Kevin Harvick
No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
Sam's Town 300 Race Recap
Harvick Records
Second Consecutive Top-Five Finish of the Season
Las
Vegas, Nev.
(March 3, 2008) — For the second west coast trip of the season,
the NASCAR Nationwide Series unloaded at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway to warm weather and clear skies for the Sam’s Town 300.
Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet finished in
the fourth position, marking Harvick’s 100th top-five finish in
the NASCAR Nationwide Series in just 195 starts.
Teams hit the track for two practice sessions on Friday, with
qualifying for the Sam’s Town 300 scheduled for Saturday
morning. During the first practice session on Friday, Harvick
and the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet were 14th quickest with a
lap time of 30.993 seconds (174.233 mph). Following the first
practice, the No. 33 Camping World team made adjustments to the
car to help with the loose-handling conditions, and returned to
the track Friday afternoon for final Nationwide Series practice.
Harvick rounded out the final practice session with the
eighth-fastest lap with a time of 30.761 seconds (175.547 mph).
On
Saturday morning, Harvick took to the 1.5-mile track 15th for
qualifying and placed the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet 10th on
the starting grid with a lap of 30.287 seconds (178.294 mph).
With
the Sam’s Town 300 officially under way on Saturday, Harvick
quickly made his presence known. Harvick had moved into the
seventh position by lap two when the first caution flag of the
day waved. Teams restarted on lap seven, only to be slowed again
on lap 10. Under the second caution, Harvick radioed crew chief
Wally Rogers to let him know the car was “loose, but not bad.”
On lap 16, teams were again given the green flag with Harvick in
the seventh position. Less than 10 laps later, the caution flag
waved for the third time and Harvick quickly radioed Rogers
asking for air pressure adjustments. The team entered the pits
on lap 25 in the sixth position, taking on four tires, with sir
pressure adjustments, and fuel before restarting the race on lap
28 in the 14th position. Teams were already exercising various
pit strategies early in the race with some teams taking only two
tires.
Continuing to make his move to the front, Harvick moved back
into the top 10 on lap 30 as the caution flag waved for the
fourth time on lap 31.Four laps later Harvick restarted in the
10th position. Gaining one position per lap, Harvick was scored
in the seventh position on lap 38. Several laps later, on lap 44
the caution was out yet again. This time the No. 33 Camping
World team made the call to stay out. Harvick informed Rogers
the car was, “a whole lot better that time.” Rogers radioed
back, “Yeah, you were coming pretty good on that run.” Teams
restarted on lap 49 with Harvick in the seventh position.
Only
12 laps later, the caution flag waved again and the No. 33
Camping World Chevrolet made the call to pit on lap 63 for four
tires, with an air pressure adjustment, fuel and to remove tape
from the front of the car. Restarting in the seventh position on
lap 65, the team slipped a little in track position, loosing
several spots before another caution of the day waved on lap
102. On lap 104, the team entered pit road in the 10th position
to take on fuel and four tires to reverse the previous air
pressure adjustments made to the car. The Sam’s Town 300
restarted on lap 108.
The
race was slowed again on lap 125 when the yellow was brought out
for the ninth time. Harvick pitted on lap 126 for fuel only.
With 74 laps remaining in the race, the team was seven laps
short on gas and asked Harvick to save fuel when possible. Teams
were given the green flag on lap 129, only to immediately
receive the yellow flag on lap 130. Harvick restarted in the
sixth position on lap 134. Maintaining his position in the top
10, with 50 laps to go, Harvick moved into the fifth position.
As
the laps wound down, the caution flag waved again on lap 185
with Harvick in the fifth position. Rogers made the call to
bring Harvick down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air
pressure adjustment on lap 187. One of the only cars with four
fresh tires, Harvick restarted in the ninth position on lap 190.
The final caution of the day flew on lap 195, causing the race
to end under NASCAR’s green-white-checkered rule. Harvick
restarted on lap 200 in the fifth position and gained one spot
to bring home the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet in fourth
place.
After the Race with Harvick:
“We had a good car today,” said Harvick. “At the end it was a
little loose, but I was able to maintain my position and finish
with another top-five. The team had another good week. A top
five last week and this week, we just need to continue to be
consistent each and every week.” | 
