Catchfence

Kevin Harvick - Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick

This Week’s Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 295 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable.  This Chevrolet is brand new for 2010, and was used by the No. 29 team in the Daytona 500, where Harvick led seven times for 41 laps and finished seventh.

Follow the Leader … Fresh off his fifth-place finish last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Harvick remains the leader in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. Harvick has one win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the season’s first 17 races. At the same time, Harvick has finished 13th or better in 15 of the season’s first 17 events.

Race to the Chase … With just nine events remaining before the 2010 NSCS Chase field is set, Harvick enjoys a 472-point lead over 13th.  The Bakersfield, Calif., driver leads all competitors with 12 top-10 finishes.  Additionally, he has finished on the lead lap in every event but one, with the lone exception being Martinsville. At the paper-clip shaped facility, Harvick led 57 of the first 58 laps, but suffered a brake failure that forced the team to go behind the wall for repairs.

Career Daytona Stats … The Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola marks Harvick’s 340th career start in the NSCS.

* In 18 NSCS starts at the 2.5-mile oval, Harvick owns one win, one pole, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

* He owns an average start of 16.1 and an average finish of 15.2 at Daytona.

* His win came in the 2007 Daytona 500, where Harvick narrowly beat Mark Martin to the checkered flag by 0.020 seconds.

* He has completed 3,049 of a possible 3,119 total laps (97.8 percent) in his 18 Daytona starts.

* He has led at least one lap in 11 of his 18 Daytona starts.

In the Loop … Harvick owns some very impressive loop data statistics over the season’s first 17 races.

* First in average finish (8.5).

* First in Closer category, total positions improved during the last 10 percent of each race.

* Fourth in fastest speed in traffic.

* Fifth in fastest drivers late in a run.

* Sixth in Driver Rating, a formula combining the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps, and lead lap finish.

* Seventh in average running position.

* Seventh in green flag speed.

LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Recap … In last weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Harvick started 24th and methodically marched forward throughout the race and finished fifth.  The effort was his third top-five finish in his last four starts.

Daytona Speedweeks Recap … In February at Daytona International Speedway, Harvick was one of, if the most dominant competitor, throughout the 2010 Speedweeks.  He opened the season with a bang by winning his second straight Budweiser Shootout.  He followed that up by finishing second in his qualifying race for the Daytona 500.  In the “Great American Race,” Harvick led the most laps (41) and finished seventh.

Pace Setter … Harvick turned in a dominating performance in the 2010 running of the “Great American Race,” and sported some impressive loop data statistics from the Daytona 500.

* First in average running position.

* First in Driver Rating.

* First in laps led.

* First in laps completed inside the top 15.

* Second in fastest drivers late in a run.

* Second in green flag speed.

Double Duty in Daytona … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, Harvick will race Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s No. 33 Chevrolet in the July 2nd Subway Jalepeno 250 powered by Coca-Cola Nationwide Series event.  The race will air live on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Drive for Five … Shell is launching a new Shell Drive for Five card that will offer new cardholders the opportunity to save five cents per gallon on Shell-branded fuel when you buy a minimum of 45 gallons a month, up to 100 gallons.  With more than 80 percent of all Americans living within five miles of a Shell location coast-to-coast, having a Shell card can be an ideal choice for drivers. Consumers can pick up an application to apply at any Shell-branded site, apply online at www.shell.us/driveforfive or over the phone at 1-888-98-SHELL.

Get Your Key to Clean … Pennzoil® announced the “Get Your Key to Clean” promotion last month at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The promotional sweepstakes provides consumers the opportunity to win a VIP weekend for the Charlotte races in October, as well as a piece of automotive history, the first vehicle produced by the newly formed RCR Street Performance Group, a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS.  The “Get Your Key to Clean” promotion, which runs June 1-July 31, 2010, will treat five finalists and a guest to an RCR VIP Experience at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 15, 2010.  A ceremony will be held before the start of the race where each of the five finalists will be presented with a key and a chance to test the key in the RCR Street Performance Camaro SS.  One key will start the engine determining the Grand Prize Winner.  Go to www.Pennzoil.com to enter.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:

Looking back at the Daytona 500, you had the dominant car and were leading late, only to lose the lead on the third and final attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish.  What were your thoughts about that wild finish?

“Yeah, we were all disappointed after the Daytona 500 because we had the thing won twice, but we got shuffled out there on the third and final attempt.  I remember Gil (Martin) telling Mike Helton that the rule stinks.  And, Mike patted him on the back and he said don’t worry, that it will come full circle. He was right, because we won at Talladega on the third attempt.”

Having won at Talladega, does Daytona bode as a good chance for winning another one?

“Yeah, I feel like we had a chance to win the Daytona 500 and, obviously, we have won the last two Budweiser Shootouts and we lost the qualifying race by about six inches. Daytona has been a really good race track for us, so we go there with the intentions of having a chance to win. But, it is still restrictor plate racing, so you go there and it’s still a crap shoot as far as how it all turns out.”

They’re going to repave Daytona after this race.  How much are you going to miss the bumps and humps on the track?

“I know it’s time and I know you have to do what you have to do, because, obviously, there are a lot of issues underneath for them to decide to repave it.  So, we’re going to miss the handling issues you have at Daytona and all the things that you always fight and it will be a lot like Talladega with a much narrower surface than what we have at Talladega. But, hopefully, it will eventually get back to having some bumps.  Talladega has been the one race track that really hasn’t changed a whole lot.  It’s all about speed and that’s what it’s going to be like at Daytona.  You bring your fastest car and not worry about handling. You just play the chess match and see what happens.”

There are just nine weeks left before the Chase.  What are your thoughts about getting it done over the next nine weeks?

“Obviously, we’re in a good position points-wise right now.  We’ve just got to put ourselves in position to win another race or two before the Chase gets started, and also in that time, advance our cars a little bit as we get through the next few weeks.  Usually, Indy brings out the new generation cars for us.  So, we’ll see how we run there and go on from there.”

On points racing and Chase racing for a championship, how savvy do you think you are in doing that?

“Well, to be honest, you go and you race as hard as you can every week.  If you’re in position to win, then you take a few more chances than you would if you’re racing for 10th.  But, I think fortunately, we’re in the spot where we are right now and we’re able to do things differently than what we’ve done in the past.  You come in with a different approach and a different attitude toward what’s happening on that particular weekend.  It’s more of a wide-open just go-for-it approach than if you were 12th. That’s the luxury of having been consistent, and the things we’ve done this year by running well, and hopefully, we can keep doing that.  I don’t think we’ve been on a really hot streak yet, to say the least, and hopefully, we save it for the last 10 weeks.  We want to run well and win races, but the last 10 weeks is really all that matters.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release