Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway this weekend for Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team will utilize chassis No. 383 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable this weekend. Harvick raced this car in March at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) where he scored a 13th-place finish. Last November he took the car to Victory Lane at PIR after earning his 19th-career NSCS victory. Additionally, during the 2012 season Harvick finished second in the car twice, first at PIR in March and then at Dover International Speedway in June. He also scored a 15th-place finish in the car at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and a 13th-place finish at Dover in September.
Darlington Stats… Harvick has made 16 NSCS starts at Darlington. In those races he has scored two top fives and five top-10 finishes. He’s led 63 laps at the track and completed 94.3 percent (5,267 of 5,583) of the laps run in NSCS competition since 2001. Harvick holds an average starting position of 17.3 and an average finish of 18.8 at Darlington.
Testing 1, 2, 3… Before traveling to Darlington this weekend, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team will participate in a Goodyear tire test on Tuesday and Wednesday at Chicagoland Speedway. Harvick will be available to the media on Wednesday from 12:30 – 12:45 p.m. CT in the Chicagoland Speedway media center.
Happy Mother’s Day… Harvick's wife DeLana will celebrate Mother's Day for the first time on Sunday. The couple welcomed their first child, Keelan Paul, on July 8, 2012.
New BUD 360° App... Budweiser is giving consumers a whole new look at what it’s like to hit speeds of 190 mph in the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS with the interactive BUD 360° app. The King of Beers’ innovative new app utilizes surround video technology to provide users with a 360-degree look inside Kevin Harvick’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride as the driver completes several laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While Harvick controls the wheel, the consumer controls the view, allowing them to experience the sensation of speed in never-before-seen angles. The app is available for free in the Apple App Store for both iPhone and iPad users. The Budweiser Racing 360° video also is accessible on desktop computers at www.budweiser.com.
Bowtie Can Available Nationwide… Budweiser’s striking and original new beer can – a bowtie-shaped aluminum can that mirrors Budweiser’s iconic bowtie logo – is now available in a special 8-pack on store shelves nationwide. The proprietary can, in development since 2010, is created by a 16-step process, which involves 10 steps to form the bottom half of the can and an additional six steps to form the top portion. The bowtie can is another example of how Budweiser continues to innovate, evolve and attract a new generation of beer drinkers. Consumers interested in locating where they can purchase the special 8-pack can call 1-800-dial-Bud. For the online version of the Budweiser Racing media guide, please visit http://www.budracingmedia.com.
Harvick Discusses Racing at Darlington Raceway
“There is a lot of history at Darlington Raceway. I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of the marquee races on the schedule and I mark the Southern 500 on my calendar every year as one I want to win. There is so much history behind this event. It’s definitely a race we want to do well in and Darlington is a race track we want to win at every year.”
What makes racing at Darlington such a challenge for the drivers and teams? “The track was originally not designed for the cars to be running as fast as they are today. The track’s very narrow and you carry a lot of speed. From a driver’s standpoint, it’s very challenging just to keep the car off the wall, but it’s also a lot of fun to drive, too.”
Talk us through a lap around Darlington. “Well, any lap around Darlington is a lap where you have to be paying attention to what’s going on because you can get yourself in trouble at any point on the race track. You carry a lot of speed into Turn 1 and you run right up the banking right up next to the wall and right back into the throttle. As you come back down the hill you might have to breathe the throttle a little bit, but it’s a lot of fun coming out of Turn 2 as it kind of shoots you down the backstretch. Turns 3 and 4 are probably the hardest because you carry so much speed off of (Turn) 2 into (Turn) 3 and the line kind of moves around a bit there. It’s probably the easiest place to get in the wall. Well it’s pretty easy to get in the wall anywhere, but definitely the easiest place to get into the wall is the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4.”
Do you have any special plans for Mother’s Day now that DeLana is a mom? How much of a help was your own mom to get you where you are today? “My biggest plan is to not screw up Sunday in the first year. You don’t want to screw up the first Mother’s Day. My main objective is to make sure that you have the gift pre-week, and don’t forget to hand it out on Sunday. Obviously, my Mom has always been there and has always been supportive of everything I do. That is something you don’t want to forget as well. You want to make sure you don’t forget on either front.”