NICORETTE 300 RECAP:
The NASCAR Nationwide
Series teams unloaded
for the fourth race of
the season at the fast
1.5-mile track of
Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS)
for the Nicorette 300
Saturday. With rain
making its presence
known Friday and Snow on
Saturday, teams were
forced to have only one
practice session and
qualifying was set based
on NASCAR rules. Kevin
Harvick and the No. 33
Camping World Chevrolet
rolled off in the sixth
spot and maintained its
position in the top five
for most of the day.
Harvick was able to lead
a total of five laps and
looked poised for his
first win in a Kevin
Harvick Inc. (KHI) car
and first win at AMS in
the Nationwide Series.
Unfortunately, late in
the race Harvick was
unable to pass Matt
Kenseth for the win and
crossed the finish line
with a strong
second-place finish.
POINTS FIRST:
Although Kevin Harvick
has led the Nationwide
Series points during his
career, capturing two
championship in 2006 and
2001, he has never led
both the Owner’s and
Driver’s standings in a
KHI owned car. The No.
33 led the points in
2005 and 2006 after the
first race of the year
when Tony Stewart
recorded two
season-opening victories
at Daytona (Fla.)
International Speedway
in a KHI machine.
WORLD’S FASTEST
HALF-MILE STATS:
In just 16 Nationwide
Series starts at the
famous half-mile track,
Kevin Harvick has
compiled an extensive
record.
Harvick has
scored four victories,
10 top-five and 12
top-10 finishes. At a
track where surviving is
key, Harvick has
completed 98.2 percent
of the laps he has
attempted. The only two
DNF’s (Did Not Finish)
on his record came in
2002, when Harvick was
unable to finish both
the Spring and Fall
races at Bristol. His
last two starts at the
track in the Nationwide
Series have been in the
No. 33 Kevin Harvick
Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet,
with his best finish of
eighth for the 2007
Sharpie Mini 300.
In addition to having an
impressive resumé at
Bristol, Harvick is
ranked second in the
driver ratings with a
rate of 106.9 based on
NASCAR’s stats. Driver
Ratings are determined
using the last six races
at a particular track.
CHASSIS HISTORY:
For the third time this
season, KHI and the No.
33 Chevrolet team will
debut a brand new
chassis when it hits the
track at Bristol (Tenn.)
Motor Speedway for the
Sharpie Mini 300.
Chassis No. 040 will
make its race debut
Saturday, March 15,
2008.
A MILLION THANKS:
RoadLoans.com and KHI
have partnered with the
A Million Thanks
Foundation, a letter
writing campaign, for
the 2008 NASCAR season
to collect letters of
appreciation for the men
and women of the armed
forces. Shauna Fleming,
the 18-year-old college
student who founded the
foundation in March
2004, set an initial
goal of collecting and
distributing one million
letters of ‘thank you’
to the troops serving in
the U.S. Armed Forces
around the world. In
October 2004, Fleming
reached her goal and
presented President
George Bush with the
one-millionth letter.
RoadLoans will station
drop boxes at all show
car appearances
throughout race markets
this season for fans to
write letters and drop
into the box. The letter
writing campaign kicked
off February 23 and runs
through November 15,
2008. Please visit
www.RoadLoansracing.com
for a complete listing
of show car events.
BEFORE THE RACE WITH
DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
What makes Bristol
(Tenn.) Motor Speedway a
unique track? “Bristol
is just short track
racing. Most of us come
from short track racing,
so it’s always fun to
get back on these tracks
and earn a few more
donuts on the doors. I
always enjoy racing at
Bristol.”
RACE PREP WITH CREW
CHIEF WALLY ROGERS:
Heading to Bristol this
week for the Sharpie
Mini 300, what do you
like about Bristol
(Tenn.) Motor Speedway
and similar tracks?
“Bristol is by far one
of my favorite tracks.
It reminds me of my home
track, Wall Stadium.
It’s a track that I am
comfortable at and have
run well at in the past.
Hopefully, the momentum
from running in the top
five over the last few
weeks will carry over to
this week with our No.
33 RoadLoans.com
Chevrolet.”
What is the key to
success at Bristol
(Tenn.) Motor Speedway?
“Stay out of trouble and
don’t wreck. To win you
have to be there at the
end and with Bristol,
like any other short
track, the racing is
tight and you can easily
get into trouble. You
just have to stay clean
and stay focused. As
long as you are there at
the end, you have a
shot.”
About RoadLoans.com:
RoadLoans, based in
North Richland Hills,
Texas, is a leading
direct-to-consumer auto
finance company that
simplifies the financing
of a new or used vehicle
through its online
application process.
RoadLoans specializes in
new and used vehicle
loans,
consumer-to-consumer
purchases and
opportunities to
refinance existing loans
for customers with all
types of credit, and is
especially proud of its
history of helping
people with less than
perfect credit. Since
June of 2000, RoadLoans
has carried out its
mission to educate and
empower people through
the auto buying process
and has helped tens of
thousands of consumers
purchase or refinance
the
car, truck
or SUV of their dreams.
The company’s focus on
customer service earned
it the Lending Tree
Customer Service
Excellence Award every
year the award was
presented since 2002.
For more information,
visit
http://www.RoadLoans.com
or call (888) 276-7202.
About Kevin Harvick
Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI),
established in 2001, is
a 70,000 sq. ft.
facility located in
Kernersville, N.C. KHI
houses two full time
Truck Series teams: the
No. 33 Camping World/VFW
Chevrolet Silverado
driven by three-time
Truck Series champion
Ron Hornaday as well as
the No. 2 American
Commercial Lines (ACL)/RVs.com
Chevrolet Silverado
driven by three-time
Truck Series champion
Jack Sprague. KHI is
also home to the No. 33
Camping World/RoadLoans.com/
Rheem Chevrolet driven
by two-time Nationwide
Series champion Kevin
Harvick, Ron Hornaday
and Cale Gale and the
No. 77 Rheem/VFW
Chevrolet driven by Cale
Gale and Ron Hornaday
competing in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series. 2008
marks KHI’s fifth year
of full-time competition
in NASCAR’s elite
divisions. Please visit
www.kevinharvickinc.com
for more information.
QUICK NOTES
March 15, 2008
Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday:
Practice: 1:40-3:15
p.m., ET
Final Practice:
4:45-5:45 p.m., ET
Saturday:
Qualifying: 9:40 a.m.,
ET
TV: The Mini
Sharpie 300 can be seen
live on ABC at 2:00
p.m., ET.
Radio: The
Performance Racing
Network (PRN) will
broadcast the race live
at 2:30 p.m., ET.
No. 33 Camping World
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Specs:
Chassis:
040
Engine: RCR
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