to see either Jeff (Burton) or Kevin win it. We won the race and it was great to do that.

"I am sure there are going to be more challenges but the way I look at it is - from my viewpoint, I think it is great to have a company involved in our sport like at&t or Shell or any of these major corporations that are going to activate and do the things that they have done. It can only be good for the sport. You go and see the activation; you see the major TV commercials. You go 50 states with Shell and see the things they have done. You see the things that Cingular did and at&t is going to do, it is going to help the whole sport in the long run. If I was going sitting on the other side, I would probably look at it differently, but I look at the whole big picture at where I think it can be positive for NASCAR and for the whole sport of NASCAR racing. I am just proud to carry the colors of at&t on our car tonight and hope that things work out where we can keep carrying it and make it better for our sport."

RICHARD - ON EMOTIONS THROUGHOUT THE LAST FEW DAYS: "First of all, I haven't slept a lot, I can tell you that. It has been a long year. For our teams to still be competitive, we have had a lot of challenges. To start off this week, I was really happy to come here. We have been working on the DEI/RCR engine merger. I talked to Teresa (Earnhardt) a couple of months ago about it. Then I got with Richie Gilmore and Max (Siegel) and started working through it with Rick Mann and the guys at our engine shop. We have really put together what I think is going to be a model that you will see in the future. Already Roush and Yates has got it. Toyota has a lot of teams out there. Hendrick has a lot of teams. I was looking at where we are going to be two years and where DEI is at. I want to do everything I can as a joint venture here with those folks to make DEI as strong as ever as well as RCR. I know Dale (Earnhardt, Sr.) would be proud of what we are doing today."

RICHARD - ON FEELINGS ABOUT ALL-STAR RACE: "I have always liked it, this has been one of my favorite races. I can remember when they came up with this thing back when Winston had it. It brings back Saturday night racing like it used to be. All the families are around. You look around at all the teams and all the wives and kids are here and it has the emotions of a Saturday night race like we used to have. I know Dale loved this race. This was one of his favorite races because you are either going to win or tear it up usually. Tonight was a pretty safe race except for a couple of incidents. This has always been one of our favorite races.

"We have torn up a lot of cars over the years at this place. I think Kevin wrecked the first night he was here the night is was raining and they started the race in the rain."

RICHARD - ON FEELINGS WHEN KEVIN WENT HIGH ON LAST RESTART TO GO THREE-WIDE: "I know how Kevin is on restarts, I think he learned some of that from ole Ron Hornaday, I knew running in there with Jeff Burton he would be cautious, but I knew both of them were going to drive in there as hard as they could to try and get the advantage of getting out front and getting the clean air. Kevin was able to pull it off and come out with the lead.

"I am just amazed year-after-year watching the growth and experience and how Kevin Harvick has come to himself the last two or three years. He just gets better and better, he is smarter and he making a lot of smart decisions. I am proud of what he was able to accomplish tonight."

RICHARD - ON WHERE HE SEES RCR IN TWO YEARS: "We have been planning on a four-car team for the last couple of years. We had to get our cars competitive where we are. What I meant about where RCR is going to be is with Toyota, they are a serious contender in this sport, they will be. They are building a big engine shop and doing a lot of things that are going to make them stronger. Again, look at Yates/Roush model and how it works and you look at Hendrick with 11 or 12 engines every week. It is resources. I didn't want RCR to be sitting here two years from now and us be behind again. We just want to be proactive and help bring DEI in to the mix was really great. They have a lot of great people over there and I know it will be a great relationship."

RICHARD - ON KEVIN BEING A TEAM OWNER HELPING HIM: "Yes, Kevin and I had a rocky year or two there. But I think when he became a car owner and he understands the challenges as far as owing a race team and working with people, dealing with people and the ups and downs. Everyday isn't a holiday as a car owner, I can assure you of that. With him in there now owning teams and understanding and seeing how bad pit stops happen and things that can get you behind, I think has helped our relationship. He understands now, this side. It is no different than when Dale Earnhardt got involved as a car owner back in the 90s, he had no idea what I was going through a lot of the time when we would have some tough times. It is a tough business, just proud to be around as long as I have."

RICHARD - ON YOUNG DRIVERS AT RCR: "We have two young guys at RCR so I want to go see them run tomorrow (Sunday) at Iowa Speedway and then they asked me to be the Grand Marshall.

"Ryan Foster is with us and is Timmy McCreadie, who is really really great dirt track driver, who I have been watching him and working with him. We are excited about that.

"My Grandson, he is with us, set a new track record in super late models at 311 Speedway so we have another development driver."