This Week’s Budweiser Chevrolet at Phoenix International Raceway ... Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No.383 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the AdvoCare 500. Harvick raced this chassis at Phoenix International Raceway in March and Dover International Speedway in June, collecting second-place finishes in both events. The Bakersfield, Calif., native also drove this Chevrolet to a 15th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and to a 13th-place result at Dover in September.
Stating the Stats ... Harvick will make his429th career Sprint Cup Series start and 20th appearance at the one-mile track. The 36-year-old driver swept both events in 2006 and has accumulated five top-five and nine top-10 finishes in his past performances. Harvick maintains a 19.1 average starting position coupled with a 13.5 average finishing position, has completed 99.6 percent (5,976 of 5,998) of the laps contested and is credited with 405 laps led.
Going for a Loop in the Grand Canyon State ... Since the inception of NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics in 2006, Harvick has made 15 starts at the Avondale, Ariz.-based facility. The RCR driver is the third-Fastest Driver Early In a Run and is credited with 405 Laps Led, ranking him third amongst all competitors. Harvick has earned the fifth-best Average Running Position (11.497), is the fifth-Fastest on Restarts and has spent 3,460 Laps in the Top 15, ranking him fifth in the Loop Data category.
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup ... Following the eighth Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup event, Harvick remains in the 11th position, 101 markers behind the leader.
My Fight Matters ... The Kevin Harvick Foundation and apparel company TapouT will head to North High School to donate new uniforms and gear to Harvick’s former high school wrestling team during a school pep rally on Tuesday afternoon. The Kevin Harvick Foundation will also award a $5,000 “My Fight Matters” educational scholarship to one North High School graduating senior who wins an essay contest focusing on overcoming adversity in life.
Teeing Off to Help Others ... On Wednesday, Harvick will tee off in the Third Annual Happy’s Classic at Bakersfield Country Club in Bakersfield, Calif. Funds raised at the tournament will benefit the Kevin Harvick Foundation which is dedicated to supporting programs that positively enrich the lives of children throughout the United States, including Kevin’s Krew events and Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship Funds at California State University-Bakersfield and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. During the event, the Kevin Harvick Foundation will also award the Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship to a CSUB student athlete.
Ask the Driver ... Harvick will be answering fan questions Sunday, Nov.11 at the Sprint Display located in the Phoenix International Raceway Fan Zone from 9:40-9:55 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.
2011 Race Rewind ... Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team finished 19th in the 2011 Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway after late-race pit strategy didn’t play out in their favor.
In the Rearview Mirror: Texas Motor Speedway ... Harvick and the No. 29 Rheem team salvaged a ninth-place finish in the AAA Texas 500 on Sunday afternoon after battling handling issues for the majority of the Sprint Cup Series event at Texas Motor Speedway.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
What were you able to learn from the March race at Phoenix International Raceway?
“In the spring our car was faster on two tires than it was on four tires. Our weakness was the restarts and getting grip, but we were better on the restart with grip on two tires than we were with four. The track stayed pretty consistent, and for the first two races now with the new layout I think it’s put on pretty good shows.”
What are your thoughts on the Phoenix International Raceway after the repave?
“They did a great job of getting the track (Phoenix International Raceway) prepared and I think both races we’ve run there so far were really good races. The race track really widened out as we went through the races, the groove widened out a lot. They took the fans into consideration, and everybody can see what’s going on around the race track. The track is very racy, as well.”
How is Phoenix International Raceway’s present layout different from the old configuration?
“The entrance into turn one (at Phoenix International Raceway) reminds me of the old configuration. The center and the exit are a lot different just because of the banking. The back straightaway is the biggest difference just for the fact that it has a lot of banking and a-pretty sharp turn going into turn three. As we’ve run more laps there, I think everybody has gotten braver with using the apron, but turn three and four reminded me of the old race track the most.”