No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet
STP 400 at Kansas Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
• As fuel mileage came into play for the second week in-a-row, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team finished 11th in Sunday’s STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.
• Harvick started the race from 10th position and remained inside the top 10 through the team’s first trip to pit road at lap 44 as he battled a tight-handling race car. Crew chief Gil Martin called for a four-tire stop with air pressure adjustments to try to help get the car to turn better in the corners.
• The team made adjustments throughout the race, but Harvick continued to deal with a tight-handling car for the first 7-10 laps of a run and then, just like that, all of a sudden the car would come to him and then the car’s handling would get loose on him.
• Despite the handling problems, Harvick continued to run inside the top 10 after the field cycled through green-flag stops.
• Toward the end of the race, a few teams elected to come down pit road while a majority of the field stayed on the track. Those teams stretched their fuel mileage in the closing laps of the race, making only one trip to pit road while the other teams, including the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team had to pit twice.
• Harvick came down pit road under green in eighth position at lap 241 for the final stop of the day. As the green-flag stops cycled through in the remaining laps, he ended up 11th, losing spots only to the three cars that were able to stretch their fuel mileage at the end of the race.
• Brad Keselowski scored the win in Sunday’s race. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards completed the top-five finishing positions.
• Edwards extended his point lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings to 40 points over Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt Jr. is ranked third. Harvick dropped two spots in the standings to fourth and is 43 points out of the top position. Kyle Busch is 17 points behind Harvick in fifth position.
• Follow along each weekend with Harvick and the team on Twitter. Check out @KevinHarvick for behind-the-scenes information straight from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Get live updates from the track each weekend from @Black29Car, the PR team for Harvick. Also, follow @RCRracing and @RCR29KHarvick for additional information about the Richard Childress Racing organization.
Harvick on his finish in the STP 400: “We fought it up and down; tight and loose. We had a decent car; not a great car. We gambled a little bit and just had to come in there for gas. But that’s what they’re supposed to do, gamble.”
The following is the finish position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the STP 400:
• Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished first.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet team finished second.
• Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford team finished sixth.
• Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished 14th.
• Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team finished 16th.
• Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge, finished 36th.
• Mike Skinner and the No. 60 Big Red Toyota team finished 40th.
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Childress Racing teams participating in the STP 400:
• Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 American Ethanol Chevrolet finished 18th.
• Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Zecol/Menards Chevrolet, finished 19th.
• Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished 25th.
Next Sunday NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will compete at Pocono Raceway. On Friday, SPEED is scheduled to air the first practice at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by final practice at 3:30 p.m. ET. SPEED will also air Saturday’s qualifying session at 11 a.m. ET. TNT will provide the live race broadcast on Sunday starting with the pre-race show at noon ET. SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio and MRN Radio will air radio coverage of the on-track action.