No. 29 Budweiser-Realtree Chevrolet
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
· Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser-Realtree Chevrolet team took home a ninth-place finish in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after battling handling problems throughout a majority of the 100-lap race.
· Harvick started the non-points event from the 14th position and within the first 10 laps radioed to the team that the car’s handling was just “too tight.” As the run progressed it got tighter and tighter on him. The team pitted at lap 25 for tires, fuel and chassis adjustments. When the caution flag waved on lap 50 at the end of the first segment, Harvick was running in the 17th position.
· The No. 29 team pitted twice under the caution between the first and second segments to change tires, add fuel and make adjustments to the car. Harvick restarted in the 20th position for the second segment of the race.
· After the field went back to green, Harvick continued to report that the car’s handling was very tight, so the team opted to come to pit road for additional adjustments when the caution flag waved at lap 58. Harvick restarted in the 18th position at lap 62. The caution flag waved again eight laps later marking the end of the second segment and he told the team that the car was still not turning well getting into the corners.
· Crew Chief Gil Martin made the call for the team to stay out and gain track position, putting Harvick in the 11th position for the start of the third segment. The No. 29 Budweiser-Realtree Chevrolet fell back a couple spots, and when the caution flag waved at lap 74, Martin called Harvick in for a four-tire stop to try a big air pressure adjustment before they got to the break before the fourth segment.
· Harvick restarted in the 16th position with 12 laps to go until the break and was able to pick up a couple spots before the caution flag waved at lap 90.
· The teams pulled down pit road for a 10-minute break and Harvick and Martin talked as the team went to work making adjustments on the No. 29 Budweiser-Realtree Chevrolet. Following the break, the teams came back down pit road for a four-tire stop to determine the starting order for the final segment of the race. The No. 29 team got Harvick off pit road in the 14th position, putting him on the outside of the seventh row to start the 10-lap shootout.
· In the closing laps Harvick was able to gain a number of spots and took the checkered flag in the ninth position.
· Carl Edwards scored the win in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle completed the top-five spots.
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 Sprint All-Star Race:
Tell me about your run tonight? You seemed to pick up a bit there at the end. “It was a lot better. (The car) was just bad all night getting in the corner and we finally got it to turn and were at least competitive there at the end. So that was a bright spot in the day.”
Were you able to learn something for next weekend? “Oh yeah. Heck we almost got lapped in the first 30 laps. There at the end we were moving forward, passing cars and competitive, so that’ll give us a lot better starting spot than where we were.”
The following is the finishing position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Weekend:
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford team finished sixth in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 The Dale Jr. Foundation/AMP Energy Chevrolet team finished 14th in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 18th in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished 21st in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished second in the Sprint Showdown and secured the final transfer spot to the Sprint All-Star Race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 The Dale Jr. Foundation/AMP Energy Chevrolet team finished sixth in the Sprint Showdown. Earnhardt Jr. was selected as the Sprint Fan Vote winner, earning a spot into the Sprint All-Star Race.
Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team finished 10th in the Sprint Showdown.
Mike Skinner and the No. 60 Big Red Toyota team finished 15th in the Sprint Showdown.
The following is the finishing position of the other Richard Childress Racing teams participating in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race Weekend:
Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet team finished 16th in the Sprint All-Star Race.
Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished ninth in the Sprint Showdown.
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Moen/Menards Chevrolet, finished 11th in the Sprint Showdown.
Next weekend NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will return to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 29. On Thursday, SPEED will air practice at 3:30 p.m. ET and qualifying at 7 p.m. ET. Teams will get two additional practice sessions on Saturday and SPEED will provide coverage starting at 11:30 a.m. Sunday’s race will air on FOX, starting with the pre-race show at 5:30 p.m. ET. SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio and PRN will air radio coverage of the on-track action.