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Kevin Harvick No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Event Preview: All-Star Race
Pre-Race Reports |
NASCAR Cup Series |
05/13/15
Hungry for More
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (May 12, 2015) – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is hungry for more as he heads into Saturday night’s non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
Harvick finished third in the first three segments of the 2014 All-Star Race before going on to win the fourth to give him the highest average finish through the first four segments. NASCAR reset the field based on average finishing position through those first four segments prior to the final round of mandatory pit stops. Harvick came to pit road as the leader, but returned to the racetrack in third place behind Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards.
On the restart to begin the fifth and final 10-lap segment, Harvick was able to clear Edwards but was unable to chase down McMurray, who beat him to the checkered flag by 0.696 of a second to score the more than $1 million top prize.
Heading into Saturday night’s 2015 Sprint All-Star Race, Harvick is hungry to gain that one final position and take home the $1 million top-prize for himself.
The reigning Sprint Cup champion is one of only three Sprint Cup drivers to have met each of following three of the six qualifying criteria for Saturday night’s All-Star Race – Sprint Cup race winner in 2014 or 2015, previous All-Star Race winner, Sprint Cup champion. He won five Sprint Cup races in 2014 and two in 2015, the 2007 Sprint All-Star Race and the 2014 Sprint Cup championship. The only other drivers to do so are Jimmie Johnson and SHR teammate Kurt Busch.
Eleven races into 2015, Harvick has been an all-star among all-stars. He has scored eight top-two finishes – including wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway – thus far in 2015. The only other driver in Sprint Cup history to have eight top-two finishes through the first 11 races of a season was Cale Yarborough in 1977
Harvick sits atop the driver standings with 437 points. His five straight Sprint Cup finishes of second or better to start the season is a series record. He has led a series-high 1,006 laps with an average finish of 6.2 thus far. His 1,006 laps led are nearly twice as many as the next-closest competitor – 541 by his SHR teammate Busch.
The Bakersfield, California native leads several other statistical categories: 126.7 driver rating, eight top-five finishes, 10 top-10 finishes, 21 bonus points, 574 fastest laps run, 20.3 percent of fastest laps run, 28.6 percent of laps led, 1,090.38 miles led, 3,209 laps in the top-15, 91.3 percent of laps in the top-15, average running position of 5.7, average finish of 6.2, and a pass differential of 213.
Harvick has finished either first or second in his last seven Sprint Cup starts on 1.5-mile racetracks. He has wins at Charlotte and Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2014 and Las Vegas in 2015 during that streak. He finished second at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in 2014 and Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas again, and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in 2015, each time finishing second to Jimmie Johnson.
The 2007 Sprint All-Star Race winner has also seen success at every other type of Sprint Cup exhibition race. He won the first Budweiser Duel at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 2013 as a qualifying race for the Daytona 500, and the Sprint Unlimited exhibitions at Daytona in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
With no points on the line this weekend, Harvick and his Rodney Childers-led crew can head to Charlotte feeling less pressure and welcome the opportunity to race for the $1 million top prize.
KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:
If you’re in the mix on the final lap of the Sprint All-Star Race, what would you do to win $1 million?
“Heck, you don’t have to put $1 million up to know what most of us would do to try and win a race. But, when there are no points on the line and $1 million at stake, you definitely throw caution to the wind and go for it. A lot of times you see that at the Sprint All-Star Race and it ends up in a lot of bent-up sheet metal due to moves that aren’t necessarily thought out very well – and we’ve all made them. It’s a fun race and it’s fun just for that reason. If you make a mistake, the repercussions aren’t really that great in terms of points or anything like that. It’s really about trying to win and that carrot that they dangle out in front of you is a trophy and a million bucks – so go for it.”
How do you feel coming into the back-to-back Charlotte race weekends with the Sprint All-Star Race followed by the Coca-Cola 600?
“I feel like the 1.5-mile tracks have definitely been very good for us. We’ve been fortunate to run well on all the different racetracks, but there are so many 1.5-mile racetracks on the schedule. We tested here early in the year and ran well here last year. When we come here, we hope to be in contention but you just never know how these things are going to shake out. It’s been a great racetrack for us and, hopefully, it will stay that way for us this year.”
Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-846: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-846 in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-846 made its debut at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in March, 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, when it started eighth, led 24 laps and finished 17th. At Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in August, 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.
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Notes of Interest:
- 2014 Sprint Cup Champion: Kevin 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.
- Certified All-Star: Harvick is one of only three Sprint Cup drivers to have met each of the following three of six qualifying criteria for Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race – 2014 or 2015 race winner, previous All-Star Race winner, Sprint Cup championship. He won five Sprint Cup races in 2014 and two in 2015, the 2007 Sprint All-Star Race and the 2014 Sprint Cup championship. The only other drivers to do so are Jimmie Johnson and SHR teammate Kurt Busch.
