No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet
FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
· Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet scored a 10th-place finish in the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway but were left wanting more after competing in the top five during the majority of the race.
· The Budweiser Chevrolet was strong during the early stages of the race as Harvick surged into the top five by lap 25 and was in the third position by the time the competition caution waved on lap 40. Harvick had reported the car was perfect and that he was “just cruising.”
· With rain threatening the area unstable weather conditions created a variety of track conditions throughout the day. It was during the first long run of the race that Harvick reported the Budweiser Chevrolet had drifted to the loose side. A track bar adjustment during a green-flag pit stop on lap 108 seemed to help as Harvick reported the car to be pretty good during the second half of the following run.
· The Budweiser Chevrolet really came to life in the second half of the race, seeming to strengthen the longer a run continued. Harvick picked up the sixth, fifth and fourth positions in successive laps from lap 263 to 265. He maintained the position after a round of green-flag stops on lap 283.
· Harvick was poised to score a top-five finish when the sixth and final caution of the race waved on lap 362. He, along with almost all of the leaders, took four tires on what would be the last stop of the day. A number of cars running behind Harvick elected to only take two tires in order to gain track position. The strategy placed Harvick in 15th place for the restart on lap 366. Time would run out before the driver of the Budweiser Chevrolet could regain all that had been lost and was in 10th place when the checkered flag waved.
· Harvick remains fifth in the driver point standings following the 10th-place run at Dover. He is 54 points out of first place.
· Matt Kenseth scored the win on Sunday, making it his second win of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers completed the rest of the top-five finishers, respectively.
· Carl Edwards continues to lead the driver point standings. Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are second through fourth with Harvick in fifth.
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.
Crew Chief Gil Martin on the race at Dover:
“We came in and got four and obviously, it is easy to say we should have stayed out right there. But, I really thought with 35 laps to go and the guys that were going to be up front like that, the tires were going to blow through them and it would have caused a caution if you didn’t have tires and you were going to be in big trouble. But the way it played out, it was again, a perfect storm for the guys that stayed out. You live and learn and sometimes you gamble different ways. But, today, the Budweiser Chevrolet was good all day so I’m happy with it.”
Is clean air just that important here regardless of tires?
“Yes it does. That is the case, clean air is so good. If there would have been 20 or less, everybody would have stayed out just because of that reason. May, I tell you, it’s getting to be anymore where you can’t come on pit road at all. Like I said, live and learn. We’ll be alright.”
The following is the finish position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the FedEx 400:
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Wiley X Eyewear Ford (usually Crown Royal-sponsored) team finished 1st
Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team finished fifth
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 AMP Energy Sugar-Free/National Guard Chevrolet team finished 12th
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 13th
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished 36th
Scott Wimmer, driver of the No. 7 Fast Five/SPEED Energy Dodge, finished 38th
Mike Skinner and the No. 60 Big Red Toyota team finished 41st
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Childress Racing teams participating in the FedEx 400:
Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet finished sixth
Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished 11th
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 CertainTeed/Menards Chevrolet, finished 24th
Next Saturday eligible NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will compete in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway while other teams participate in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown in an attempt to qualify for a transfer spot to get into the All-Star Race. On Friday, SPEED is scheduled to air practice from noon to 3 p.m. ET, followed by qualifying for the Sprint Showdown at 5 p.m. ET and qualifying for the All-Star Race at 6 p.m. SPEED will also provide the live race broadcast on Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. ET. SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio and PRN will air radio coverage of the on-track action.