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Opportunity To Clinch Chase for the Sprint Cup Berth at Kentucky

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (July 8, 2015) – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has an opportunity to become the first driver to officially clinch a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend in the Kentucky 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

Harvick, who has Sprint Cup wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway this season, leads the 31st-place driver in the Sprint Cup standings by 389 points heading to Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky. If he leaves Kentucky with a 385 point advantage over the 31st-place driver, which would guarantee him a place in the top-30 after race No. 26 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in September, he will officially clinch his spot in the Chase as long as he attempts to qualify for the next eight Sprint Cup events.

Seventeen races into 2015, Harvick has a series-best 12 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s and sits atop the driver standings with 656 points. The No. 4 Chevrolet SS has led a series-high 1,225 laps with an average finish of 6.9. The 1,225 laps led are 517 more than the next-closest competitor – 708 by his SHR teammate Kurt Busch.

Harvick has led at least one lap in 14 of 17 Sprint Cup races in 2015, including a streak of 14 in a row from March 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway through June 14 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. However, he has not led a lap in the past two Sprint Cup races at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, marking the first time he has not led a lap in consecutive races since August 2014 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Michigan.

The last Sprint Cup driver to lead more than 1,225 laps through the first 17 Sprint Cup races of a season was Jeff Gordon, who led 1,276 laps though 17 races en route to winning his fourth Sprint Cup championship in 2001.

The staggering number of laps led and the 14 consecutive races with laps led are impressive, and the same can be said for numerous other statistics Harvick has compiled this season.

The Bakersfield, California native leads several other statistical categories: 123.4 driver rating, 26 bonus points, 767 fastest laps run, 20.0 percent of fastest laps run, 25.1 percent of laps led, 1,443.88 miles led, 4,467 laps in the top-15, 91.3 percent of laps in the top-15, and average running position of 6.3 in addition to his average finish of 6.9.

Harvick will attempt to clinch his spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this Saturday night at Kentucky, but also hopes to add a Sprint Cup win to collect another three bonus points for the start of the Chase.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS:

What makes Kentucky Speedway unique compared to other 1.5-mile tracks?

“It’s the ‘newest, oldest’ track we go to. Kentucky Speedway is very rough. The corners are longer so they’re not as sharp, but the roughness of the racing surface is really what makes it unique, in my mind. There is still a lot of grip, but the track has become rough over the years.”

What is it about turn three at Kentucky that makes it so difficult for drivers?

“Turn three is just really flat getting into the corner. You have more banking as you exit the corner, so you kind of drive into the banking and it progressively gets to be a little bit more as you come off of the corner. It’s really flat right there, and you are carrying a lot of speed. You just wind up being loose into the corner for the most part. As you go through the weekend, that will be the toughest spot to navigate, for sure.”

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-846: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-846 in the Kentucky 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-846 made its debut at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in March 2014, when it started 27th and led 28 laps before being collected in a late-race accident and finishing 39th. It made its second appearance at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in June 2014, when it started eighth, led 24 laps and finished 17th. At Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in August 2014, No. 4-846 started sixth, led five laps and finished second. In its final appearance of 2014, Harvick started fourth, led 17 laps and finished fifth in September at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Chassis No. 4-846 made its 2015 debut at California Speedway in Fontana, where Harvick started second, led 34 laps and finished second to Brad Keselowski by 0.710 of a second in a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick finished second in its most recent appearance in the 2015 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte in May. 

