KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed what last week’s win at Phoenix does for him and his team, how he feels the evolution of safety has come with the Car of Tomorrow, what it is like to run multiple races in a weekend and much more. Full transcript.
GETTING THAT WIN, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR THE TEAM MORAL WISE?
“Well I think everybody knows we are going to go out and try to be competitive and win races. For us as a whole it shows that we can still go out and make it happen. It’s great to have that momentum at the end of the year. It will do a lot for the off season.”
THIS IS THE LAST RACE FOR THE CAR OF TOMORROW, IT’S NEVER REALLY BEEN BELOVED, WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT IT DID IN TERMS OF SAFETY DID IT KIND OF DO ITS JOB?
“I think so. I think the safety evolution has been pretty remarkably fast as far as how fast it has taken place over the years. The evolution of whether it be cars, or seats, or rules, or whatever the case may be it’s not something that NASCAR has let their guard down on. I think that part of it has been great. It’s definitely started the path and accomplished a lot of things that they wanted to accomplish from that standpoint.”
WHEN YOU ARE IN THE COCKPIT OF THE CAR, IS IT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THE PREVIOUS CAR?
“Oh yeah, absolutely. The roll bars are not sitting next to your head. In speedway races the roll bar would actually be touching the left side of your head because you couldn’t get the seat down low enough with where the truck arms were. So, just from a driver’s standpoint as far as room in the car is a remarkable difference.”
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RUN MULTIPLE SERIES IN A WEEKEND?
“It just depends on a lot of things. It depends on how they are running. A lot of it depends on where you are at in a season as far as how you feel and things like that. When you know you are going to run every race and you know you’re going to have to go through the dead of summer, that’s really the hardest part is going through the dead of summer and run both of those races and keep yourself hydrated. You have to be in tune with how you are physically with your body. It’s a challenge for sure. When we first did that back in 2001 everybody thought we were crazy and now it’s just kind of normal to run a lot of races.”
IN REGARDS TO THE 2001 SEASON AND FILLING IN, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT COMING IN AND RUNNING THE CUP SERIES WHEN YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING TO RUN IT?
“I always tell people that my career started backwards. You start out with a lot of attention and fans, just in a very unique situation. Then you go through the years trying to figure out and learn how to whether its manage your time, or manage your money, or manage your team, whatever the case may be, there’s just a lot of challenges that come with this level of races. It becomes a lot harder than you think it should be after the first year and you learn as you go. I think as we did that, it was definitely different starting the way that we do.”
THIS IS SAM HORNISH’S SECOND GO AROUND IN CUP, WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IF ANYTHING A DIFFERENCE IN HIM AS HE’S RACING ON THE TRACK?
“He just crashes a lot less. I think that’s the biggest difference. I think the first time that he came around he didn’t have a great feel for the cars and had a lot of pressure put on him to go out and perform. The cars weren’t running near as good as they run now. As he’s had the opportunity this time to come around, he’s got a much better feel for the cars. You’ve got to have experience to be successful at Nationwide or Cup. To have that feel for the cars and know where it’s going to spin out and know when to let people go, and he takes care of his equipment really well now. You can race door to door with him and not have to worry about who you are racing. So, he’s made a pretty tremendous turn around since he started.”
WHEN THE CHASE DEVELOPED, DID YOU EVER THINK THAT SOMEBODY WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND WIN FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW?
“No, I think the Chase was developed so it would be more competitive. But, I think that goes to show you just how competitive that those No. 48 guys have been. Jimmie (Johnson) is obviously a great driver and got a great team. It’s been pretty remarkable to watch.”
BACK IN 2010 YOU FINISHED THIRD BUT YOU HAD A BETTER AVERAGE FINISH THAN THE TWO GUYS IN FRONT OF YOU. KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW BACK THEN, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE DIFFERENT?
“Win more races. That’s what it boils down to is wins.”