Kevin Harvick No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Chevrolet Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
· As Americans honor the men and women who’ve given their lives in military service for our country on this Memorial Day weekend, Budweiser, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 team will pay tribute by helping the families of our nation’s heroes. The No. 29 Chevrolet will sport a special Budweiser Armed Forces paint scheme in the May 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of Budweiser’s “Here’s to the Heroes” campaign, benefitting the Folds of Honor Foundation (FHF), which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for families of U.S. military personnel killed or disabled while serving their country.
· No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Chevrolet that Harvick will race in Sunday’s 600-mile event features a “stealth” flat-black paint scheme, complete with flat sponsor and contingency decals. · In addition to running the No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Chevrolet, Budweiser is donating $100 for every home run hit during the 2011 Major League Baseball season to FHF. Budweiser is also donating a portion of all sales in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July, in an effort to raise as much as $2 million for FHF. Budweiser will also feature special patriotic cans in stores this summer as well as a new television ad to pay tribute to our military men and women.
· Since its creation in 2007, FHF has provided more than 1,600 scholarships to recipients across the country. FHF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with the mission to empower deserving military families with educational support and opportunities. Their unique scholarships can be applied to schooling now or held by FHF on behalf of young children until needed at the time of enrollment.
· Harvick will be available to members of the media in the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield media center at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 26.
· The No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces team will race chassis No. 353 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new No. 29 chassis that will make its on-track debut this weekend.
· In 20 starts in the Coca-Cola 600, Harvick has earned one top five and four top-10 finishes. Combined, he’s led three laps, has an average starting position of 19.4 and an average finishing position of 20.1. Harvick has also completed 96.7 percent (6,817 of 7,048) of the laps run at Charlotte in the past 10 years.
· Harvick and RCR’s No. 29 team started 23rd and finished 11th in last year’s Coca-Cola 600. * In addition to competing in the No. 29 Budweiser Armed Forces Chevrolet this weekend, Harvick will drive the No. 33 Rheem Tankless Water Heaters Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. ABC will air the race live starting with the pre-race show at 2 p.m. EDT. Performance Racing Network and SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio will provide the live radio broadcast of the event as well.
· Budweiser and Harvick will celebrate Fourth of July this year with a special patriotic paint scheme that will be selected by adult NASCAR fans and featured on the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet during the July 2 race at Daytona International Speedway.Now through June 3, fans 21 years of age or older can visit the Budweiser Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/Budweiser and cast their vote for one of three patriotic paint schemes they would like to see featured on the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet for the July 2 Daytona race. Voting is available in the “Pick Your Paint” tab on the Budweiser Facebook page, and fans can cast one vote daily during the voting period.
· Fans can also enter Budweiser’s “52 Weeks to Win” promotion. It is a series of weekly sweepstakes hosted on Budweiser’s Facebook page throughout 2011 offering adult beer drinkers the opportunity to win unique prizes, including tickets to sporting events and concerts, seasonal gift packages and VIP experiences. Official rules are available on the Budweiser Facebook page. * For the online version of the Budweiser Racing media guide, please visit . * Follow along each weekend with Harvick and the team on Twitter. Check out @KevinHarvick for behind-the-scenes information straight from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Get live updates from the track each weekend from @Black29Car, the PR team for Harvick. Also, follow @RCRracing and @RCR29KHarvick for additional information about the Richard Childress Racing organization.
Kevin Harvick discusses Charlotte Motor Speedway: Talk about the Coca-Cola 500 – how much you have to adjust the race car throughout the race from afternoon to night, how much you have to work on your race car and how easy it can be to go the wrong way on adjustments: “You can definitely do it either way. You can make it better or you can dial yourself way out. I’ve been a part of that race several times where you start the race really good and by the times its dark you are in big trouble. So you definitely have to have some past history as far as what the race track does and that’s one reason why the All-Star race was so important. Just for the fact that everything you do in that race is at night and the 600 is going to end at night so you kind of have to take what happens at the All-Star race and then what you do in the day time practices and mix those two together and rely on a lot of past notes and things to try to have a set up that’s adjustable. And you have to make a lot of adjustments during the race just out of past theories and past experiences. If your car is not doing something and its getting dark rapidly you are going to have to make a change on the fly without your car doing something. You are just going to have to trust it’s the right change and just make it if the time is right as far as the sun going down and when the darkness is coming.”
How big of a deal is that extra 66 laps in the 600? “I think as a driver you are mentally prepared and kind of just know how long a 500-mile or 400-mile race is, but I think the people who worry about it the most are the engine guys just because everything they do is set off of 500 miles, so they probably worry about it a lot more than we do.”
This is the longest race of the year, mileage-wise. Does it feel that way? “You go into this race knowing it’s an extra 100 miles, so it always just seems like it’s longer. You start in broad daylight and end up with it being pitch black outside, so it just seems like you’re in there all day. The race definitely feels longer to me.”
Harvick’s Career Record at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
Charlotte Motor Speedway Track Facts Track Length: 1.5-miles Grandstand Seating Capacity: 140,000 First Race: June 19, 1960 Banking in Corners: 24 degrees Banking on Straights: 5 degrees Frontstretch: 1,980 feet Backstretch: 1,500 feet TV: FOX, 5:30 p.m. EDT Radio: PRN, SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio
