Greener Pastures: Harvick may be trying to leave Childress as his Cup victory drought reaches 90 races

Kevin Harvick drove his first big-time race for Richard Childress in 2001 and got married two days later.

Has the time arrived for a divorce ... between Harvick and RCR Racing?

The question lingers, although Childress said yesterday that Harvick will drive RCR's car with the Shell-Pennzoil sponsorship again next season.

Childress, traveling in Montana, made the assertion in a statement e-mailed to sportswriters after SI.com reported that Harvick had requested a release from the final year of his contract and hoped to become Tony Stewart's third driver, with Shell-Pennzoil as the primary backer. Childress and Shell-Pennzoil disputed the SI.com claim that the oil company's deal with Childress expires after this season.

"Richard Childress Racing has a multi-year contract with Shell-Pennzoil that includes the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season," Childress said. "Shell-Pennzoil remains a great partner for RCR and Kevin Harvick as well as our sport overall. RCR also has a multi-year contract with Kevin Harvick that includes the 2010 season. That said, Shell will be the sponsor and Kevin will be the driver of RCR's No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS in 2010."

A Childress spokesman said that he didn't know whether Harvick had asked the boss for a release. A Harvick representative said that he had nothing to say yesterday.

Harvick raised the possibility of departing during another RCR slump, but he won the 2007 Daytona 500 and finished fourth in Sprint Cup points last year without a single victory. The key: consistency. Harvick completed every race for the second straight season.

He hasn't won since that Daytona thriller over Mark Martin. The streak reached 90 races last Saturday night near Chicago. Harvick ranks 25th in points, last among Childress' four drivers and 506 points behind the 12th-place cutoff for the title chase. He has led just nine of 5,298 laps.

Cooling off as season progresses

The year opened with considerable promise. Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout, which doesn't count in the standings, and placed second to Matt Kenseth in the rain-shortened Daytona 500. Other than a fourth at Atlanta, the team trended downward to 38th at Los Angeles and Talladega.

Childress shuffled crew chiefs, moving Todd Berrier to Casey Mears' car and putting Gil Martin in charge of Harvick's ride. A month later, Harvick finished 41st in the Concord 600-miler.

"You go up and you go down," Harvick said during a June news conference, "but obviously it's been the worst year that I've ever had racing, period."

Harvick and his wife, DeLana, operate teams in the second-level Nationwide Series and the truck series. Harvick, a two-time Nationwide champion, ranks 17th in points, with one victory. The team's second driver is 22nd. Things are sunnier on the truck side, where driver Ron Hornaday leads the points.

In the Sprint Cup garage, the prospects look brighter elsewhere. Stewart left Joe Gibbs for an ownership stake. He emerged as the hottest story after two recent wins propelled him into the points lead. His No. 2 driver, Ryan Newman, ranks seventh.

The remarkable first-year performance has elevated Stewart-Haas Racing above several well-established teams, which makes the prospective third car a prized seat among unfulfilled drivers.

There are no evident guarantees that Stewart would hire Harvick. The Shell-Pennzoil sponsorship would enhance Harvick's value considerably during the racing recession. The RCR and Stewart-Haas shops are aligned with General Motors, now owned mostly by the government and the United Auto Workers. NASCAR teams expect further erosion in GM financial support.

Dale Earnhardt won six titles for Childress, spreading the GM Goodwrench label across the continent. Childress kept attracting sponsor dollars after Earnhardt died at the 2001 Daytona 500 and RCR employee Harvick moved up to the big show. Harvick won twice that season and five times in 2006, but his career total has remained stuck on 11 for 2½ years.

RCR staged a broad rally in 2007 and 2008, when all three drivers made the chase. This year, perhaps none will. Clint Bowyer (15th), Jeff Burton (17th), Mears (22nd) and Harvick (25th) have slipped into holes of varying depths. The entire company has led just 113 laps, 85 by Burton, and hasn't toured Victory Lane.

Rick Hendrick drivers have won eight races, with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Martin qualifying as serious title contenders. Gibbs drivers have won four races, and five other garages have at least one victory.

Burton opened the season begging for more horsepower, which he projected as the missing RCR ingredient in pursuit of a championship. At midseason, the debate has shifted to RCR's former lead horse, Harvick.

There have been better signs in the Childress stable, and far better days.

■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com.