Kevin Harvick
No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet Impala SS
O’Reilly Challenge Race Recap

Harvick Finishes Sixth in the Lone-Star State
Earns Eighth Top-10 Finish in 11 Starts at Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH, Texas (November 8, 2009) — Looking for his fifth Nationwide Series win at the 1.5-mile track, Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Jimmy John’s team started the O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway from the fifth position and after a late-race hiccup on pit road, crossed the finish line in the sixth spot.

“Our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was really good,” said Harvick following the race. “We were able to get to the front and lead laps, but we have got to figure out how to be consistent on pit road to be competitive both on the track and in the pits.”

With the race underway, Harvick quickly set his eyes on the lead and began to make his move. By lap 20, Harvick moved into the second position running laps comparable to race leader Kyle Busch. With the race continuing under green-flag conditions, the No. 33 team made their first scheduled stop of the day on lap 54 from the third position. The team changed four tires with an air-pressure adjustment to help with the handling of the car and added fuel. Once pit stops cycled through the field, Harvick was scored in the second position on lap 59, but was running a full 10 seconds behind leader Busch.

One lap later, on lap 60, the first caution of the race waved for debris. With only 13 cars on the lead lap and Harvick saying the car was handling much better, the team opted to stay on track. The race restarted on lap 64 with the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevy in second only to have the caution flag wave again on lap 66. This time, Harvick had taken the lead from Busch and was able to restart the race on lap 70 from the first position.

Battling Busch for the lead, Harvick got loose in lap 72 and the dominant Busch retook the lead. Continuing to fight a loose-handling car, Harvick slipped back to fourth when he made his second pit stop of the day on lap 107. With a quick four-tire stop, adjusting the air pressure to help the handling, and fuel, the team restarted the race on lap 110 in the second position behind Busch.

Ten laps later the caution was out for a multi-car incident and Harvick radioed crew chief Ernie Cope to say the car was the best it had been all day. The decision was made to stay out under the caution and restart the race on lap 128 in the second position.

As the race progressed, the car again became loose and Harvick slipped to the third spot when the caution waved on lap 153. Harvick made another pit stop for four tires, an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. A slow stop resulted in the loss of two positions, placing Harvick in the fifth spot for the restart on lap 159.

Shuffled back in traffic, Harvick batted the handling of the car in “dirty” air and slipped back to the ninth position. With the final caution of the day waving on lap 178, Harvick made his final stop of the day for four tires, another set of adjustments and fuel. With teams on varying tire strategies, Harvick restarted on lap 186 in the 12th position and began picking off cars one by one. With the laps winding down, Harvick was able to move into the sixth spot on lap 195 and maintain the position to earn his eighth top-10 finish at the 1.5-mile track in 11 starts and his 15th top-10 finish of the season in 21 starts.

Busch won his fourth consecutive race at the track, tying him with Harvick for the most Nationwide Series wins at Texas Motor Speedway. Casey Mears finished second followed by Jason Leffler, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski.

STATS RECAP

November 7, 2009
Texas Motor Speedway
O’Reilly Challenge

Race: 33 of 35
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Started: 5th
Finished: 6th
Owner’s Point Standings: 4th (+/- 0 spots, 750 points out of 1st)
Race length: 200 laps/300 miles
Banking: 24-degrees in the turns
5-degrees on straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5 miles
Shape: Quad-Oval
Number of Race Cautions: 7 for 34 Laps
First Practice: 2nd (29.348 seconds; 183.999 mph)
Final Practice: 10th (29.877 seconds; 180.741 mph)
Qualifying: 5th (29.084 seconds; 185.669 mph)

Next on the Nationwide Series Schedule:

Date: November 14, 2009
Track: Phoenix International Raceway
Event Name: Able Body Labor 200
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Sponsor: Rheem

Broadcast Time: 4:00 p.m., ET on ESPN2 and 4:00 p.m., ET on MRN Radio