KEVIN HARVICK
Daytona Advance
No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
Event Overview
● Event: Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Round 26 of 36)
● Time/Date: 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 27
● Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
● Layout: 2.5-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 160 laps / 400 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 35 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN Radio / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Notes of Interest
● There are more than 4 million miles of road in the United States, but none embody the love of driving more than famed Route 66. Yet the small businesses that are the lifeblood of the Mother Road need help. Mobil 1 aims to inspire a journey on the open road, specifically by exploring the small businesses of Route 66 and meeting people along its 2,400-mile path from the shores of Lake Michigan to Los Angeles, right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Route 66 crosses the country, connecting not only east and west, but past and present. Mobil 1 aims to Keep Route 66 Kickin’ with its recently debuted Mobil 1 Muffler Man – an homage to the larger-than-life Muffler Men that dot Route 66. Molded in fiberglass and polyester resin on steel frames that stand 14- to 25-feet tall, Muffler Men became icons of the Route 66 landscape – square-jawed men with arms outstretched promoting the business on which they stood. Now, Mobil 1 is taking its Muffler Man to promote the small businesses of Route 66. Its journey begins Aug. 25 at California’s Santa Monica Pier before visiting Seligman, Arizona, on Sept. 10 to see the world’s most milkshake flavors at Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In. It then travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sept. 24 to stand alongside the world’s largest corn dog at Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor before culminating its journey Oct. 9 in Litchfield, Illinois, to witness the most dogs attending a film screening at Litchfield Skyview Drive-In. Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are helping Mobil 1 kick off its Keep Route 66 Kickin’ campaign with a special paint scheme in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
● When Harvick takes the green flag for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, it will be his series-leading 43rd NASCAR Cup Series start at Daytona. Harvick made his Cup Series debut at the track on July 7, 2001, starting 10th and finishing 25th, one spot ahead of his SHR car owner, Tony Stewart. In his 42 starts at the 2.5-mile oval, Harvick has won twice – the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2010 Coke Zero 400 – and scored 11 top-fives and 16 top-10s while leading 283 laps.
● Harvick’s 11 top-fives are tied with Denny Hamlin for the second most among active Cup Series drivers. Harvick’s 16 top-10s are also the second most among active Cup Series drivers. Kurt Busch is the leader in top-fives (13) and top-10s (18) at Daytona.
● Harvick’s first NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona was one of the biggest of his career. Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 by edging Mark Martin for the victory by .02 of a second in a frantic, green-white-checkered finish. It remains the second-closest finish in Daytona 500 history, trailing only Hamlin’s .01-of-a-second margin over Martin Truex Jr., in 2016.
● Harvick was efficient in his second win at Daytona. When he won the 2010 Coke Zero 400, Harvick started from the pole and led eight times for a race-high 28 laps to take the victory by .092 of a second over runner-up Kasey Kahne.
● Harvick has proven prolific in the non-points NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona. He is a three-time winner of the Busch Clash when it was held on the 2.5-mile oval (2009, 2010 and 2013) and he is a two-time winner of the Duel (2013 and 2019), twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500.
● Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick has made 19 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Daytona and three IROC starts. Of Harvick’s 47 Xfinity Series wins, only one is at Daytona – the 2007 season opener. And Harvick’s best IROC finish at Daytona is seventh, earned twice (2003 and 2004). Harvick is a two-time Xfinity Series champion (2001 and 2006) and the 2002 IROC champion.
● The Mobil 1 branding on Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Mustang goes more than skin deep as the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand gives Harvick an added advantage. Mobil 1 products are used throughout his racecar and they extend beyond just engine oil. Power steering fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil and driveline lubricants from Mobil 1 give Harvick a technical advantage over his counterparts by reducing friction, heat and rolling resistance.Mobil 1 is a sponsor whose technology makes Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang faster.
Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang
You haven’t missed the playoffs since 2009. Is the key to that consistency your experience?
