BACK TO KHI: Kelly Bires will be making his second career Nationwide Series start for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) when he climbs behind the wheel of the No. 33 KHI Copart Chevrolet at Kentucky Speedway. In two previous starts at the 1.5-mile track, Bires has one top-10 finish and has completed 399 of 400 attempted laps (99.8 percent). In his first start at the track, Bires earned his first career top-10 finish in just his second career Nationwide Series start, leading five laps before finishing seventh.
ROUND TWO: During the month of June, the No. 33 car will see four different faces in the driver’s seat for four different races. Cale Gale started the trend at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway and up next is Kelly Bires at Kentucky Speedway, followed by Ron Hornaday at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile and rounding out the month with Kevin Harvick at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This feat was also accomplished during the month of April when Tony Stewart drove the car to a second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Kelly Bires scored a fourth-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway, Kevin Harvick earned a fifth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway and Ryan Newman completed the month by winning the pole and securing a second-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KELLY BIRES:
Describe a lap around Kentucky Speedway: “I’ve been to Kentucky twice now and it’s a very interesting track. Getting into turn one there’s quite a bit of banking or a good transition getting in, but really falls off on the exit of turn two as the track flattens out and loses banking fast. Going into turn three it is really flat and the car wants to be real loose on entry there, but on exit you almost climb the hill as the track gains quite a bit of banking on the exit of turn four.”
In 2007, you finished 7th at Kentucky in just your second career Nationwide Series start. What does this track mean to you? “Finishing seventh in my second career Nationwide Series start shows I picked Kentucky up pretty fast. It was my first career top-10 finish and now makes it a place I look forward to going back to every year.”
Talk about returning to the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet this weekend. “I’m just very appreciative of the opportunity to work with the KHI organization again and happy to have Copart on board the No. 33 Chevrolet this weekend in Kentucky. I’m looking forward to running up front all day and possibly being in position to get my first win.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: This week the No. 33 Copart team will unload chassis No. 042 for Bires at Kentucky Speedway. With three previous appearances this season, this chassis was last on track at Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway where KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick started the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 from the eighth position and finished 23rd in the rain-shortened event after only 170 of the scheduled 200 laps were complete. Prior to Lowe’s Motor Speedway, this chassis had a strong second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway where Harvick started the race from the ninth position. Following Auto Club Speedway, this chassis ran at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where Harvick started from the second spot and led 41 laps before getting caught in a multi-car accident on lap 105, dropping the team to a 29th-place finish.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: The Nationwide Series was last in action at Nashville Superspeedway where Cale Gale piloted the No. 33 KHI Rheem Chevrolet to a 31st-place finish. Gale started the race from the 15th position and ran most of the race in the top 15 until a spin in front of him on lap 123 collected the No. 33 Chevy and forced the team to the garage for repairs. The team worked hard repairing the car, but in the end, the damages were too severe for the team to return to the race.
ONLINE MEDIA KITS: Media members can now access KHI media kits online at KevinHarvickInc.com. Included on the site are driver bios, driver and team images, KHI history and statistics, team profiles and schedules. Please contact Alicia Deal (adeal@kevinharvickinc.com) at KHI for access to the new site.
QUICK NOTES
June 13, 2009
Kentucky Speedway
Meijer 300
Race length: 200 laps/300 miles
Banking: 14-degrees in the turns
8-degrees on the frontstretch
4-degrees on the backstretch
Track layout: 1.5 miles
Shape: D-shaped Oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday:
First Practice: 5:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m., ET
Final Practice: 6:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., ET
Saturday:
Qualifying: 5:10 p.m., ET
TV: The Meijer 300 can be seen live on ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m., ET.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 8:00 p.m., ET.
No. 33 Chevrolet Impala Specs:
Chassis: 042
Engine: ECR
Kelly Bires
Nationwide Stats at Kentucky
Year No. Team Start Finish
2008 47 JTG 26 7
2007 47 JTG 11 19
JTG: JTG Daugherty Racing
About Copart:
Copart, founded in 1982, sells more than 1 million vehicles each year online for insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, the general public and others. Copart’s extensive inventory allows buyers to browse more than 50,000 vehicles each day.
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, including the 2007 series champions, the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday and the No. 4 KHI All-Stars Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ricky Carmichael, J.R. Fitzpatrick and a variety of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Chevrolet Impala competing full-time in the Nationwide Series, with drivers Kevin Harvick (a two-time Nationwide Series champion), 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, Hornaday, Kelly Bires and Cale Gale. The 2009 season marks KHI’s sixth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.