Tuesday
Kevin Harvick, 2010 NSCS Price Chopper 400 Race Preview
Press Release
No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala
Race Notes and Quotes
This Week’s Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 318 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet is a completely brand new car which will see its first laps on the track during Friday’s practice session.
Career Kansas Stats … The Price Chopper 400 marks Harvick’s 351st career start in the NSCS.
- In nine NSCS starts at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval, Harvick owns three top-10 and five top-15 finishes.
- He has finished in the top 15 in three of his last four Kansas starts.
- His career-best finish at Kansas is sixth, which he has accomplished on three different occasions (2003, 2007 and 2008).
- He has led three Kansas NSCS races for a total of 67 laps, and he sports an average finish of 15.7.
Dover Rewind … Harvick and the No. 29 team rallied from their 33rd-starting position to finish 15th last weekend at Dover International Speedway in the second race of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The effort was the Bakersfield, Calif., native’s 24th top-15 finish in the season’s 28 races. Additionally, Harvick is now fifth in the championship point standings, 65 points behind the leader.
Regular Season Leader … After his ninth-place effort at Richmond International Raceway three weeks ago, Harvick finished the 26-race regular season as the NSCS leader, a position he held for the final 16 consecutive weeks of the regular season.
- First in average finish (9.8).
- Second in Closer category, total positions improved during the last 10 percent of each race.
- Third in fastest drivers late in a run.
- Fourth in fastest speed in traffic.
- 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.
- Sixth in percentage of laps run on lead lap.
- Sixth in green flag speed.
- Eighth in fastest drivers early in a run.
- Eighth in average running position.
Double Dip in Kansas … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, Harvick will drive Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s No. 33 Chevrolet in the Oct. 2 Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. The race will air live on ESPN2, beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
What is your outlook for the Chase?
“For us, I think we just have to keep doing the things that we did up until this point. We won a few races, had a lot of top-five and top-10 finishes. On the days where we really struggled, I felt like we, for the most part, made something out of those days. It was good enough to lead the points in the first 26 (races), so there is really no reason for us to change our strategy. I feel like the guys have done a great job of getting the cars prepared. We’ll see what happens. Whether we win or lose, I think everybody has done everything we can control. We’ll just go race now.”
Can you contrast where this organization was a year ago, and how vastly different it is now for the entire RCR organization to have three cars in the Chase? When did the actual turnaround begin?
“The actual turnaround began in Indianapolis last year. That was our first generation of new cars with some different set-ups that were implemented into the cars at that particular time. From that point on, it’s been a building process to get things headed in that direction. Richard (Childress) made a few more personnel moves as we went through that time, and over the off-season. So, I still say for the No. 29 team, the key race for us was California (February 2010) and just knowing that we had cars that were capable of competing. I felt like I made a big mistake, and that was a huge eye-opener for everybody, to get back in that mindset of remembering what you do when you win races and not forcing things.”
When you were going through that, did you ever think RCR could get all three cars into the Chase?
“It’s been more normal to get our three cars in than it has to not get them in the Chase. For us, that was something we did pretty well. Last year was definitely more abnormal than the norm. I think last year made us better. I think those struggles definitely made us better.”
- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: Chevrolet Impala SS, Chevy Impala SS, Kansas, Kansas Speedway, Kevin Harvick, KS, NASCAR, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS, NSCS, Price Chopper 400, RCR, Richard Childress Racing, Team Chevy
