Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Michigan International Speedway (MIS) this weekend for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.
Chassis Info… The No. 29 team will utilize Chassis No. 378 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable. Harvick has raced this car twice in 2013 and earned a 13th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway and an 11th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Statistically Speaking… Harvick has made 24 starts at Michigan. In those events he has scored one win (August 2010), three top fives and eight top-10 finishes. He’s completed 99.1 percent of the laps run at the track in NSCS competition since 2001 (4,660 of 4,701) and holds an average starting position of 18.1 and an average finish of 14.8 at the 2-mile track.
A Look Back… During last June’s race at MIS, Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team started second and finished 10th. The team lost track position after having to pit multiple times to replace a missing dust cover on the left-front hub.
Happy Father’s Day... Harvick will celebrate his first Father’s Day on Sunday, as he and wife DeLana welcomed their first child, Keelan Paul, on July 8, 2012.
Budweiser Acceleration Club... Harvick will make a special appearance on Sunday morning at the Budweiser Acceleration Club – an all inclusive fan hospitality club located in the New Holland Fan Plaza. Harvick is one of several drivers that will visit with fans in the Budweiser Acceleration Club, which is open on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the driver appearances, admission to the club includes pre-race pit and paddock access, continental breakfast and catered lunch, unlimited water and sodas, drink tickets, entertainment, a Lot 3 parking pass and more. Visit www.mispeedway.com for additional ticket information.
Chevy Stage Q&A... Harvick will participate in a fan Q&A at the Team Chevy display stage at MIS on Sunday morning at 9:40 a.m. Additionally, members of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet pit crew will sign autographs at the stage at 11 a.m.
Red, White and Blue Summer... Budweiser’s limited-edition red, white and blue packaging represents a special initiative in which the brand will contribute a portion of all sales from May 5 – July 4 to help raise as much as $1.5 million for the Folds of Honor Foundation*, which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for families of U.S. military personnel killed or disabled while serving their country. Since 2010, Budweiser has raised more than $5 million for the Folds of Honor Foundation and provided more than 1,000 educational scholarships to the families of soldiers killed or disabled in service. (*Donation of 2 cents per case of Budweiser sold, May 5, 2013 to July 4, 2013, with a maximum donation of $1.5 million.)
Harvick Discusses Racing at Michigan International Speedway
What is the toughest aspect of running 400 miles at Michigan International Speedway?
“It all just depends on how your day is going. It really does. If you’re having a good day, it’s not really hard to tell your guys what you need and everyone is in a good mood. If you’re having a bad day, you can get behind at Michigan really fast. Usually, when you’re hooked up at Michigan, the leaders have clean air and move through traffic pretty well, but if you’re in the middle of the pack, you find yourself getting behind and going a lap down pretty quick. You’re going to end up with a green flag pit stop and a whole bunch of green flag laps. You just have to be going the time the green flag drops and keep yourself in position.”
What was your take on the 200-plus mph speeds we saw at Michigan International Speedway last year?
“The speeds were high, but from where we sit, after two or three laps you become accustomed to however fast you’re going. It definitely looked faster from the outside, but for us it was just another day at the office.”