This Week’s Budweiser Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway ... Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No.387 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Sprint Unlimited. This Chevrolet has seen significant superspeedway track time making laps at Daytona International Speedway last February and at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2012.
Statistically Speaking ... The 2013 Sprint Unlimited will mark Harvick’s ninth appearance in the pre-season, non-points paying event. During his first eight entries, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has earned two wins (2009 & 2010), four top-five and six top-10 finishes.
New Look for 2013 ... After featuring a predominantly black paint scheme for the past two seasons, Harvick’s No. 29 Chevrolet will shift to the Budweiser Bowtie-can inspired red and white scheme as the primary look in 2013. Introduced in August 2011, the current can design is Budweiser’s 12th since 1936 when Anheuser-Busch first began offering its flagship brand in cans. The focal point of the design is Budweiser’s iconic bowtie, complemented by the time-honored Budweiser creed and Anheuser-Busch medallion. The same elements are prominent in the new No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet paint scheme.
2012 Race Rewind ... Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team were credited with a 22nd-place finish during the 2012 Sprint Unlimited, after being caught up in a wreck at lap 54.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
What are your thoughts on the new Sprint Unlimited race format?
“It’s a very interesting format. Sprint has done a good job in coming up with something new and it’s interesting for the fans. I think as we go through the night you’ll be able to see some different things happen and it will all be from a fan vote. I’m just looking forward to getting on the track and racing the new car, and seeing the information that we’ll gather for the next week so we know what to expect.”
Do you think your team has a good chance of being strong this year?
“I think the door is wide open for anybody this year. I think as you look at the new car coming in there are a lot of unknowns. We haven’t even raced them in a complete pack yet, so you’ve got to understand where you are. There’s going to be people that hit it and people that don’t.”
Will we see the No. 29 team back in the Chase this season?
“We started the year strong last year and were able to gather some points. We had a huge struggle in the middle of the year, but by the end of the year we were able to get our car into the Chase and back into Victory Lane. We didn’t perform as well as we’d like to, but I think as you go into the new year you have a pretty unique situation here with the new car and a clean sheet of paper with that. It’s just a matter of where you start, how you address the problems that you have and how quickly you can rectify those.”