This Week’s Budweiser Chevrolet at Chicagoland Speedway ... Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 396 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in this weekend’s GEICO 400. Built new for competition during the 2012 season, this RCR racer was utilized by Austin Dillon at Michigan International Speedway where he captured a 24th-place finish in his lone 2012 Sprint Cup Series start and by Harvick at Pocono Raceway in August where he finished 14th.
Just the Stats ... This weekend’s event at Chicagoland Speedway marks Harvick’s 421st career start in the Sprint Cup Series and 11th at the 1.5-mile track Since 2001, the 36-year-old driver has collected two wins (2001 and 2002), six top-five and seven top-10 finishes at Chicagoland Speedway. Harvick maintains a 17.4 average starting position, an average finishing position of 10.4, has completed 99.4 percent (2,923 of 2,940) of laps contested and is credited with 282 laps led.
Going for a Loop in the Windy City ... Harvick has made seven Sprint Cup Series starts at the Joliet, Ill.-based facility since the inception of NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics in 2006. The Bakersfield, Calif., native ranks third in Speed in Traffic (167.657 mph) and Fastest Driver Late in a Run (167.206 mph). Harvick has spent 1,361 Laps in the Top 15 and averages a Green Flag Speed of 168.538 mph positioning him fourth in each category. The RCR driver has the fifth-fastest Average Running Position (11.246) and has earned a Driver Rating of 98.5 positioning him fifth amongst his fellow competitors.
Designate a Driver ... Harvick’s No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet will feature a special “Designate a Driver” paint scheme this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in support of Anheuser-Busch’s worldwide effort to promote the responsible enjoyment of the company’s beers with “Global Be(er) Responsible Day.” Friday, Sept. 21, will mark 30 years of Anheuser-Busch’s leadership in alcohol responsibility. Anheuser-Busch employees will canvas street corners, place signs in their yards and visit restaurants, bars and grocery stores to spread the message. Adults are encouraged to join Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Designate a Driver team in the Nation of Responsible drinkers by taking the pledge a www.NationOfResponsibleDrinkers.com.
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Begins ... Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway kicks off the 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Harvick starts the Chase seeded ninth in the standings. He’s 12 points back from the top spot and just six markers out of the top five.
Chase Across America ... As the top 12 drivers head to different markets this week as part of NASCAR’s “Chase Across America” program, Harvick will visit Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Tuesday, Sept. 11 to help promote next month’s Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500. After “Painting Talladega Pink” he will travel to Chicago where he and the other Chase for The Sprint Cup drivers will participate in media interviews and the NASCAR Contenders Live fan event on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the Chicago House of Blues. Fans can purchase tickets to the event for $10, with proceeds benefiting the NASCAR Foundation. SPEED will air a special one-hour television broadcast of the event on Thursday, Sept.13 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. For additional information, please visit NASCAR.com/ContendersLive.
Meet the Driver ... Race fans in the Chicagoland Speedway area can meet Harvick on Thursday, Sept. 13 at Dominick’s Grocery Store, located at 19965 S. LaGrange Road, in Frankfort, Ill., from 5:30 - 7 p.m. ET (4:30 - 6 p.m. Central Time). Fans can contact the store for more details on wristband distribution. Harvick will also make an appearance at Chicagoland Speedway’s Turn 4 Club for a fan question-and-answer session Sunday, Sept.16, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). Fans can purchase tickets to see Harvick at www.chicagolandspeedway.com or by calling 815.722.5500.
Kevin’s Krew ... Harvick will host a group of children from the George Werden Buck Boys & Girls Club for the sixth scheduled Kevin’s Krew at-track events Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway during the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Kevin’s Krew is an at-track outreach program for youth supported by the Kevin Harvick Foundation intended to expose kids to the fast world of racing. These children see by example that hard work, following your dreams and leading a drug-free lifestyle can be very rewarding. The kids in attendance will get a behind the scenes look at different professions in motorsports, ranging from pit crew jobs to merchandising careers. By attending a Kevin’s Krew event, the students are given the hope that helps them to stay focused and work hard, despite any social and/or economical misfortunes.
The Last Time By ... Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team earned a runner-up finish in the 2011, rain-delayed, GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway after starting the race from the 30th position.
In the Rearview Mirror: Richmond International Raceway ... Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser team brought home a 10th-place finish in the rain-delayed Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night. The Richard Childress Racing driver started the 400-lap event from the 13th position and alerted his crew he was battling a loose-handling condition as he traveled around the 0.75-mile race track during the early laps of the final race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Harvick worked his way to as high as the fourth position following a 51-minute mid-race rain delay, but continued to battle the loose-handling issue and ultimately crossed the finish line 10th.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
Thirty years ago Anheuser-Busch launched the company’s first national responsible drinking campaign. What does it mean to you to carry the “Designate a Driver” message on your No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet at Chicagoland Speedway?
“First of all I think it’s a privilege to drink a Budweiser and I think we all share the responsibility. I think Anheuser-Busch recognized that there’s a huge responsibility that comes with drinking. To carry the Designate a Driver scheme on the car at Chicagoland (Speedway), I look at it as something that sends a great message to the people in the grandstands and on TV to drink responsibly, because it is a privilege to drink. Anytime you are drinking you need to designate a driver and do it responsibly.”
How do you guys attack the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year?
“We don’t have anything to lose. The last few years we’ve been expected to race for a championship. This year the expectations are low going in because of the mediocre year we’ve had. Even though we’ve had a mediocre year, we’re still here talking about being in the Chase and racing for a championship so I think that says a lot about the team and the organization, and just getting in there and making the most out of our days.”
What are your thoughts going into this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup?
“It’s all about momentum. In this sport we’ve seen it and in other sports we’ve seen it. We saw it with Tony (Stewart) last year. We just don’t know. We don’t know how it’s all going to turn out. We’ve got to go race some races and I know I feel a lot better about where we are the last few weeks than I did three months ago.”
Are there any unknowns for you with tracks coming up that we’ve haven’t raced at this year?
“Well, I feel like even though the year hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, at the beginning we ran decent. We ran well at Dover (International Speedway) and decent at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Charlotte (Motor Speedway). There are a lot of tracks in the Chase (for the NASCAR Sprint Cup) that we have a pretty good notebook for. Hopefully when we apply some of the things that we feel like we needed to do different over the last few weeks, everything will keep clicking and we’ll keep moving forward. Everybody’s confidence is up right now and we know that things are getting back to the way they need to be.”
What is more important to you - consistency or wins?
“You don’t know how this whole thing is going to play out. You don’t go in expecting to win five races and win the (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver) championship, so it’s one of those deals where it could be a Chase where someone does that again or it could be a Chase where someone goes and has top five finishes every week and doesn’t make a mistake and wins the championship. You’ve got to get into it and see how it all plays out.”