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Kevin Harvick Dover International Speedway Advance 05.31.08

Monday May 26, 2008

 

Kevin Harvick
No. 33 RoadLoans.com Monte Carlo SS
Team Race Preview
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 14 of 35 – Dover (Del.) International Speedway

THE MONSTER MILE: Kevin Harvick will be looking for his first win at Dover (Del.) International Speedway this weekend in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. In 11 previous Nationwide Starts at Dover International Raceway, Harvick has scored two top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has completed 99.5 percent of the laps attempted at the one-mile track. His only start in a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) owned car in the Nationwide Series came in the Spring of 2007 in the No. 77 car when he started 29th and finished seventh.

In 14 Sprint Cup Series starts at the track, Harvick has two top-five and five top-10 finishes.

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
Is Dover a tough track to race on? “Dover is just Dover. It’s one of those places that if you make a mistake, you’re going to hit something, most likely twice. So it’s not a forgiving race track but it’s a fun place to race.”

Do you think Dover is more like Bristol or Richmond? “It’s like a big Bristol. It is a place where you can lean on the banking a lot. You have to make your car turn and, as the race goes on, the track changes a lot as it takes rubber. You have to keep up with the race track as the rubber builds.”

What is tricky about Dover? “Getting the balance on the car right is tough at Dover. Just running your car free enough where you can get back on the throttle in the middle of the corner and get off the corner without pushing the front tires is key. It’s a pretty sensitive race track and it is tough to get the balance right.”

When you go into the corners at Dover there is an obvious drop off. Do you feel like you are driving up hill? “You do come out of a hole coming off the corners. Going into turn one is a pretty drastic transition. There is a big bump going into turn one but you come up off the corners and drive up hill.”

Is it hard to avoid accidents when they happen at Dover? “Things happen really fast. There really isn’t a lot you can do. But, you can usually tell when something is getting ready to happen in front of you. The real trouble spots are driving in too deep under someone, getting in (the turn) and washing up, getting a bad push or loose off the corners. The track is self-cleaning with all the banking so it’s hard to get out of the way if you are in the groove and it all starts coming down the hills.”

A MILLION THANKS: RoadLoans.com and KHI have partnered with the A Million Thanks Foundation, a letter writing campaign, for the 2008 NASCAR season to collect letters of appreciation for the men and women of the armed forces. Shauna Fleming, the 18-year-old college student who founded the foundation in March 2004, set an initial goal of collecting and distributing one million letters of ‘thank you’ to the troops serving in the U.S. Armed Forces around the world. In October 2004, Fleming reached her goal and presented President George Bush with the one-millionth letter. RoadLoans.com will station drop boxes at all show car appearances throughout race markets this season for fans to write letters and drop into the box. The letter writing campaign kicked off February 23 and runs through November 15, 2008. Please visit www.RoadLoansracing.com for a complete listing of show car events.

CHASSIS HISTORY: This week at Dover International Speedway, the No. 33 team will unload chassis No. 038 for Kevin Harvick. This chassis was last on track at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Harvick started from the pole and was leading the race when the rear axle broke leaving pit road. The result was a 34th-place finish, 21 laps down. In addition to Texas, this chassis also raced at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (third-place finish) and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (fourth-place finish).

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: The No. 33 KHI Chevrolet last competed in the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway. After hitting the wall during qualifying, the No. 33 team had to unload and prepare the back-up car for the race. With his starting position assigned based on owner’s points, Harvick started the race from the 41st position and battled an ill-handling car most of the night. Making adjustments throughout the night, Harvick was able to earn a 19th-place finish.

About RoadLoans.com:
RoadLoans, based in North Richland Hills, Texas, is a leading direct-to-consumer auto finance company that simplifies the financing of a new or used vehicle through its online application process. RoadLoans specializes in new and used vehicle loans, consumer-to-consumer purchases and opportunities to refinance existing loans for customers with all types of credit, and is especially proud of its history of helping people with less than perfect credit. Since June of 2000, RoadLoans has carried out its mission to educate and empower people through the auto buying process and has helped tens of thousands of consumers purchase or refinance the car, truck or SUV of their dreams. The company’s focus on customer service earned it the Lending Tree Customer Service Excellence Award every year the award was presented since 2002. For more information, visit http://www.RoadLoans.com or call (888) 276-7202.

About Kevin Harvick Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001, is a 70,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. KHI houses two full time Truck Series teams: the No. 33 Camping World/VFW Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday as well as the No. 2 American Commercial Lines (ACL)/RVs.com Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Camping World/RoadLoans.com/ Rheem Chevrolet driven by two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Cale Gale and the No. 77 Rheem/VFW Chevrolet driven by Cale Gale and Ron Hornaday competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. 2008 marks KHI’s fifth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Please visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.

QUICK NOTES

May 31, 2008
Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Heluva Good! 200

Race length: 200 laps/200 miles
Banking: 24-degrees in turns 9-degrees on straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.0-mile
Shape: Oval

Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday:
Practice: 9:00-10:00 a.m., ET
Final Practice: 1:15-3:00 p.m., ET
Saturday:
Qualifying: 10:35 a.m., ET

TV: The Helluva Good! 200 can be seen live on ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m., ET.

Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 2:30 p.m., ET.

No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo Specs:

Chassis: 038
Engine: RCR

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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