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LEADING THE FIELD: Kevin Harvick returns to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Copart car at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In eight previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Harvick has one victory, four poles, six top-five and seven top-10 finishes. His only start outside the top 10 was his first career Nationwide Series start at the track. Harvick has completed 99.9 percent (1600 of 1601) laps attempted, has led 588 laps and holds a starting average of 2.9 and a finishing average of 5.2.

According to NASCAR’s Loop Data statistics based on the last four Nationwide Series races, Harvick leads the field with a driver rating of 130, an average running position of 3.8, laps in the top 15 (100 percent; 801 of 801 laps), laps led (32 percent; 256 of 801 laps) and leads the green-flag speed category with a time of 125.121 mph. Harvick is a close second in the categories of fastest driver early in a run and fastest on restarts and fastest laps run (111 of 801 laps).

DOUBLE DUTY: Not only will Harvick be competing in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, but he will also be behind the wheel of the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet. In 16 previous Sprint Cup series starts, Harvick has one win, one pole, three top-five and nine top-10 finishes. He has completed 99.9 percent of laps attempted (4692 of 4699 laps) and has led 318 laps.

CONGRATULATIONS RICK CARELLI: On July 3, 2009, Rick Carelli will be inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at Irwindale Speedway in California. As a driver, Carelli earned the 1991 NASCAR Southwest Touring Champion and the 1993 NASCAR Camping World Series West Champion titles, as well as raced in the NASCAR Truck Series.

These days Carelli is still at the track, just in a different role as General Manager for Kevin Harvick Incorporated and as spotter for three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday.

THE LAST OF FOUR: During the month of June, the No. 33 car has already seen three different faces in the driver’s seat for three different races. Cale Gale started the month at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway with a 31st-place finish after being caught up in a mid-race accident and Kelly Bires followed him at Kentucky Speedway where the No. 33 team scored a 10th-place finish after starting the race 42nd due to a wreck during qualifying that forced the team to the back-up. Ron Hornaday became the third different driver at The Milwaukee Mile and now KHI team co-owner Kevin Harvick will round out the month at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

This feat was also accomplished during the month of April when Tony Stewart drove the car to a second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Kelly Bires scored a fourth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway, Kevin Harvick earned a fifth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway and Ryan Newman completed the month by winning the pole and securing a second-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

No. 33 Copart Chevrolet Impala SS

Do you approach New Hampshire Motor Speedway as more of a short track or a speedway?

“It really is a little of both, but I think you have to go in with the short-track mindset. There is more contact at New Hampshire than you have at a bigger track. I think sometimes drivers use the short track as an excuse to beat and bang, but as tight as the racing is there, it’s hard to not have incidental contact.”

On what makes racing on a flat track more enjoyable?

“There’s a lot of braking. You have to really work on getting your car through the center of the corner and still have the forward bite you need up off the corner so you get all three aspects of the car, the driver and the set-up all in one.”

What’s unique about New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“It’s one of those places where you have to get through the center of the corner and get up off the corner wide open. That makes it really hard to get through the center of the corner and turn good like you need to. Getting up off the corner under full power without getting loose is really tricky. Passing is harder there than at most places because it’s so hard to make your car work getting up off the corner. That makes track position probably the most important thing at New Hampshire.”

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Copart team will unload chassis No. 044 this weekend for team co-owner Kevin Harvick. This chassis has one appearance earlier this year at Phoenix International Raceway where Harvick started the race sixth and ran most of the night in the top 10 before crossing the finish-line fifth to earn his 10th career Nationwide Series top-five finish at the track.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Ron Hornaday climbed behind the wheel of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Jimmy John’s car at The Milwaukee Mile, and started the Nationwide Series race from the 13th position. With a good car and running fast laps, the team fought most of the night to get back on the lead lap after a speeding penalty and untimely caution put them one lap down to the leaders. Hornaday and the No. 33 team battled back and finished the race in the ninth position.

No. 33 Copart Specs:

Chassis: 044

Engine: ECR

Kevin Harvick Nationwide Stats at New Hampshire

Year No. Team Start Finish

2008 33 KHI 5 4

2007 21 RCR 1 1

2006 21 RCR 4 2

2005 21 RCR 1 8

2004 21 RCR 7 5

2003 21 RCR 1 2

2001 2 RCR 1 2

2000 2 RCR 3 18

*KHI: Kevin Harvick Inc.

*RCR: Richard Childress Racing

About Copart:

Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day.

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, including the 2007 series champions. The No. 33 team is led by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and the No. 4 KHI All-Stars team is comprised of Ricky Carmichael, the most successful motocross racer in American history, J.R. Fitzpatrick and a variety of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Nationwide Series team competing full-time with drivers Kevin Harvick (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, Ron Hornaday, Cale Gale and Kelly Bires. The 2009 season marks KHI’s sixth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.

- Kevin Harvick Inc. Press Release