This Week
Race: AdvoCare 500
Date: Sunday, November 5
Track: Phoenix International Raceway
TV: ESPN, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN radio affiliates, Sirius XM NASCAR RadioTrack Facts
Track Length: 1 mile
Race Length: 312 laps/312 miles/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 Frontstraight: 3 degrees
Banking on Backstraight: 9 degrees
Frontstretch: 1,179 feet
Backstretch: 1,551 feet
Rearview Mirror
Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick and the No. 29 team started 19th and finished eighth.
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
With just two races remaining in the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) this weekend for Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race. He is currently ranked third in the driver point standings, 40 markers back from leader Jimmie Johnson.
Budweiser ROLL-BAR… Harvick will visit with fans at PIR’s Budweiser ROLL-BAR hospitality area on Sunday prior to the start of the AdvoCare 500. Located behind the Bobby Allison Grandstands, the Budweiser ROLL-BAR is an innovative hospitality environment that includes a gaming area, live entertainment, and catered meal and drink vouchers. Passes for admission are available for purchase as an add-on to a grandstand ticket. Single-day tickets are available for $99 on Saturday and $149 on Sunday, and can be purchased online at www.phoenixraceway.com or by calling the PIR ticket office at 866-408-RACE (7223).
Teeing Off for a Cause… On Wednesday, Harvick will head back to his hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., to tee off in the fourth annual Happy’s Classic Golf Tournament presented by Advanced Distribution and Blackhole Technologies. Funds raised at the tournament will benefit the Kevin Harvick Foundation, which is dedicated to the support of programs that positively enrich the lives of children throughout the United States. In addition to the golf tournament, Harvick will make a special presentation to the North High golf team with a surprise donation on behalf of the foundation.
A Look Back… Harvick returns to PIR this weekend as the defending race winner of the AdvoCare 500. Last November he started the race in the 19th spot and the team utilized pit strategy to gain track position and crack the top 10 early in the race. Harvick worked to conserve fuel late in the event, which proved critical as the race went past the scheduled distance for a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick held off Kyle Busch on the final restart and scored his 19th career NSCS win with a 0.580-second margin of victory.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 team will utilize Chassis No. 430 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable at PIR. Harvick last raced this car to a third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in September. The team also utilized the car during a test session at Texas Motor Speedway in October.
Statistically Speaking… In 21 starts at PIR, Harvick has earned three wins, six top fives and 10 top 10s. He has completed 99.7 percent of the laps run in NSCS competition (6,611 of 6,633) and has an average start of 18.5 and average finish of 12.9.
Loop Data… Harvick owns several impressive marks at PIR in NASCAR’s Loop Data scoring system heading into this weekend’s event, including: third in fastest drivers early in a run (127.184 mph); fourth in fastest on restarts (122.832 mph); fourth in speed by quarter; fifth in average running position (11.041); fifth in driver rating (99.0); fifth in green flag speed (125.133 mph); fifth in laps in the top 15 (4,035 laps); fifth in laps led (420 laps); and seventh in fastest laps run (245 laps); eight in speed in traffic (124.263 mph).
Double Duty… In addition to his duties in the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, Harvick will drive the No. 33 Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at PIR. ESPN will air coverage of the race starting with the pre-race show at 3:30 p.m. ET. Sirius XM NASCAR Radio and MRN Radio affiliates will provide the live radio broadcast.
Harvick Discusses Racing at Phoenix International Raceway
You’ve had a lot of success at Phoenix International Raceway. In your opinion, what’s the challenge related to the ‘new version’ of this track since the repave?
“You really have to have an understanding of the track. Every time we go back, I feel like we learn something different. We really did well at Phoenix (International Raceway) last year and also ran well there earlier this season, but we didn’t play the strategy game correctly at the end and lost the track position we needed. I feel like you have to play the strategy game; the track is still racy enough where you can make up time if your car is good, but you need to stay focused on strategy. Phoenix has done a great job redesigning the track. It’s a great place for us as a team, but you have to play the game right with the strategy.”
Is Phoenix International Raceway a track where it’s less important compared to other recent repaves to work rubber into the race track?
“I think Phoenix International Raceway took a lot of time in the beginning to work rubber into the track with a few different techniques they used, but the weather really helps wear the track. It’s incredibly hot in the summer and can get really cold in the winter, so there are some pretty extreme temperatures that help age the asphalt. But I think the design of the track itself, on hard or soft tires, has made watching a race there really exciting. The pavement on the flat backstretch creates some excitement itself. It’s been an interesting track to race on and most of that comes from having the design right.”
