Catchfence

FORT WORTH, Texas. (November 8, 2010) – Looking to score his fifth-career Nationwide Series win at Texas Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Jimmy John’s team started the O’Reilly Challenge from the second position and ran in the top 10 for most of the 200-lap event before finishing eighth.

“We had a great qualifying effort for our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet,” said Harvick following the race. “We had a bad set of tires and a bad pit stop earlier in the race and that got us off sequence. Overall, it’s another solid top 10 that we’ll take and head to Phoenix next week.”

Starting the O’Reilly Challenge from the second position, Harvick immediately began dealing with a loose-handling car, sliding to the third position when the first caution waved on lap 43 for an incident involving the No. 30 car. Opting to take advantage of the caution, Harvick brought the No. 33 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet down pit road for four tires, fuel and a round of adjustments. With a solid stop by the team, Harvick restarted the race on lap 48 from the second position.

With the race back under green-flag conditions, Harvick quickly reported to the team that he had a bad vibration and was concerned that he had a loose wheel. Deciding to ride out the vibration, Harvick radioed the team on lap 75 to be ready as the vibration had not gotten any better. As the team prepared to make an unscheduled green-flag stop, the caution waved on lap 85 for an on-track incident with the No. 05 car. The team made their second stop of the day for four tires, fuel and another round of adjustments to help with the handling of the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. A slow stop would cause Harvick to lose a few positions and restart the race sixth on lap 85. Following the stop and an examination of the tires, it was discovered that the vibration was caused from a tire that was not correctly balanced from Goodyear.

Closing in on the halfway mark, Harvick informed the team that the car had not gotten any better and crew chief Ernie Cope began to work on a plan to adjust on the car during the next stop. Sliding back to the eighth position and fighting a loose-handling car, Harvick made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 139 for four tires, fuel, and an air-pressure and track-bar adjustment. Losing one lap to the leaders, Harvick was scored in the ninth position and back on the lead lap on lap 143 once the entire field cycled through green-flag stops.

Gaining one position, Harvick was eighth when the caution waved on lap 147 for debris on the track. Deciding to stay on track with the leaders, Harvick restarted the race eighth on lap 152. With the handling still not right, Harvick again began to slip in the field, moving into 10th on lap 182.

Several laps later on lap 184, the caution waved for a spin in turn two involving the No. 42 car. With less than 20 laps left in the race, the team opted to bring Harvick to pit road for four tires with an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. Maintaining his position, Harvick restarted the race in the 10th position on lap 190.

Moving up to seventh on lap 193, the race would again be halted for the blown motor of the No. 21 car. With the late-race caution, NASCAR was forced into overtime, ending the race with a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick made his final restart of the race on lap 203 from the seventh position and slipped one spot to finish the race eighth.

Carl Edwards won the race followed by Kyle Busch, the 2010 Nationwide Series Driver Champion Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

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.

- Kevin Harvick Inc. Press Release