Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing team captured a fourth-place finish after leading the most laps during the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Bakersfield, Calif., native started the 200-lap Saturday afternoon affair from the seventh position and drove to the front of the field taking over the lead on lap 22. During the early stages of the race, Harvick reported to the Ernie Cope-led team that car was a touch too tight, but as green-flag racing continued, Harvick relayed to the team that the car was becoming loose and he needed more rear grip. Harvick brought the No. 33 Chevrolet to pit road on lap 111 for a scheduled pit stop that included four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to alleviate the handling issues. The two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion returned to the track with the lead and continued to maintain the position until pitting on lap 128 for four tires, while many other teams opted for a two-tire stop, positioning Harvick sixth for the lap-130 restart. The Richard Childress Racing driver worked his way back into the top five and remained there until the team’s final fuel-only pit stop on lap 143. After the visit to pit road, Harvick restarted the race from the sixth position and worked his way up to fourth when the checkered flag fell. The No. 33 team remains fifth in the Nationwide Series owner’s championship point standings after the top-five finish.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“It was fun to race like we did today, even though we didn’t get the win. We had a fast car, but fought a few handling issues and pit strategy played against us. Ernie (Cope) and the entire Hunt Brothers Pizza crew worked hard, we just weren’t where we needed to be in the end.”