By Kevin Harvick, Special for USA TODAY
Editor’s note: NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick will document the weeks leading up to the Daytona 500 in an exclusive diary for USA TODAY. This is his first entry:
I’m excited as I’ve ever been about the 2011 season after finishing third in last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Last year, we learned how to do something we never had done: Contend until the last week of the season. It was a different mindset. When the pressure came on, we didn’t back down and didn’t fold. We actually got better. We proved the final 10 weeks that we can do it. We feel like we know how that mindset needs to be when it’s time to go this year.
Our biggest weakness was the No. 29 pit crew, and Richard Childress Racing has done a good job of revamping it in the offseason. That was the one thing we circled that we could have done better last year, because we felt we would have had more wins if we’d had stops like we had the last five races after we swapped crews with teammate Clint Bowyer.
You’re always trying to improve your cars, too, and we’ve worked hard on that since the season ended in November. Throughout the offseason, I’ve been in constant contact with the team’s engineers and crew chief Gil Martin (at least when Gil can figure out how to work his cellphone). This job is seven days a week, 24 hours a day. You never know what’s going to pop up next, and you have to react constantly to the unexpected
. The biggest message I wanted to send to everybody was the things we did last year we need to do again this year. We know the mindset and things that need to happen to be successful. Then in the Chase, there’s a different type of pressure we got to experience last year. This season, you have to prepare for it like we did in 2009 when we were behind. Because usually people who get behind work harder, and that’s how to gain an advantage. So this year is no different than last in the way we’ve prepared, hopefully. I feel like there’s a plan in place and not a panic. There’s a frantic pace of work. Everyone wants to make sure new teammate Paul Menard’s car is up to speed off the bat, which it will be. As we go to Daytona, there’s a lot of pressure because everybody wants to make sure we’re not slow out of the blocks.
Last week, we tested in Orlando for a couple of days. Pulling into the track, I drove right by my team’s hauler because it was painted red. It’s going to take a while to get accustomed to that, but I’m happy to have Budweiser aboard. It’s fun to represent a brand that represents a deep history in the sport and a strong lineup of drivers since 1983. Then to see the car painted black, which is something they hadn’t done before, it just makes you feel good about where RCR is and where my career has gone.
The test went well, and it was good to see everybody back at the racetrack and getting back in rhythm. I was chomping at the bit to get back in the car because I hadn’t been in a car other than at the go-kart track at my house since the season ended. On Thursday, we’ll begin testing at Daytona, and there’s plenty of work to be done. Our Chevrolet has a new nose, and we’ve done a lot of offseason brainstorming. There are a lot of pieces we want to do trial and error on to make sure we’re plugging good data into our computer simulations.
Besides testing, my schedule is chock full of photo shoots and helping manage new personnel at Kevin Harvick Inc., where we are adding new Nationwide and Camping World Truck series teams. The NASCAR “offseason” is the busiest you are during the year. But you can’t complain too much because you get to go home and sleep in your own bed most of the time.
Plus, by the time Christmas is over, I’m twiddling my thumbs because we live such a fast-paced life. When you shut everything off, I get bored. Fast.