Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Pocono 500 - Kevin Harvick Notes

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

Event/Date: Pocono 500 – June 10, 2007
Venue: Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, Pa.

NOTES:

This Week’s Race Car at Pocono Raceway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 151 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. This chassis has been completely rebuilt and last saw action on the race track during the 2006 NEXTEL All-Star Challenge where the Bakersfield, Calif., native started ninth and finished second.

Stat Facts … In 12 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway, Harvick has earned one top-five and four top-10 finishes. Additionally, the 11-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner has earned an 18.2 starting average and a 16.8 finishing average.

Racing for the Kids … Harvick, the winner of the 2007 Daytona 500, will pilot a dirt late model painted using the same bright yellow and red scheme used on his No. 29 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series car in the third annual NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream. The event will take place June 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. HBO Pay-Per-View will present the event live to the entire nation. Proceeds from this ground-breaking telecast will support the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Tony Stewart Foundation. The all-star race will feature racing icons as Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte and more. Every entrant in the Prelude will pilot 2,300-pound dirt late model stock cars with over 800 horsepower and will run hot laps, qualifying, heat races and the 30-lap feature on the half-mile clay oval.

On the Hunt … RCR team owner Richard Childress, along with his grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon are in New Zealand. Childress and the Dillon duo are hunting Red Stag, Chamois and Tahr.

Million Dollar Man … With his 20th-place finish at Dover International Speedway last weekend, Harvick has already topped the $3 million mark in earnings for the 2007 season, totaling $3,128,101 in 13 starts.

Trackside Live … Harvick will be the special guest on Trackside Live this Friday live from Pocono Raceway beginning at 7:05 p.m. Trackside is an hour show that comes to you directly from the site of the current week’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race and always produces an animated, in-depth discussion of all the action surrounding the event. Trackside Live can also been seen live on SPEED beginning at 7 p.m.

RCR at Pocono … In 86 starts, RCR team owner Richard Childress has two wins at Pocono, both of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt won the Summer 500, on July 19, 1987 and the Miller Genuine Draft 500 on July 18, 1993. Additionally, RCR has earned one pole, 10 top-five and 36 top-10 finishes at the three-turn speedway. Childress, a former driver in NASCAR’s top division contributed two of those top 10s from 1976-1980.

Up to Speed … Live coverage of the Pocono 500 begins Sunday, June 10 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on TNT. The race will be carried on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the 14th of 36 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races will be televised live on SPEED Friday, June 8 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
What part of Pocono is the trickiest for you to get accustomed to?
“For me, the trickiest part of Pocono is the Tunnel Turn. You have to carry so much speed into that turn that there is not much room for error. The Tunnel Turn is so much harder to get through now then it use to be. A couple of years ago there was a flat curb there and you could lean on it a little bit if you needed to. Now, there is a big curb there and if you hit it you’re going to damage the skirting on the left-front. You will probably be forced up the race track as well and the chances of hitting the wall are pretty high.”

What do you contribute to your recent success at Pocono?
“Pocono has been pretty good to us the last couple of years. We have been able to gain momentum each time we go back. We didn’t have much success there in the beginning and kind of got down on it. We finally went back to the drawing board and really focused on what we need to do to go fast. We also started looking at what Jeff (Burton) and Clint (Bowyer) were doing and we have been really running well there lately. So I am pretty excited about going back to Pocono this weekend.”

What are your thoughts on Pocono?
“Pocono has a lot of its own characteristics, to say the least. It’s a 2.5-mile tri-oval race track that has three pretty tricky turns. Turn one is really bumpy, the tunnel turn has a pretty big curb and it is pretty easy to make a mistake there and turn three is one of the flattest turns we deal with on the NASCAR circuit. It definitely has its own characteristics and its own unique challenges.”