“Well, there are just different ways to race, right? There are different ways to solve the equation, and sometimes we’re going to run fourth, and we have to accept that and be able to say, ‘If we have a fourth-place car, we need to finish fourth.’ On the days when stuff is chaotic and there are cars torn up everywhere and you finish ninth with a 20th-place car, those are really big wins. I’ve done all that. I’ve been on that side of the fence where you’ve had 20th-place cars all year and you have to figure out how to make something out of it. They’re going to have the races, regardless, and you still have to show up. You can’t just quit because your cars are slow. So you just have to figure out how to manage that, and also manage it when you have fast cars, medium cars, know what you have that day and get the most out of that day.”
After one race already at Daytona and another at its sister track in Talladega, Alabama, do you have a good idea of what makes the NextGen car tick in the draft, or is there still a learning curve that’ll continue in the Coke Zero Sugar 400?
“It’s pretty straightforward now. It’s pretty basic stuff, and as we’ve gone through the first two races, you kind of know how hard you can push and shove, and things that you’ve done right and you’ve done wrong, so you should have a pretty good playbook at this point.”
Does blocking remain the necessary evil it’s seemingly always been when it comes to superspeedway racing?
“It is, and blocking’s just part of the game now. You have to utilize blocking and that’s usually what causes half the crashes, either pushing or blocking. And we usually wreck going straight. I don’t like blocking, but it’s a necessity. Blocking is something that has evolved over the years as people have figured out trying to time the runs, and people have figured out when you can block and when you can’t. It’s just a matter of putting yourself in a position where you think you’re making the right move, and sometimes you make the wrong move. It’s just a game of inches. It just really is a high-speed chess match that you have at 200 mph – and Saturday night will be absolutely no different. There will be a big crash. There will be mistakes made. There will be pit errors made. There will be strategy played. But I can promise you we’re all going to race in a pack – and that’s the way Daytona should be.”
What’s the patience level of drivers in the regular-season finale at Daytona?
“You see so many people on different agendas. It’s a chance for everybody to win. It’s a door wide open for everybody.”
Pack racing at Daytona is always dicey, but what is it like when it’s a cutoff race to make the NASCAR Playoffs?
“It’s a way different vibe. There’s not a better spot for it to be than Daytona because it is the ultimate saying – and you say it with an exclamation point – anyone can win, and that is never more true than at Daytona. Everyone knows going in that it’s their last-ditch effort to either make the playoffs or put yourself in position to score more points for the playoffs. Everybody kind of has that, ‘Screw it. I’m going for it,’ mentality in that particular race because they know whatever the scenario is, it’s the last chance to score points, it’s the last chance to put you in.”
Describe the intensity of racing at Daytona.
“You have to be aggressive just for the fact that if you’re not aggressive, it always seems like you’re not going to be where you need to be. Nine times out of 10, the aggressor is going to be the guy who comes out on the good side of things just for the fact that you’re making things happen and you’re not waiting for something else to happen. When you wait for something else to happen, that’s usually when you get in trouble because it’s usually someone else’s mess. It’s best to stay aggressive and try to stay up front.”
When you get to the halfway point at Daytona, is there a sense of accomplishment?
“I think as you look at it, if you can make it through the second stage, hopefully you’ve taken some points out of there, but you’ve at least made it through the second stage. It seems like, especially at the beginning of stage racing, we all kind of lost our minds at the beginning of the first stage, or at the end of the second stage. We’ve had cars torn up before we got started. We could find a way to wreck regardless, whether it’s the first stage, the first lap, the last lap. We can figure it out, you just never know when it’s going to happen.”
No. 4 Mobil 1 Team Roster
Primary Team Members
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Engineer: Dax Gerringer
Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina
Engineer: Stephen Doran
Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania
Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Members
Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina
Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina
Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard
Hometown: Delhart, Texas
Jack Man: Brandon Banks
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina
Fuel Man: Evan Marchal
Hometown: Westfield, Indiana
Road Crew Members
Mechanic: Richie Bean
Hometown: Bradford, Vermont
Mechanic: Nick DeFazio
Hometown: Orange, California
Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski
Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut
Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell
Hometown: Woodville, Ohio
