Catchfence

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 31, 2009) – For the second consecutive week, Kevin Harvick drove a KHI vehicle to victory lane. After running inside the top five for most of the day, Harvick took the lead from Kyle Busch late in the race and led the final 16 laps to get the No. 2 Bounty Chevrolet Silverado out front and win the rain-delayed Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Monday, March 30. Harvick’s victory was his first of 2009 in Truck Series competition and fourth of his Truck Series career. It was also Kevin Harvick Inc’s (KHI) first Truck Series win in 2009, with teammate Ron Hornaday in second to sweep the top two spots. Harvick was coming off his first KHI Nationwide Series win last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

“That was a lot of fun and our Bounty Chevrolet Silverado was really good,” Harvick said. “It was a great day for KHI with (Ron) Hornaday finishing second. I also want to thank all these fans for coming out on a Monday. A lot of these people are my neighbors so it makes it fun to win this close to home here at Martinsville Speedway.”

Harvick started the race from the sixth position and worked his way to fourth by lap 10, where he continued until he took the third position, just before the third caution of the race came out on lap 50 after the truck of Johnny Benson spun in turn two.

On lap 62, with Harvick running third, the caution was displayed for the fourth time after Brent Raymer spun in turn four. Crew chief Ernie Cope made the call for Harvick to pit for four tires and to have a spring rubber taken out of the left rear spring. Harvick restarted on lap 72 from the 23rd position as varying pit strategies were taking shape. Within eight laps, he made his way into the top 15.

When the caution came out on lap 93 for an accident in turn one involving KHI teammate Ricky Carmichael and J.R. Fitzpatrick, Cope made the call for Harvick to pit for fuel, wedge and track-bar adjustments. Harvick restarted on lap 99 from the eighth position and began his charge to the front, picking off positions one-by-one.

On lap 175, Harvick took the second spot away from Todd Bodine, where he continued to run for the next 66 laps as he chipped away at Busch’s lead. Harvick made the pass for the lead on lap 241, putting the No. 2 Bounty Chevrolet Silverado out front and never relinquished the top spot. A late-race caution set the stage for one chance at a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick led the field to the white flag before the caution came out to end the race after an accident in turn four involving Todd Bodine and Terry Cook. This was Harvick’s fourth career Truck Series victory.

- Kevin Harvick Inc. Press Release