Kevin Harvick
No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet
AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest:
Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team travel to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) this week for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 team will utilize chassis No. 383 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable this weekend at PIR. Harvick raced this car to runner-up finishes at PIR in March and Dover International Speedway in June. He also scored a 15th-place finish in the car at Bristol in August and a 13th-place finish at Dover in September.
Harvick at Phoenix… Harvick has made 19 NSCS starts at PIR since 2001 and in that time he’s earned two wins (2006 – April and November), five top fives and nine top-10 finishes. He’s completed 99.6 percent of the laps run at PIR in that span (5,977 of 5,998) and has led a total of 405 laps at the one-mile track. Harvick’s average starting position at PIR is 19.1 and his average finish is 13.5.
PIR Loop Data…Since the implementation of NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics in 2006, Harvick has competed in 15 NSCS races at PIR and holds an impressive set of marks entering this weekend’s event, including: third in laps led (405 laps/8.5 percent); third in Fastest Drivers Early in a Run; fifth in Average Running Position (11.497); fifth in Fastest on Restarts; fifth in Green-Flag Speed; fifth in Laps in the Top 15 (3,460 laps/72.9 percent); sixth in Fastest Laps Run (219 laps); and eighth in Speed in Traffic; eighth in Driver Rating (97.5).
Last Time Around… In March, Harvick started eighth at PIR, led on five occasions for a total of 88 laps and scored a second-place finish.
In the Rearview Mirror… Last weekend Harvick scored a ninth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
See Harvick at PIR… Harvick will make an appearance at the Sprint display in PIR’s Fan Zone on Sunday morning at approximately 9:40 a.m. MST.
My Fight Matters… On Tuesday, The Kevin Harvick Foundation and apparel company TapouT visited North High School to donate new uniforms and gear to Harvick’s former high school wrestling team during a school pep rally. The Kevin Harvick Foundation also awarded a $5,000 “My Fight Matters” educational scholarship to North High senior William Gantz, winner of an essay contest that focused on overcoming adversity in life.
Teeing Off to Help Others… Harvick will tee off in the Third Annual Happy’s Classic at Bakersfield Country Club in Bakersfield, Calif., on Wednesday. Funds raised at the tournament will benefit the Kevin Harvick Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting programs that positively enrich the lives of children throughout the United States, including Kevin’s Krew events and Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship Funds at California State University-Bakersfield (CSUB) and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. During the event, the Kevin Harvick Foundation will also award the Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship to a CSUB student athlete.
Happy’s Birthday Bash… Harvick will celebrate his birthday a week early this year with the Budweiser Presents Happy’s Birthday Bash at The Fox Theater on Saturday, December 1, in his hometown – Bakersfield, Calif. Country music star Craig Morgan headlines the charity event benefitting the Kevin Harvick Foundation and Bridgette Tatum will make a special guest appearance. Tickets to the event start at $29 and are available at www.vallitix.com, The Fox Theater box office and any Vallitix outlet, or by phone at 1-888-825-5484.
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. Fans can also interact with Harvick on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OfficialKevinHarvick.
Harvick talks about racing at Phoenix International Raceway:
What were you able to learn from the March race at Phoenix International Raceway? “In the spring our car was faster on two tires than it was on four tires. Our weakness was the restarts and getting grip, but we were better on the restart with grip on two tires than we were with four. The track stayed pretty consistent, and for the first two races now with the new layout I think it’s put on pretty goodshows.”
What are your thoughts on the race track after the repave? “They did a great job of getting the track prepared and I think both races we’ve run there so far were really good races. The race track really widened out as we went through the races, the groove widened out a lot. They took the fans into consideration, and everybody can see what’s going on around the race track. The track is very racy, as well.”
How is Phoenix International Raceway’s layout different from the old configuration? “The entrance into Turn 1 reminds me of the old configuration. The center and the exit are a lot different just because of the banking. The back straightaway is the biggest difference just for the fact that it has a lot of banking and a-pretty sharp turn going into Turn 3. As we’ve run more laps there, I think everybody has gotten braver with using the apron, but Turns 3 and 4 reminded me of the old race track the most.”
Harvick’s Career Record at Phoenix International Raceway:
Phoenix International Raceway Track Facts: Track Length: 1 mile Race Length: 312 laps/500 kilometers Grandstand Seating Capacity: 50,000 First Race: Nov. 6, 1988 Banking in Turns 1 and 2: 11 degrees Banking in Turns 3 and 4: 9 degrees Banking on Frontstretch: 3 degrees Banking on Backstretch: 9 degrees Frontstretch: 1,179 feet Backstretch: 1,551 feet TV: ESPN, 3 p.m. ET Radio: MRN Radio affiliates, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
