No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet
Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
• Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team finished third in the first Gatorade Duel on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. His finishing position in the qualifying race places Harvick seventh on the starting grid for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
• Since pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to go to a backup car after wrecking in Wednesday’s first practice, he must drop to the tail of the field during the pace laps. When the inside row moves up, Harvick will take the green flag for the Daytona 500 in fifth position.
• In Thursday’s Duel, Harvick started ninth and was running sixth by the time the caution flag waved on lap 2. When the field took the green at lap 5, Harvick paired up with Matt Kenseth and took the lead on lap 12. The duo drafted together nose to tail until they hit pit road at lap 42. The No. 29 Budweiser team made a fuel-only pit stop and got Harvick back out to draft again with Kenseth.
• The caution flag waved for the second time at lap 56 as the No. 66 car’s engine expired and set the field up for a green-white-checkered finish. Once again Harvick paired up with Kenseth and moved forward. Harvick took the checkered flag in third position.
• During the course of the 62-lap race, Harvick led on five occasions for a total of 20 laps.
• Kurt Busch took home the win in the first Duel, followed by Regan Smith, Harvick, Kenseth and Kasey Kahne. Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton won the second Duel and Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Busch and Brian Keselowski rounded out the top five.
• 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.