UNDEFEATED: Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 Armour Vienna Sausage team roll into Darlington (S.C.) Raceway following a weekend off for the Truck Series. The first stand-alone event of the season sees the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team with two solid second-place finishes thus far in 2011. Sadler returns to the seat of the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado for the second time in 2011 after a narrow loss to Michael Waltrip in the series season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Raceway.
This weekend the team has added pressure as they will compete under the Armour Vienna Sausages colors. Pinnacles Foods and the Armour brand are a long-time sponsor of Kevin Harvick and the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team. Since becoming a primary sponsor in 2009, the black, blue and gold Armour colors have never lost a race, going to victory lane for the first time with KHI co-owner Harvick as he earned his first win driving a KHI-owned vehicle at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, followed by wins at Nashville Superspeedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. At the end of last season Armour was on board with four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and found victory lane once again as the Truck Series veteran won for the first time at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway after 16 attempts. The Armour scheme will try and beat the odds for a fifth win with KHI this weekend at the track “Too Tough Too Tame” as Sadler looks for victory lane for the first time in 2011.
WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT: This weekend at Darlington, Armour Vienna Sausages, American Marketing Group (AMG) and KHI will host a group of over 50 soldiers from the Wounded Warriors Project of North and South Carolina. The group will meet with KHI drivers Elliott Sadler, Ron Hornaday and Nelson Piquet Jr. as well as receive a special guide tour of the track by ARCA regular Chad Hackenbracht.
SHORT TRACK SUCCESS: Although Sadler has yet to make a Truck Series start at Darlington, he does have experience on the tricky egg-shaped track. Sadler claimed the pole for the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event and has collected two top-five and four top-10 finishes at Darlington in his Sprint Cup Series career. Sadler also have seven NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at the track “Too Tough to Tame” collecting a pole in the 1997 event as well as one top-five and two top-10 finishes.
10 YEARS OF RACING: In 2011, KHI will celebrate their 10th year of competition in NASCAR. Team co-owner Kevin Harvick made KHI’s first start in the Truck Series event at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in 2001, narrowly missing the win by inches to series veteran Jack Sprague. Ten years later Kevin and DeLana Harvick have two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championships to their credit and multiple wins with a host of drivers to boast in their over 80,000 square foot facility in Kernersville, North Carolina. During 2011 all KHI vehicles will carry a commemorative decal as the company celebrates its accomplishments over the last 10 years.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will utilize chassis No. 042 this weekend at Darlington Raceway. Chassis No. 042 is the same chassis that Sadler drove to victory at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway last July. This chassis most recently competed at Homestead-Miami Speedway with four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday behind the wheel finishing second.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Clint Bowyer drove the No. 2 Truck two weeks ago at Phoenix International Raceway, finishing second in the Lucas Oil 150. Bowyer and the KHI team grabbed the pole for the event and with a lap of 26.876 seconds, 133.949 mph, broke the previous track record set by Austin Dillon last November.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler
The Nationwide Series is off this weekend, why did you want to come to Darlington to drive in the Truck Series?
“I really enjoy racing at Darlington Raceway. I have had a lot of success there in the past and think it is important anytime that you can go to a track and get some extra track time. I have had a lot of fun competing in the Truck Series and I’m ready to try and tame the track they claim is “Too Tough to Tame” as we try and get our first victory of 2011.”
Media Access: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Jessica Stroupe at KHI at jstroupe@kevinharvickinc.com.
Fast Facts:
Elliott Sadler
Truck Series Statistics at
Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
-No Previous Starts at this Track-
Race Info:
March 12, 2011
Darlington Raceway
1.0-Mile Oval
147 Laps/ 200.8 Miles
Broadcast Info:
TV: SPEED will broadcast live at 5:00 p.m. EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 4:30 p.m. EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 042
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)