TAMING THE BEAST OF THE SOUTHEAST: Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) co-owner Kevin Harvick turns his attention this week to the ‘Beast of the Southeast’ where he will be making his 19th-career Nationwide Series start at the 1.5-mile track of Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway.
In 18 previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Harvick has recorded two top-five and 10 top-10 finishes and has an average starting position of 12.9 with an average finishing position of 12.3. He has led 125 laps and completed 99. 3 percent of laps attempted (3554 of 3578 laps). Harvick looks for his first-career Nationwide Series win this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In addition to running the Nationwide Series, Harvick has also completed 19 Sprint Cup Series races and three Truck Series races at the track. His only win across all three of NASCAR’s elite divisions at Charlotte Motor Speedway came in 2007 when Harvick won the All-Star Challenge, a non-points paying event.
WINNING WAYS: Having scored 37 Nationwide Series wins so far in his 12-year career, Harvick still has six tracks where he has yet to score a win on the series’ current schedule, including this weekend’s venue, Charlotte Motor Speedway. In addition to Charlotte, Harvick still looks to tackle wins at his home track of Auto Club Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Road America (Wisc.). For the 2010 season, Harvick has the opportunity to mark Charlotte Motor Speedway off the list this weekend, but the others will continue to elude him into the 2011 season.
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
On racing at mile-and-a-half tracks in the Nationwide Series:
“I think for KHI, the mile-and-a-half tracks like Texas, Las Vegas and Atlanta have been good to us. The No. 33 Nationwide Series team has really stepped up and we were able to win at Atlanta at the end of last season and then at Las Vegas earlier this year. We had an opportunity to win at Kansas and California the last two weeks had it not been for some issues on pit road, so overall I’m pretty pleased with our mile-and-a-half performances. All I ask for is the shot to contend for the win every week and that is what this team has been able to do this year. I’m hoping the momentum will continue this week and we can get another solid top-five finish and maybe be there at the end to battle for the win”
What are your thoughts on racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway? “Besides the All-Star win in 2007, Charlotte Motor Speedway is a track where I haven’t had the finishes I would like. We’ve run good there, but just can’t put all the pieces together to get the finishes we deserve. If we can find a way to keep everything together, then I think we can leave Charlotte with a top-five finish.”
DRIVER OF THE WEEK: Nationwide has selected two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick as the Driver of the Week for this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
CHASSIS HISTORY: This week the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. team will unload chassis No. 063 for the fourth and final Nationwide Series new car race of the season before implementing the new body style full time in the 2011 season. This chassis was brand new when it made its first appearance of the season at Michigan International Speedway. Team co-owner Kevin Harvick started the race 15th and battled back from a pit-road penalty and handling issues to finish the race 10th.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Most recently the Nationwide Series teams were on the West Coast for the CampingWorld.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Harvick started the race second, led the most laps of the field with 86 laps and rebounded from several pit road mishaps to finish the race third. The finish marked Harvick’s 13th top-10 finish at the track.
ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Nationwide Series by following @KHI_NNS. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Truck Series teams @KHI_TruckSeries. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick @KevinHarvick and @DeLanaHarvick.
ONLINE MEDIA KITS: Media members can now access KHI media kits online at KevinHarvickInc.com. Included on the site are driver bios, driver and team images, KHI history and statistics, team profiles and schedules. Please contact Alicia Deal (adeal@kevinharvickinc.com) at KHI for access to the new site.
Kevin Harvick
Nationwide Stats at Charlotte
Year No. Team Start Finish
2010 33 KHI 18 6
2009 33 KHI 8 23
2008 33 KHI 6 6
2008 33 KHI 41 19
2007 33 KHI 25 10
2007 33 KHI 25 12
2006 33 KHI 8 9
2006 21 RCR 5 8
2005 21 RCR 13 24
2005 21 RCR 13 11
2004 21 RCR 8 11
2004 21 RCR 4 3
2003 21 RCR 1 9
2003 21 RCR 1 9
2001 2 RCR 9 4
2001 2 RCR 1 26
2000 2 RCR 8 24
2000 2 RCR 39 8
*KHI: Kevin Harvick Inc.
*RCR: Richard Childress Racing
About Rheem:
Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is a privately held company with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. In its 81st year of operation, the company distributes throughout North America and world markets an award-winning line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heating, whole-home standby generators, controls, pool and spa heaters, indoor air purification products and commercial boilers. The nation’s leading consumer products review magazine recently reported that Rheem products have been rated most reliable among all leading brands by tens of thousands of consumers. The premium brands of Rheem Manufacturing Company include Ruud, Raypak and Rheem. Rheem Manufacturing Company is the primary sponsor of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 33 Chevrolet Nationwide® Series car and is an associate sponsor of KHI’s No 33 truck in the Camping World Truck Series.
About Kevin Harvick Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.
