LOOKING TO EVEN THE SCORE WITH A HIGH FIVE: With Kyle Busch winning the the rain-delayed Nationwide Series race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway, he moved ahead of two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick as the all-time leader with five Nationwide Series wins at the track. Now, Harvick looks to even the score and win his fifth Nationwide Series race in the Lone Star State.
Piloting the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, Harvick will be making his 13th career start in the series at the 1.5-mile track. In his 12 previous starts at the track, Harvick has earned four wins, five top-five and nine top-10 finishes. His average starting position is 8.0 with an average finish of 9.3. Harvick has led 527 laps and completed 98.8 percent of laps attempted (2295 of 2322 laps). In addiiton, Harvick has one pole and has started inside the top seven for 10 races with one start of 23rd and most recently, a 16th-place starting position.
On the Sprint Cup Series side, where Harvick and his No. 29 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) No. 29 team are in the hunt for the 2010 Series championship, Harvick has 15 starts, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
Flipping to the Truck Series, Harvick has three starts with one top-five and one top-10 finish.
LAP LEADER: This week Harvick will drive chassis No. 061, a chassis that has been on track for three races earlier this season and in all three, Harvick has led laps. At Chicagoland Speedway when the chassis made its race debut, Harvick won the pole and went on to lead nine laps. He followed by leading 52 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway and leading 86 laps at Auto Club Speedway. Chassis 061 has led a total of 147 laps with finishes of seventh (Chicagoland), fourth (Atlanta) and third (Auto Club).
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
What is it like to race at Texas Motor Speedway? “Texas Motor Speedway is a fast race track. Besides Dover, it’s possibly the biggest sensation of speed other than a qualifying lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway. When it comes to the track itself, the transitions up off the corners at Texas are a lot different than tracks like Charlotte. The banking comes out of the corners and it really flattens out as you exit the corners. It is really hard to get a hold of turn two. A lot of times you are tight up off turn two or you’re pushing the front-end really bad. It is a fine line to get your car to work around the entire track.”
You’ve been very successful in the Nationwide Series at Texas Motor Speedway, why is this? “Texas is a track that I’ve found success at from the get go. My first start there in the Nationwide car we had a top-10 finish and since then managed to pick up four wins. I always look forward to going back to Texas and competing for a win.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: This weekend the No. 33 Jimmy John’s team will unload chassis No. 061 for KHI team co-owner Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway. Most recently this chassis was on track at Auto Club Speedway where Harvick started the race from the second position and led the most of laps of the field (86 laps) before coming up a few positions short with a third-place finish. Prior to Auto Club Speedway, this chassis was on track at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Harvick started the race eighth and led 52 laps before finishing fourth. This chassis made its race debut at Chicagoland Speedway where Harvick earned his 21st-career pole and finished the race seventh.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Most recently Mike Bliss made his final appearance of the season in the No. 33 car for KHI. Debuting new sponsor Mad Croc Energy, Bliss had a fast car from the time the team unloaded for the final scheduled Nationwide Series race at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway. After running in the top three for both practice sessions, Bliss secured the fourth starting position and led 10 laps before coming up one position short with a solid second-place finish.
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 Texas
Year No. Team Start Finish
2010 33 KHI 16 5
2009 33 KHI 5 6
2008 33 KHI 2 29
2008 33 KHI 1 34
2007 21 RCR 4 1
2007 33 KHI 23 11
2006 21 RCR 4 1
2006 33 KHI 2 8
2005 21 RCR 3 1
2002 29 RCR 6 6
2001 2 RCR 7 1
2000 2 RCR 4 9
*KHI: Kevin Harvick Inc.
*RCR: Richard Childress Racing
About Jimmy John’s:
Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches was founded in 1983 by 19-year-old Jimmy John Liautaud in a converted garage in Charleston, IL. Since its inception, the company has grown to over 1,000 corporate and franchised locations in more than 37 states throughout the U.S. The company is known for its obsession with fresh, quality products and high-speed execution. For more information, visit www.jimmyjohns.com.
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.