- Historically Fast Start: Harvick has scored eight top-two finishes through the first 11 Sprint Cup points races of 2015. The only other driver in Sprint Cup history to have eight top-two finishes through the first 11 Sprint Cup races of a season was Cale Yarborough in 1977.
- Top-Two Finishes since Joining SHR: Harvick and the No. 4 team have finished first or second in 19 of 47 Sprint Cup points races since joining SHR – more than 40 percent of the total Sprint Cup starts during that time. Harvick also has scored seven Sprint Cup wins, 22 top-five finishes, 30 top-10s, nine poles and led 3,143 laps during the 47 race span.
- Harvick in 2015: Harvick, the current Sprint Cup points leader, has wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway through the first 11 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 second or better in eight of 11 Sprint Cup starts and has scored 10 top-10s in 2015. He has led a series-high 1,006 laps with an average finish of 6.2.
- Inside the 2015 Loop Data: Harvick’s two wins trails only Jimmie Johnson with three wins for the most among Sprint Cup drivers. Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are tied for the Sprint Cup lead with 10 top-10 finishes. Harvick also leads the Sprint Cup Series in points (437), top-five finishes (eight), driver rating (126.7), average finish (6.2), average running position (5.7), number of fastest laps run (574), percentage of fastest laps (20.3), laps led (1,006), percentage of laps led (28.6), miles led (1,090.38), pass differential (213), laps in the top-15 (3,209) and percent of laps in the top-15 (91.3).
- Dynamic Duo: Harvick (two Sprint Cup wins and 1,006 laps led) and SHR teammate Kurt Busch (one Sprint Cup win and 541 laps led) have combined for three Sprint Cup wins and have led nearly 44 percent (1,547 of 3,516) of total laps run in points-paying Sprint Cup races in 2015.
- Bonus Points: Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in bonus points scored (21) through the first 11 races of 2015. He has scored at least one bonus point in every race this season except the season-opening Daytona 500. He has led laps in 10 of 11 Sprint Cup races, including leading the most laps in five races (Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He also scored an additional three bonus points for each of his two wins (Las Vegas and Phoenix). Jimmie Johnson is second with 16 bonus points and SHR teammate Busch is third with 12 bonus points.
- Harvick at Charlotte since Joining SHR: Harvick has two Sprint Cup points-paying starts at Charlotte and one non-points start in the Sprint All-Star Race since joining SHR at the beginning of the 2014 season. Harvick won the fourth segment and held the best average finish through the first four segments of the 2014 Sprint All-Star Race, but restarted third after the final pit stop. Harvick then passed Carl Edwards for second but couldn’t catch Jamie McMurray, who crossed the finish line 0.696 of a second ahead of the No. 4 Chevrolet. The following week, in the Coca-Cola 600, Harvick led 100 laps and passed Matt Kenseth for second with two laps to go, but race-winner Jimmie Johnson beat Harvick to the finish line by 1.272 seconds. In his most recent Charlotte appearance, Harvick led 163 of 334 laps to win the 2014 Bank of America 500 in October by 0.571 of a second over Jeff Gordon.
- Harvick in the Sprint All-Star Race: Harvick has competed in the All-Star race all 14 years he’s been in the Sprint Cup Series. As a rookie, Harvick won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in just his third Sprint Cup start in 2001 to gain entry into the All-Star event. In 2006, Harvick finished second to Jimmie Johnson by 1.729 of a second but got payback the following year when he won the 2007 All-Star Race by holding off Johnson by 0.141 of a second. Last season, Harvick led five laps and finished second to Jamie McMurray by 0.696 of a second. Harvick also qualified for this year’s All-Star Race three different ways: He is the reigning Sprint Cup champion, a previous All- Star winner, won five races in 2014 and has already scored two wins in 2015.
- Career Totals: Harvick has 30 wins, 122 top-five finishes, 239 top-10s and 15 poles in 513 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte.
- Honored at the White House: President of the United States Barack Obama honored 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team from SHR Tuesday, April 21 on the South Lawn of the White House.
- Harvick the Broadcaster: Harvick has made two appearances in the FOX television booth for NASCAR Xfinity Series races this year. He made his first appearance when he called the Xfinity race at Daytona in February and followed that with an appearance at Las Vegas in March. Harvick is scheduled to call one more Xfinity race for FOX this season – May 30 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
- Kevin Harvick Day in Bakersfield, California: Bakersfield, California, Mayor Harvey Hall proclaimed Wednesday, March 18 “Kevin Harvick Day” in the driver’s hometown. Local leaders met at the Boys & Girls Club of Kern County March 18 to celebrate the 2014 Sprint Cup championship. Also on March 18, The Kevin Harvick Foundation, in partnership with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, announced a plan to renovate and remodel the gymnasium and outdoor play area of the Boys & Girls Club of Kern County. Harvick’s hometown of Bakersfield is in Kern County.
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