Kevin Harvick
No. 77 Dollar General Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Team Report
NASCAR Busch Series Race 9 of 35—Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY RACE RECAP:
Returning to his home state of Texas, Bobby Labonte was behind the wheel of the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway. Labonte qualified the No. 77 in the 17th row on the starting grid. Throughout the 200-lap event, Labonte wheeled the No. 77 towards the front of the pack. While running sixth, Labonte was caught in a scoring hiccup that caused the No. 77 to be scored two laps down with a fifty-lap sprint to the end of the event. Labonte brought the Dollar General stores Chevrolet home in one piece for a 22nd-place finish.
PHOENIX (ARIZ.) INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY FACTS & STATS:
10TH START AT PIR: Kevin Harvick will make his 10th NASCAR Busch Series start at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway (PIR). For the first time in Harvick’s Busch Series career he will make a start at PIR in his co-owned car for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI). Harvick’s previous PIR Busch Series starts have all been for Richard Childress Racing.
NUMBER CRUNCHING: In nine Busch Series starts at PIR, Harvick has an average starting position of ninth and holds an average finishing position of 10th. He has one victory to his credit along with six top-five and six top-10 finishes.
2007 SEASON DEBUT: Harvick will make his first start in the No. 77 Dollar General stores Chevrolet for the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season. Harvick has previously made three starts for KHI in 2007 in the No. 33 KHI Busch Series entry.
LAP BY LAP…BY LAP…: Kevin Harvick has competed in 24 of NASCAR’s premier series events at PIR. Racing in eight NASCAR Nextel Cup events, nine Busch Series events and seven Truck Series events. Combining all the laps from the 24 races, Harvick has finished 92 percent of the scheduled laps.
WINNING COMBINATION: Nearly four years ago, Kevin Harvick and crew chief Wally Rogers visited victory lane at PIR. It was the second race that Rogers called atop the pit box for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI). In 2003, Harvick started second in the field and raced the “Looney Tunes Back in Action” No. 6 Chevrolet Truck to victory lane.
TRIPLE THREAT: After Harvick won the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event in 2006, he became the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s top series at PIR. He won the Busch Series the night before and carried over the momentum into the Nextel Cup event to complete a weekend sweep. Harvick also won a Truck Series race at PIR in 2002 and 2003 in his own truck helping him secure a NASCAR triple threat.
CHAMPIONS ROW: Kevin Harvick will be honored at PIR Thursday, April 19 at 3:00 p.m. with the unveiling of two giant 2006 champions banners on the back of the Bobby Allison Grandstands in turn two. Fans and media are welcome to attend. *Images of the two banners are available upon request.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
THOUGHTS ON PIR: “I don’t really see Phoenix as a short track. Even though places like Phoenix and New Hampshire are only a mile, they both have lots of room to race. Phoenix is always a fun race track. There is always at least two lanes and sometimes even more to pass on. I always seem to do well at Phoenix, so I’m excited to see what we can do with the Dollar General stores Chevy this weekend.”
ON CREW CHIEF WALLY ROGERS: “Wally Rogers, the crew chief, and I have some history at this track. He and I won a truck race at KHI together back in 2003, so hopefully we can keep our winning streak going in Phoenix.”
FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU HEAR…PHOENIX: “Cactus’, blue walls and we win there a lot.”
CREW CHIEF CORNER WITH WALLY ROGERS:
THOUGHTS ON PIR: “I seem to be in a whole different mind set when I go to Phoenix (Ariz.), it’s a track that I strive to succeed at and leave nothing on the table. Especially having the boss [Kevin Harvick] in the car, there is just that much more added pressure to the whole weekend. Harvick and I have been to victory lane at Phoenix (Ariz.) in the past. I want nothing more than to add one more to the record books for Harvick with a victory in the Dollar General stores Chevrolet.
“I’m very excited about chassis No. 008 that we are unloading at Phoenix (Ariz.). Besides chassis No. 027, this is one of my favorite cars. It’s raced in the past at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, but since then we’ve brought it home and completely re-built it. It has brand new front and rear clips and a whole new body hung on it. This is one that I’ve paid special attention to through the whole building processes in the fab shop, through the body shop and in the finish fab stages.”
QUICK NOTES:
Race Info
Date: April 20, 2007
Track: Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway
Event Name: Bashas’ Supermarkets 200
Race length: 200 laps / 200 miles
Banking/Turns: 11-degrees
Track layout: 1-mile
Shape: Oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice—Thursday at 2:15 – 3:35 p.m. ET
Final Practice—Thursday at 9:45 – 10:45 p.m. ET
Qualifying—Friday at 5:35 p.m. ET
Broadcast Times:
TV – NASCAR Countdown pre-race coverage can be seen live on ESPN2 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Followed by the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Radio – The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast pre-race coverage at 9:00 p.m. ET.
No. 77 Dollar General stores Monte Carlo SS Specs
Chassis: 008
Car History: Brand New
Engine: RCR
