Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
Following the first off-weekend of the season, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Martinsville Speedway this week for Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team will utilize chassis No. 420 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable this weekend. This is a brand new race car that will make its first laps on track at Martinsville.
Statistically Speaking… Harvick has made 23 NSCS starts at Martinsville Speedway since 2001. During that time he has scored one win (April 2011), three top fives and 10 top-10 finishes. He has completed 97.4 percent of the laps run in those 21 races (11,236 of 11,534) and led a total of 363 laps at the short track. Harvick holds an average starting position of 13.3 and an average finish of 16.7 at Martinsville.
Loop Data… Since the inception of NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics in 2006, Harvick has competed in 16 NSCS races at Martinsville Speedway and owns impressive marks at the short track heading into this weekend’s STP Gas Booster 500, including: seventh in driver rating (92.3); seventh in laps in the top 15 (5,023/62.5 percent); eighth in average running position (14.280); eighth in fastest laps run (194); ninth in fastest drivers early in a run (91.843 mph); ninth in green-flag speed (90.919 mph); ninth in laps led (216); ninth in fastest on restarts (89.624 mph); and 10th in speed by quarter.
Ride Along with Harvick… Want to experience a lap around the track with Harvick? The King of Beers has launched the Budweiser 360° Ride-Along Experience to allow adult fans to do just that. The “surround video” technology gives race fans a 360-degree look at a lap around the track inside the cockpit of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet with Harvick. While Budweiser’s driver controls the steering wheel, fans have the ability to control their view with the unique experience. The Budweiser 360° Ride-Along Experience is viewable on desktop and laptop computers and can be accessed at www.Budweiser.com.
Prohibition Ends at Last… On Sunday Anheuser-Busch and its family of wholesalers will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. The Cullen-Harrison Act took effect on April 7, 1933, legalizing the sale of 3.2 percent alcohol by volume beer in the District of Columbia and the 20 states in which state laws did not prohibit its sale. As the clock atop the brew house showed one minute past midnight on April 7, 1933, sirens and steam whistles sounded, the large wooden doors of the brewery’s Bevo bottling plant opened to the cheers of the thirsty, and 55 trucks laden with America’s favorite brew rolled out into the night, delivering the first cases of post-Prohibition Budweiser to the masses. Though the national repeal of Prohibition for all forms of alcohol did not become finalized until December 5, April 7 marks the most significant anniversary in the American beer industry.
Budweiser Clydesdales Celebrated… While the King of Beers honors the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, they also celebrate another major milestone – the 80th anniversary of the Clydesdales association with Anheuser-Busch. The Budweiser Clydesdales have been an integral part of Anheuser-Busch’s heritage since April 7, 1933, when August A. Busch Jr. and Adolphus Busch presented their father with two six-horse hitches of champion Clydesdales in celebration of the repeal of Prohibition. The Clydesdales’ strength and majesty symbolize Budweiser quality and team spirit. This week Warm Springs Ranch, Anheuser-Busch’s state-of-the-art Clydesdale breeding farm opened for public tours in Boonville, Mo. The ranch remains open until October 31 and tour spots can be reserved through www.warmspringsranch.com.
Double Duty… In addition to driving the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet in Sunday’s race, Harvick will pilot the No. 24 Tide Chevrolet for NTS Motorsports in Saturday’s Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. SPEED will provide live race coverage starting with the pre-race show at 1 p.m. ET. MRN Radio affiliates and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio will carry the live radio broadcast.
Harvick Discusses Racing at Martinsville Speedway
What type of mentality must a driver have to be successful at short-track racing?
“It’s a balance between being patient and making the right moves. You can get lapped pretty quickly if your car is off. You want to take care of your race car, but you want to take advantage of the opportunities when you get them.”
Talk about the importance of brake conservation at Martinsville.
“Braking is obviously going to be something that you look at when going to Martinsville, but I think now the brakes and the rotors and everything are so good that the issue you have now is the tires. The brakes will basically melt the bead of the tire because they’re so hot, so you have to concentrate on not only the cooling of the brakes, but also the cooling of the tires.”
