Catchfence

NSCS No. 29 Rheem Tankless Water Heaters Chevrolet Impala SS

No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet Impala

Race Notes and Quotes

This Week’s Rheem Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway … Kevin Harvick will race chassis No. 353 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. The No. 29 team utilized this car to earn Harvick’s third win of the season in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

Rheem Returns to the No. 29 … With headquarters in Atlanta, less than 50 miles north of AMS, Rheem will serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 29 Chevrolet for Sunday’s race at AMS and the car will carry the company’s familiar red and black colors. Rheem first served as the primary sponsor on the No. 29 Chevrolet this season at Infineon Raceway where Harvick scored a ninth-place finish in June. The company will also be the primary sponsor on the No. 29 Chevrolet at Dover and Texas later this season.

Harvick at Atlanta … In 20 starts at AMS, Harvick has accumulated one win, four top-five and six top-10 finishes. His average starting position at the track is 18.4 and his average finishing position is 20.5. Harvick has also led a total of 136 laps at AMS and completed 97.3 percent (6,275 of 6,448) of the laps run at the track since 2001.

Last Time Around … Last year Harvick finished ninth in the March race at AMS. He had a solid run going in the September event until the left-front tire blew out in the second half of the race, causing damage that ultimately forced the team to end the night in the garage with a 33^rd-place finish.

Remember When … AMS is home to one of Harvick’s most memorable NSCS wins. In March 2001, making just his third series start, the rookie driver led 18 laps at AMS en route to scoring his first-ever Sprint Cup win by a margin of 0.006 seconds over Jeff Gordon.

The One and Only … In addition to owning a NSCS win at AMS, Harvick has also visited Victory Lane at the 1.54-mile track in the Nationwide Series (September 2009) and the Camping World Truck Series (March 2010). He is currently the only driver to hold wins in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series at AMS.

About Rheem … Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com), is a privately held company in its 86th year of operation. Rheem manufactures a full line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Raypak, Ruud and Rheem, have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water-heating supplier for Richard Childress Racing and Kevin Harvick Inc.

Meet the Fans … Harvick is one of several drivers scheduled to participate in the NASCAR autograph session at AMS from 4 – 5 p.m. on Friday. The autograph session will be located on the concourse area underneath the Earnhardt Grandstands on the speedway’s frontstretch.

An Inside Look … The No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet will carry an in-car camera for ESPN’s broadcast of Sunday’s race at AMS. Network coverage of the event starts at 6:30 p.m. ET with the “NASCAR Countdown” pre-race show, followed by live race coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Double Duty … In addition to racing the Rheem Chevrolet in Sunday’s NSCS race, Harvick will also be at the wheel of the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet in Nationwide Series competition on Saturday as well. Live race coverage will air on ESPN2 starting with the pre-race show at 7 p.m. ET. PRN affiliates and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the event.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:

Looking ahead to Atlanta Motor Speedway, how important is it for you to have a good run there, because there are so many mile-and-a-half tracks in the Chase? “You always want to run good, and any momentum is good momentum as long as it is headed in the right direction. Atlanta (Motor Speedway) in itself doesn’t do anything for us performance wise just because it is so slick and so worn out. It is kind of its own beast. Running good anywhere is a good thing, especially as we get closer to the Chase. I feel good about the things that we have got going on leading into Chicago. I do not know exactly how much of that will bleed over into the next few weeks, but I feel confident. It is definitely not going to be from a lack of effort from all the guys internally and the things that we have going on right now.”

What kind of track is Atlanta? “Atlanta is fast, very fast. You can race all over the race track, from the white line to the wall, and still be competitive. You have to have the complete package to contend for the win there and horsepower is always important. We had a strong run at Atlanta last fall so we really look forward to going back this year in the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet.”

What do you like about racing at Atlanta? “I just like the fact that the car slides around a lot and you have to move around the race track and really search for somewhere to find more grip in order to make the car drive well, and you have to still be able to make fast lap times hunting for places to find grip.”

Take me through a lap around Atlanta in the Rheem Chevrolet.

“It all depends on what lap you are on with the tires. The first lap is usually the perfect lap on the tires just because you have so much more grip than on the second, third, fourth and fifth laps, but Atlanta is just very fast and we seem to want to be right around the bottom. You use a lot of throttle, there’s a lot of corner speed and the car has to work good over the bumps.”

- Richard Childress Racing, Press Release