Go to content Go to navigation Go to recent PR reports Go to search

Kevin Harvick Lowe's Motor Speedway Advance 10.10.08

Monday October 6, 2008

 

Kevin Harvick
No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Team Race Preview
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 31 of 35 – Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway

LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Kevin Harvick will take the wheel of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Rheem Chevrolet this Friday for 200 laps of action under the lights at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway. In 15 previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Harvick has scored two top-five and eight top-10 finishes while completing 99.3 percent of total laps (2983 of 3005 laps).

In the Sprint Cup Series, Harvick has 15 starts with one top-five and three top-10 finishes. To add to his resume, Harvick has three Truck Series starts, all in KHI-owned equipment, and has earned two top-five and two top-10 finishes.

Harvick won the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Challenge at “the Beast of the Southeast” in 2007.

FINAL FIVE: Beginning with the Dollar General 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the Nationwide Series enters the final five race stretch of the 2008 season. Following the Charlotte race, teams will have one weekend off, returning for races at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and concluding at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Cale Gale will be behind the wheel of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet at Memphis for his final race of the 2008 season and Harvick will pilot the car for the remaining races.

150 AND COUNTING: Harvick’s eighth-place finish earlier this season in the Emerson Radio 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway marked his 150th career top-10 finish in the Nationwide Series. With 211 starts in the series, 71.1 percent of those finishes are top-10’s.

CHASE FOR THE CUP: Following a 20th place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Harvick and the No. 29 Cup Shell Pennzoil team now sit sixth in the points standings,171 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Next up on the schedule is the “Beast of the Southeast,” Lowe’s Motor Speedway for round five of the Chase for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series Championship.

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
On racing under the lights at Lowe’s Motor Speedway: “For the drivers, it’s a lot cooler. With the lights, the track has more grip. Things just seem to be a little bit faster under the lights than they normally are. Night racing is where I grew up. Friday night or Saturday night racing brings out the best in all of us. It is a lot of fun and exciting to watch.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway?: “Besides the All-Star win in 2007, Lowe’s Motor Speedway seems to be a track where I just haven’t had the finishes I would like. We have always run pretty well there but just haven’t been able to put everything together. We have to find a way to keep everything together. If we can do that, I think we can leave Charlotte with a top-five finish.”

On racing at mile-and-a-half tracks: “I think for us here at KHI, the mile-and-a-half tracks like Texas, Las Vegas and Atlanta have been good to us. This team has really made strides over the last couple of months and I hope we put this No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet into victory lane for the first time this season.”

CHASSIS HISTORY: This week the Camping World team will unload chassis No. 042 from the KHI stables. Most recently this chassis was on track at Kansas Speedway where the two-time Nationwide Series champion earned the pole for the Kansas Lottery 300, led 90 laps and finished 13th. Earlier this season at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway, this chassis was scheduled to make its race debut, but following a wreck during qualifying, the team was forced to unload the back-up car for the race. The only other track appearance this chassis has made this year was for testing in early May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Harvick.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: The Nationwide Series most recently took to the 1.5-mile track of Kansas Speedway for 200 laps of action in the Kansas Lottery 300. With Harvick behind the wheel of the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet, the team won the pole and led 90 laps before mechanical issues caused a dead battery on lap 136. The team made an extended stop to change the battery, going one lap down to the leaders. Able to pass the leaders following a restart on lap 164, Harvick was back on the lead lap and finished in the 13th position.

About Rheem:
Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is a privately held company with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. In its 81st year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of high-quality residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heaters, swimming pool heaters and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The premium brands of Rheem Manufacturing Company include Ruud, Raypak and Rheem. Rheem Manufacturing Company is the major associate sponsor of Richard Childress Racing and the No. 29 team driven by Kevin Harvick, owner of the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series championship team and 2006 Busch Series Champion. Rheem is also the primary sponsor of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 33 and No. 77 Chevrolet cars for four high-profile Nationwide® Series races in 2008.

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

October 10, 2008
Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway
Dollar General 300

Race length: 200 laps/300 miles
Banking: 24-degrees in turns 5-degrees on straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5-miles
Shape: Quad-Oval

Pre-Race Schedule:
Thursday:
First Practice: 1:15 p.m.-2:50 p.m., ET
Final Practice: 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., ET
Friday:
Qualifying: 3:05 p.m., ET

TV: The Dollar General 300 can be seen live on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m., ET.

Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 7:30 p.m., ET.

No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet Monte Carlo Specs:

Chassis: 042
Engine: RCR

FRONTSTRETCH LIVE AT THE TRACK THIS WEEKEND AT LOUDON!
Popular writer Amy Henderson will be tracking all the action at New Hampshire from inside the garage, giving you the stories you’re looking for with a special edition of our Newsletter planned over the weekend. It all culminates on Sunday with her special participation in our LIVE blog during the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, paired with our usual panel of expert analysts! It’s three days of going the extra mile for you … so we hope you enjoy it!

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

 

©2000 - 2008 Kim DeHaven and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!