Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Ford 400 - Kevin Harvick Notes

Kevin Harvick
No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date: Ford 400 – November 18, 2007
Venue: Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, Fla.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Homestead-Miami Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 120 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This is the same Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Harvick drove to a sixth-place finish in September at Kansas Speedway. Additionally, the Bakersfield, Calif., native drove this chassis to a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Last season, Harvick drove this Monte Carlo SS to Victory Lane in November at Phoenix International Raceway and in September at New Hampshire International Raceway.

Stat Facts … In six NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick has two top-five and four top-10 finishes. Additionally, “Happy” has completed all 1,607 laps attempted at the one-and-a-half mile oval.

Did you Know … Harvick leads all NASCAR Cup Series drivers in laps completed in 2007, 99,9 %, 10,215 of a possible 10,315.

Movin’ On Up … Harvick’s sixth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway advanced the NASCAR Cup Series Chase contender one spot to seventh in the point standings. The 11-time Cup Series winner is 479 markers out of the lead and just 76 behind Tony Stewart’s fifth-place tally.

RCR at Homestead … Homestead has been a bit of an Achilles Heel for RCR and is one of the few race tracks where team owner Richard Childress hasn’t earned a victory. As a company, RCR’s best finish at HMS came in the 2003 Ford 400 when Kevin Harvick finished second. In 23 starts, RCR has two top-five and 10 top-10 finishes at the mile-and-a-half, progressively-banked oval.

50 Years and Counting … To help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chevrolet Impala nameplate and the 50th running of the Daytona 500, Chevrolet will offer 50 race fans from 50 different states a once-in-a-lifetime weekend experience at the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, 2008. At the same time, 10 of those individuals will win a brand new Chevy Impala. Beginning on Oct. 16 and through Dec. 3, fans can visit www.chevy.com/Daytona500 to enter.

Busch Championship … When Jeff Burton cranks his No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet for Saturday’s 300-mile event, he will clinch the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series owners’ title for RCR. RCR needs only two points to clinch the title over Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Chevrolet. The only other time a split NASCAR Busch Series title happened was 2003, when Hendrick Motorsports’ Brian Vickers won the driver’s title and RCR’s driving duo of Harvick and Johnny Sauter won the owners’ title.

Keep on Rolling … Harvick has yet to record a DNF (did not finish) in 2007. He and fellow teammate Clint Bowyer are the only two Chase drivers to have finished every race this season. Harvick has been running at the end of every race dating back to Dover last September, a steak of 43 races.

And the Winner Is … Harvick’s RCR teammate, Burton, has been named the 2007 Person of the Year by NASCAR Illustrated for his charitable efforts both on and off the track. Representatives from NASCAR Illustrated will present the South Boston, Va., native with this prestigious award on the pre-race stage prior to driver introductions on Sunday, November 18. In addition, Old Spice teamed up with NASCAR Illustrated, and as part of the award and presentation, will donate $5,000 to Duke Children’s Hospital in Burton’s name.

The Trifecta … In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet and the No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet, Harvick, a two-time race winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will drive Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s No. 2 Camping World Chevrolet in the Ford 200 on Friday, November 16th. The race will be televised on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Putting on the Finishing Touches … Harvick will make his final start behind the wheel of the storied No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet this weekend in the last Busch Series race on the 2007 calendar. Live coverage of the Ford 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway gets underway Saturday, November 17 at 4:30 p.m. EST on ESPN 2. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio will also carry the race broadcast live. Harvick is currently fourth in the Busch Series point standings heading into the season finale – seven points behind Jason Leffler for third.

Up to Speed … Live coverage of the Ford 400 will take the green flag Sunday, November 18 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST. The race will be televised live on ABC and broadcast worldwide on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the final points-paying races on the 2007 NASCAR Cup schedule will be televised live on ESPN2 Friday, November 16 at 3 p.m. EST.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
Why is Homestead-Miami Speedway one of you favorite tracks?
“Miami is one of those race tracks that you don’t know when it is going to stop aging. Every time we go there it loses a little grip, which is a good thing. Miami is one of my favorite race tracks since they repaved it. Just for the fact that you can move around and it is kind of hard to get a hold of. There are a lot of different places where you can make your car work. For me it has been a lot of fun to race.”

Are you ready of the 2007 season to end?
“I am ready for the 2007 season to come to an end. We have had a lot of thing go wrong but we have been pretty good performance-wise this year. The unfortunate thing is we just don’t have a lot to show for our efforts this year except for the Daytona 500 and the All-Star race. If somebody would have told us at the beginning of the season that you would win the 500, the All-Star race and make the Chase, we would have been pretty happy. However, since we are such competitors we have been pretty disappointed this year when things didn’t go our way.”