This Week
Race: AAA Texas 500
Date: Sunday, November 3
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
TV: ESPN, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN affiliates, Sirius XM NASCAR RadioTrack Facts
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Race Length: 334 laps/501 miles
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 122,377
First Race: April 6, 1997
Banking in the Corners: 24 degrees
Banking on the Dogleg: 5 degrees
Banking on the Backstretch: 5 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,250 feet
Backstretch: 1,330 feet
TV: ESPN, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN affiliates, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio
Rearview Mirror
Last weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Harvick and the No. 29 team started 10th and finished sixth.
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) this weekend for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Testing 1, 2, 3… In preparation for Sunday’s race, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team took part in a two-day test at TMS October 22-23.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 team will utilize Chassis No. 431 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable at TMS. This car made its on-track debut at Kansas Speedway earlier this month, and Harvick raced it to his third win of the 2013 season. Harvick also drove this car the following weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was scored with a sixth-place finish.
Statistically Speaking… In 21 starts at TMS, Harvick has earned three top fives and 10 top 10s. He has completed 99.8 percent of the laps run in NSCS competition (7,011 of 7,025) and has an average start of 21.2 and average finish of 12.5.
Three to Go… With three races remaining in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team are ranked fourth in the NSCS driver point standings, 28 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. In the first seven races of the Chase, Harvick has scored one win (Kansas Speedway), two top fives and five top-10 finishes.
A Look Back… During last year’s AAA Texas 500, Harvick started 23rd and finished ninth.
Harvick Discusses Racing at Texas Motor Speedway
How important is qualifying and track position at a place like Texas Motor Speedway?
“Qualifying is definitely very important on the 1.5-mile race tracks. Texas (Motor Speedway) is one of those places where the tires wear out, but track position is so important to keep the handling on your car. We tested there last week and hope that the information we gathered will allow us to go back to the track with a good balance on our car. We tried some different things and I’m hoping we learned enough to not only make me comfortable in the race car, but to be able to put ourselves in a position to run in the top five and possibly even win the race.”
What is the race at Texas Motor Speedway like from the driver perspective?
“There is never a dull moment because you’re trying to drive the car to the edge every lap. You’re trying to make the car go as fast as you can. When you’re in traffic it’s harder to drive the car than it is when you’re out there by yourself, for the fact that it takes downforce off of the car and it feels like the car is lifting out of the race track. These cars become even harder to drive in traffic. It’s definitely a challenge every lap.”
For the online version of the Budweiser Racing media guide, please visit www.budweiserracingmedia.com.
The stylized no.29 and the RCR checkered flag logo are registered trademarks of RCR Enterprises, LLC. The Name, likeness, signature of Kevin Harvick and the Kevin Harvick, Incorporated, logo are registered trademarks of kevin Harvick, Incorporated, and are used under license from Kevin Harvick, Incorporated. All Trademarks and the likeness of the no.29 race car are used under license from their owners.