Kentucky 400 Notes of Interest:

• 2014 Sprint Cup Champion: Harvick, the defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, is teamed with crew chief Rodney Childers in his second season at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). In their first season together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce five victories, eight poles, 14 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s, and led 2,137 laps on their way to winning the Sprint Cup title.
• Harvick Nominated for “Best Driver” ESPY Award: Stewart-Haas Racing driver and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick has been nominated in the “Best Driver” category for the 2015 ESPY Awards. Sports fans will determine this year’s ESPY winners via online voting, which launched June 24 on ESPN.com. The ESPYs, hosted by Joe McHale, will be broadcast on ESPN on July 15. IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay won the “Best Driver” ESPY in 2013 and 2014.
• Harvick in 2015: Harvick, the current Sprint Cup points leader, has wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway through the first 17 events. Harvick started from the pole and led 224 laps en route to his Phoenix win and his third perfect 150.0 driver rating at the mile oval. He scored his first Sprint Cup win of the season the previous week in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. Harvick has finished top-five in 12 of 17 Sprint Cup starts and has scored 15 top-10s in 2015. He has led a series-high 1,162 laps with an average finish of 6.9.
• Harvick Appears in Jake Owen Music Video: Harvick appears in the new music video for RCA Nashville recording artist Jake Owen’s new single, “Real Life,” which debuted exclusively on CMT as part of the “CMT Hot 20 Countdown” on Saturday at 9 a.m. EDT. The video highlights Owen’s ability to make real life a party and features a cast of characters set in real-life adventures. The video included Owen’s friends and family, from Harvick to his twin brother Jerrod and his mother.
• Inside the 2015 Loop Data: Harvick’s two wins tie him with SHR teammate Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and trail only Jimmie Johnson’s four wins for the most among Sprint Cup drivers. Harvick leads the Sprint Cup Series in points (656), top-five finishes (12), top-10 finishes (15), driver rating (123.4), average finish (6.9), average running position (6.3), number of fastest laps run (767), percentage of fastest laps (20.0), laps led (1,225), percentage of laps led (25.1), miles led (1,443.88), laps in the top-15 (4,467), percentage of laps in the top-15 (91.3) and bonus points (26).
• Dynamic Duo: Harvick (two Sprint Cup wins and 1,225 laps led) and SHR teammate Busch (two Sprint Cup wins and 708 laps led) have combined for four Sprint Cup wins, led nearly 40 percent (1,933 of 4,890) of total laps, combined to lead 2,230.14 miles and recorded nearly 22 percent (1,066 of 4,890) of the fastest laps in points-paying Sprint Cup races in 2015. Harvick and Busch also rank first and second in driver rating at 123.4 and 111.3, respectively.
• Top-Two Finishes Since Joining SHR: Harvick and the No. 4 team have finished first or second in 20 of 52 Sprint Cup points races since joining SHR – 38 percent of the total Sprint Cup starts during that time. Harvick also has scored seven Sprint Cup wins, 25 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s, nine poles and led 3,271 laps during the 52-race span.
• Bonus Points: Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in bonus points scored (26) through the first 17 races of 2015. He has scored at least one bonus point in 14 of 17 races this season. He has led laps in 14 Sprint Cup points races, including the most in six races – Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. He also scored an additional three bonus points for each of his wins at Las Vegas and Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson is second with 23 bonus points and SHR teammate Busch is third with 18 bonus points.
• Harvick in the Sprint Cup Series at Kentucky: Harvick will make his fifth career Sprint Cup points-paying start at Kentucky in Saturday night’s Kentucky 400. Harvick has two top-10 finishes at the 1.5-mile racetrack. Harvick has an average starting position of 12.5, average finish of 11.0, and has completed all of the 1,068 laps he’s contested there.
• Harvick at Kentucky in the Xfinity Series: Harvick has five career starts in the Xfinity Series at Kentucky with two wins, four top-five finishes and five top-10s. He has led 202 laps, has an average starting position of 7.8 and average finish of 2.6, and has completed 100.0 percent (1,000 of 1,000) of the laps he’s contested there.
• Career Totals: Harvick has 30 wins, 126 top-five finishes, 244 top-10s and 15 poles in 519 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Saturday night’s Kentucky 400.
• SHR in 2015: Seventeen races into the 2015 season, SHR’s four Sprint Cup entries have recorded four wins, four poles, 19 top-five finishes and 27 top-10s. SHR Chevrolets have completed 19,224 of 19,560 laps contested and collectively have led 1,949 laps. 

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