Category: Pre-Race Reports
06/28/10
Kevin Harvick
No. 33 Rheem Swimming Pool Heaters Chevrolet Impala
Team Race Preview
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race 17 of 35 – Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
BRINGING NASCAR BACK TO THE BEACH: As the NASCAR Nationwide Series moves in on Daytona Beach, Fla. for the inagural race with the series’ new car, The Kevin Harvick Foundation, along with partners Rheem and WileyX, will ‘Bring NASCAR Back to the Beach’ where NASCAR started over 60 years ago. On Thursday, July 1st, from 10:00 a.m. until noon at The Ocean Deck in Daytona Beach, the group will host a group of 50 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Volusia and Flagler Counties for a fun day in the sun and a game of volleyball with Kevin Harvick, DeLana Harvick, along with TV and radio personalities, Adam Alexander and Matt Yocum.
The newly founded Kevin Harvick Foundation is dedicatied to the support of programs that positively enrich the lives of children throughout the United States, has teamed with longtime Kevin Harvick Inc. partners Rheem and WileyX, in hopes to give the children from the local Boys and Girls clubs an experience they will not soon forget. A group of 50 boys and girls will enjoy a day on the beach, which in addition to the volleyball game, includes photos with the Nationwide Series new car No. 33 Rheem Swimming Pool Heaters Chevrolet, giveaways, a photo with the Harvick’s as they receive a donation from Rheem and WileyX for the Foundation and lunch at Ocean Deck.
Following the beach event, the Foundation along with Rheem and WileyX will also host 100 members from the local clubs for the Friday night race to cheer on Harvick and the No. 33 Rheem Swimming Pool Heaters Chevrolet.
“I’m excited to be able to host local kids from the communities around Daytona this week at both the beach on Thursday and at the track on Friday night,” said Harvick. “DeLana and I started the Kevin Harvick Foundation to be able to positively influence kids from across the U.S. and provide opportunities for them to follow their dreams and live up to their potential. I hope that we are able to do that this week as we kick off the race weekend and summer. I look forward to having the group from the Boys and Girls clubs in the stands Friday night along with our Rheem guests and hopefully I can give them something to cheer about.”
FROM THE COCKPIT: The No. 33 Rheem Swimming Pool Heaters Chevrolet will carry an in-car camera this week for the ESPN broadcast of the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola. In addition to being able to get an inside look at the car, tune in for an inside voice as Harvick serves as the ESPN in-race reporter for the 100-lap event.
TRACKSIDE LIVE! Harvick will appear on the Friday, July 2, edition of SPEED’s Trackside Live! The taping for the show will take place on Friday morning beginning at 11:30 a.m. outside the turn four tunnel of Daytona International Speedway. Stop by and watch Harvick, as representatives from Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) will be on hand with free giveaways from KHI sponsors Rheem and WileyX.
LOOKING FOR NO. 12: Harvick will be looking for his 12th top-five finish this week at the famous 2.5-mile track where he will make his 17th-career Nationwide Series start at Daytona International Speedway. Harvick also looks to add his first superspeedway win in a KHI-owned car to the list.
In 16 previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Harvick has one win, 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. His average starting position is 9.6 with an average finishing position of 5.9. In addition to his stellar stats, Harvick has completed 100 percent of laps attempted (1816 of 1816 laps) and led 212 laps. Harvick’s most recent Nationwide Series start at the track came earlier this season when he started the season-opening race from the fourth position and finished third as teammate Tony Stewart won the first race of the 2010 season.
Harvick’s 2007 Nationwide Series victory at the track marked his first superspeedway win across all three series. In addition to the win, he swept the weekend by winning his first career Daytona 500 the following day. At the beginning of this season, Harvick added another Budweiser Shootout win to his list of successes at Daytona, adding to his 2009 Budweiser Shootout win.
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
What do you expect for the first Nationwide Series new car race this week at Daytona International Speedway? “I think they’re going to be very similar to what you see with the Cup cars. They’re going to move around a lot. At the test they moved around a tremendous amount. I think with everybody going home and working on their cars, you’re going to see a lot of people instead of worrying about how fast their cars are going, they’re going to worry about handling and I think it’s going to be a great race. The cars look great. I’m excited about getting in them.”
Talk about the repaving of Daytona following this weekend’s race events. “I know it’s time and I know there are a lot of issues underneath that made them decide to repave it. So, we’re going to miss the handling issues you have at Daytona and all the things that you always fight and it will be a lot like Talladega with a much narrower surface than what we have at Talladega. But hopefully, it will eventually get back to having some bumps and it usually does. Talladega has been the one race track that really hasn’t changed a whole lot. It’s all about speed and that’s going to be what it’s going to be like at Daytona. You bring your fastest car and not worry about handling; just play the chess match and see what happens.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: For the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series new car race, the No. 33 team will unload a brand new chassis, No. 057, for the two-time Nationwide Series champion.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: KHI team co-owner Harvick returned the seat of the No. 33 Chevrolet at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following a three-week hiatus. Harvick started the New England 200 from the third position and after 200 laps, finished the race seventh. The finish marked his 12th top-eight finish in 13 starts this season and ninth top-eight finish in 10 starts at the New England track.
ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Nationwide Series by following @KHI_NNS. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Truck Series teams @KHI_TruckSeries. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick @KevinHarvick and @DeLanaHarvick.
ONLINE MEDIA KITS: Media members can now access KHI media kits online at KevinHarvickInc.com. Included on the site are driver bios, driver and team images, KHI history and statistics, team profiles and schedules. Please contact Alicia Deal (adeal@kevinharvickinc.com) at KHI for access to the new site.
QUICK NOTES
July 2, 2010
Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola
Race length: 100 laps/250 miles
Banking: 31-degrees in the turns
3-degrees on the straight-a-ways
Track layout: 2.5 miles
Shape: Tri-oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Wednesday:
First Practice: 1:00 p.m., ET – 5:00 p.m., ET
Thursday:
Second Practice: 2:00 p.m., ET – 3:50 p.m., ET
Final Practice: 5:30 p.m., ET – 6:25 p.m., ET
Friday:
Qualifying: 1:05 p.m., ET
TV: The Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola can be seen live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m., ET.
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race live at 7:30 p.m., ET.
No. 33 Rheem Swimming Pool Heaters Chevrolet Specs:
Chassis: 057
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Kevin Harvick
Nationwide Series Stats at Daytona
Year No. Team Start Finish
2010 33 KHI 4 3
2009 33 KHI 3 10
2009 33 KHI 1 11
2008 33 KHI 7 12
2008 33 KHI 9 21
2007 21 RCR 4 2
2007 21 RCR 31 1
2006 21 RCR 42 3
2006 29 RCR 17 5
2005 21 RCR 1 2
2005 21 RCR 7 2
2004 21 RCR 2 8
2004 21 RCR 3 4
2003 21 RCR 3 3
2001 2 RCR 12 2
2000 2 RCR 7 5
*KHI: Kevin Harvick Inc.
*RCR: Richard Childress Racing
About Rheem:
Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is a privately held company with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. In its 81st year of operation, the company distributes throughout North America and world markets an award-winning line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heating, whole-home standby generators, controls, pool and spa heaters, indoor air purification products and commercial boilers. The nation’s leading consumer products review magazine recently reported that Rheem products have been rated most reliable among all leading brands by tens of thousands of consumers. The premium brands of Rheem Manufacturing Company include Ruud, Raypak and Rheem. Rheem Manufacturing Company is the primary sponsor of Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 33 Chevrolet Nationwide® Series car and is an associate sponsor of KHI’s No 33 truck in the Camping World Truck Series.
About Kevin Harvick Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.