Kevin Harvick
No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Team Report
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 2 of 35 – California Speedway
CAMPING WORLD 300 RECAP: For the start of the NASCAR
Nationwide Series season, Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) co-owner
Kevin Harvick was behind the wheel of the No. 33 Camping World
Chevrolet. Soon after the green flag waved, Harvick moved toward
the front of the pack, settling in the third position and
appeared to be on his way to a strong start for the 2008 season.
Harvick stayed in the top 10 until a bad pit stop on lap 37
caused him to make a second green-flag stop causing the No. 33
Camping World Chevrolet to lose one lap. After receiving the
“lucky dog,” Harvick was back on track toward the front of the
field. Unfortunately, the No. 33 Chevrolet was caught in a
multi-car accident on lap 111 and suffered damage to the nose of
the car. Harvick restarted the race with six laps to go and
brought the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet home in the 21st
position.
LOOKING FOR WIN NO. 1: In 10 Nationwide Series starts at
California Speedway, Harvick has yet to record a victory. He has
finished in third place two times and second place two times.
This week Harvick will look to change those numbers and add win
No. 1 in the Nationwide Series to his list of accomplishments at
California Speedway.
TRACK STATS: Harvick has recorded 10 starts at California
Speedway since 2000 and has shown he can maneuver around the
2-mile track. His first start at the track in 2000 was his worst
finish, a 14th-place finish one lap down from the leaders. Since
then, Harvick has recorded nine top-10 and five top-five
finishes, one pole and completed 99.9 percent of the laps
attempted (1499 of 1500 laps). The only victory Harvick has
recorded at California Speedway came in 2002 in the
International Race of Champions. Harvick will look to continue
building his California record and hopefully leave with his
first Nationwide Series win at the track.
CHASSIS HISTORY: When the No. 33 RoadLoans.com team
unloads at California Speedway this weekend, they will unload
chassis No. 038. This new chassis will make its race debut
Saturday, February 23, for the Stater Bros. 300. During the off
season, chassis No. 038 was used for testing at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway.
A Million Thanks: RoadLoans.com and Kevin Harvick Inc.
(KHI) will launch a campaign on Saturday, February 23, for a
partnership with the A Million Thanks Foundation. Prior
to the Stater Bros. 300, a photo opportunity will be available
with Harvick and Shauna Fleming, the 18-year-old college student
who founded the foundation in March 2004. The initial goal of
the campaign was to collect and distribute one million letters
of ‘thank you’ to the troops serving in the U.S. Armed Forces
around the world. In October 2004, Fleming reached her goal and
presented President George Bush with the one-millionth letter.
RoadLoans will station drop boxes at all show car appearances
throughout race markets this season for fans to write letters
and drop into the box. The letter writing campaign kicks off
February 23 and runs through November 15, 2008.
BEFORE THE RACE WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
With the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Car, are there any
issues going back and forth between the two? Are the two cars
similar in any way? They are not remotely close at all, so
you definitely have to stop and think where you are. The one
good thing with the Nationwide car is that NASCAR has put the
smaller intake on them, so the cars are a lot slower than before
and the corner speeds have picked up. It’s going to be a lot
like driving a truck. You are going to spend a lot of time on
the throttle and getting your car to work the last few laps of a
run, you need to keep the car as free as you can at the
beginning of a run.
Elaborate on what you are referring to when you say you have
to think about where you are when driving the Sprint and
Nationwide Series cars. What are the differences? Everything
is different between the Nationwide and Sprint Cup car. The
throttle’s different, braking is different, the steering is
different, the way you enter and exit the corner is different,
there isn’t anything that is the same, so you definitely have to
pay attention to what you are doing.
About RoadLoans.com:
RoadLoans, based in North Richland Hills, Texas, is a
leading direct-to-consumer auto finance company that simplifies
the financing of a new or used vehicle through its online
application process. RoadLoans specializes in new and used
vehicle loans, consumer-to-consumer purchases and opportunities
to refinance existing loans for customers with all types of
credit, and is especially proud of its history of helping people
with less than perfect credit. Since June of 2000, RoadLoans has
carried out its mission to educate and empower people through
the auto buying process and has helped tens of thousands of
consumers purchase or refinance the car, truck or SUV of their
dreams. The company’s focus on customer service earned it the
Lending Tree Customer Service Excellence Award every year the
award was presented since 2002. For more information, visit
http://www.RoadLoans.com or call (888) 276-7202. | 
