Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

O'Reilly Challenge - Kevin Harvick Notes

Kevin Harvick
No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: O’Reilly Challenge – November 3, 2007
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway – Ft. Worth, Texas

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Texas Motor Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 062 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same chassis Scott Wimmer drove to a 15th-place finish at Kansas Speedway in September. Harvick drove this AutoZone Chevrolet to a third-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August and to Victory Lane at Chicagoland Speedway in July. This is also the same car Timothy Peters raced to a 19th-place finish in April at Nashville Superspeedway. Additionally, Harvick drove this Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the 2006 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway where he stared from the pole and finished sixth.

Stat Facts, Former Winner … In seven NBS starts at Texas, Harvick has posted three wins, three top-five and six top-10 finishes. Additionally, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has completed all 1,322 laps of competition and has led for 404 laps.

Top of the Charts … Based on Scott Wimmer’s sixth-place finish last week at Memphis, the No. 29 team maintained a 136-point lead in the NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) owners’ championship point standings. The potent duo of Jeff Burton and Wimmer have earned four victories, one pole, 15 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in 32 starts.

Busch Series Star … Harvick’s NBS stats include 31 wins, 96 top-five and 139 top-10 finishes in 189 starts. That’s a victory in 16 percent of all NBS races he has entered, a top-five in 51 percent of races and a top-10 in 74 percent of the races. He has also led 5,422 laps and has accumulated over $9 million in earnings.

RCR Busch Cars at Texas … In 21 NBS starts at Texas Motor Speedway, RCR boasts three wins (Harvick, March 2001, April 2006 and November 2006), one pole (Jeff Green, April 2002), five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and has led for 508 laps.

Pretty Good for a Part-Timer … In 23 NBS starts this season, Harvick has tallied five wins (Daytona, Loudon, Chicago, Montreal and Watkins Glen), two poles, nine top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. Despite having competed in only 23 of the 32 NBS races this season, the 2006 NACAR Busch Series champion has led 338 laps and is fourth in the drivers’ point standings.

Kevin Harvick Day … The City of Houston has declared November 1, 2007 as Kevin Harvick Day. The proclamation honoring the RCR driver and the No. 29 NASCAR Cup Series team, sponsored by Houston-based Shell Oil Company, will be delivered by Mayor Bill White. A full day of events across the city with personal appearances by Harvick, team owner Richard Childress and many members o the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil team are scheduled for Houston’s Kevin Harvick Day. The event will kick off with a public event at City Hall when the proclamation will be read and all media are invited to attend. This event will begin at 11 a.m. local time.

Leading the Way in Owner Wins … Childress leads the 2007 NBS in owner wins with 11 – the most recent coming three weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Burton.

RCR Busch Brigade … In 32 NBS races this season, RCR has claimed 11 victories with the most recent coming three weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Burton. Harvick leads the way with five, Burton has four and Clint Bowyer has two. Additionally, the three RCR Busch teams (No. 2, No. 21 and No. 29) have a total of 36 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes while leading 1,316 laps.

Double Down … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet, Harvick, a 11-time race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, will drive RCR’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet in the November 4 Dickies 500. The race will air live on ABC beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and can also be heard on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Catch the Action … Live coverage of the O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway will be televised on ESPN2 Saturday, November 3 beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The race will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 33rd of 35 races on the 2007 Busch Series calendar will air live on SPEED Friday, November 2 beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
You have won three of seven Busch races at Texas, why so much success?
“Texas is a track that I’ve just found success at from the get go. My first start there in the Busch Series we had a top-10 finish and since then I have managed to pick up a couple of wins. I’m looking forward to returning to Texas and hopefully bring home another win for the AutoZone team.”

Are Charlotte and Texas similar? Is Texas tougher to get around?
“The transitions up off the corners at Texas are a lot different than Charlotte. The banking comes out of the corners and it really flattens out as you exit the corners. It is really hard to get a hold of turn two. A lot of times you are either really loose up off turn two or you’re pushing the front-end really bad. It is a fine line to get your car to work great around the entire track.”

Are you happy that Texas decided to fix the bump in turn one?
“The bump was pretty big. They were probably going to have to fix it to keep the Indy cars running around the track. I think, for us, bumps here and there give race tracks unique characteristics. I think they fixed it the right way. They didn’t just try and patch it. We will just have to see what happens when we get there.”