Kevin Harvick
No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet
Event/Date: USG Sheetrock 400 – July 15, 2007
Venue: Chicagoland Speedway – Joliet, Ill.
NOTES:
This Week’s Race Car at Chicagoland Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 179
from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Built new for the 2006 season, this is the same
car Harvick drove to Victory Lane in the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge earlier this year. He
also drove this race car to a 21st-place finish in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway. Additionally, Harvick drove this Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet to a third-place finish last
November at Texas Motor Speedway and to a fifth-place finish at Homestead-Miami
Speedway.
Harvick in the Loop at Chicago …
Stat Facts … In six NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Chicagoland Speedway,
Harvick has earned two wins, three top-five and four top-10 finishes. Additionally, the
11-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner has earned a 13.2 starting average and an
8.7 finishing average and has completed all but one lap of competition at the
Chicagoland Speedway.
Good Start, Better Finish … Over the season’s first 18 races, Harvick has earned one
win, three-top five and eight top-10 finishes. He currently holds a 19.8 starting average
coupled with a 15.9 finishing average and has completed 5,247 of 5,329 total laps (98%).
Since We’re Talking Chicago Stats … Harvick is ranked second in NASCAR’s Average
Running Position category (5.9) at Chicago and is currently the sports second-best Closer
– a statistic derived from the number of positions improved over the last 10 percent of
each race. The 2006 NASCAR Busch Series champions is also second best in the total
number of laps running in the top 15 (499). He is second in the Driver Rating category
(112.1). The Driver Rating is a formula that combines the following categories: wins,
finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed
under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum points a
driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The Driver Rating number is used pre-race as
a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. (Note: All driver stats are
from Chicagoland. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting date for statistical purposes
in 2005)
RCR at Chicago … Harvick scored back-to-back wins for RCR in the 2001-2002 Tropicana 400 at
Chicagoland. Additionally, RCR owns one pole, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 18 starts
at the Joliet, Ill., race track.
Did you Know … The 2007 Daytona 500 winner is the only multiple Chicagoland winner (2001
and ’02)
Double Down … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet,
Harvick, a 28-time race winner in the NASCAR Busch Series, will drive the No. 21 AutoZone
Chevrolet in the USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, July 14. The race will be
televised live on ABC beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The event will also be
broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the
20th race on the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 the same
day beginning at 11 a.m. EDT.
Up to Speed … Live coverage of the USG Sheetrock 400 from Chicagoland Speedway begins
Sunday, July 15 at 2:30 EDT. The race will also be broadcast on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Qualifying for the 19th of 36 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races will be televised live on SPEED
Friday, July 13 beginning at 4 p.m. EDT.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
You won in 2001 and 2002, the first two years the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series ran at the
Chicagoland Speedway, but the next three years you had only one top-10 finish. However, you
finished fourth last year at Chicago. Do you feel like you guys found the handling again?
“I don’t know if we have ever been off there. However, I don’t remember all the circumstances that
surrounded our finishes at Chicago. Obviously, we got off to a really good start the first two years. Seems
like we are always running in the top 10 and I think it is a pretty good race track for us.”
What is the fastest way around Chicago?
“The fastest way around Chicago is to run the white line the entire race. However, you never know what
the tires and all the other circumstances are going to be when we go back. The track is still aging and it
looses grip every time we go back. Over the past couple of years, we have been able to run up the race
track a little bit. But I think the person who can run the white line the entire race will win.”
What’s unique about Chicagoland Speedway?
“Probably that you go through the corners pretty much wide open. You let off sooner than you do at most
places, and you drive it all the way through the corners under power. That’s not extremely different from
other tracks but there is a lot more throttle there than at most places. You get back in it (the gas) a lot
quicker than you do at most places.”
Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway look alike but are they?
“They really are different. The race tracks, from the outside looking at them, look exactly the same. But,
every track has its own unique characteristics and these two tracks have their own. From what I
remember, there are now multiple grooves at Chicagoland so you can run a little bit higher. You don’t have
to run right on the bottom of the track. But, in qualifying, the bottom is definitely the way to go.”
