Category: Pre-Race Reports
06/07/10
PUNISHER, THINK AGAIN: When Mike Bliss climbs behind the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet this weekend at Kentucky Speedway in place of team co-owner Kevin Harvick, it will be the start of a new chapter in the relationship between Harvick and Bliss at Kentucky Speedway.
During the 2001 season when Harvick became the first driver to compete full-time in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series, Bliss served as Harvick’s back-up/substitute driver while Harvick juggled the trip between Pocono Raceway and Kentucky Speedway. During practice at Kentucky Speedway, Bliss totaled Harvick’s primary car forcing the team to pull out the back-up car. When the team told Harvick he would be driving the back-up car and they would have to make the best of it, he told crew chief Todd Berrier not to worry about it, he was going to ‘punish’ them. Punish them he did. With no practice in the back-up car, Harvick qualified 11th for the race, lead 131 of 200 laps and won the inagural race at Kentucky Speedway. The No. 2 Richard Childess Racing (RCR) team renamed chassis No. 008 “The Punisher” following the dominating win. Harvick completed the season as the 2001 Nationwide Series champion, his first of two championships in the series, and the 2001 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
“The Punisher” (Chassis No. 008) won eight total races with Harvick before an accident at Phoenix International Raceway in 2002 totaled the car.
KENTUCKY STYLE: For the second week in a row, Mike Bliss will climb behind the wheel of the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet to make his sixth-career Nationwide Series start at the 1.5-mile track of Kentucky Speedway.
In five previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Bliss has secured one top-five and three top-10 finishes on his way to completing 94.6 percent of laps attempted (946 of 1000 laps). His average start is 14.4 and his average finish is 15.8. Of his starts, the only two outside the top 10 have been the result of a crash during the race.
In addition to the Nationwide Series, Bliss has three starts in the Truck Series at the track and currently holds the record for the largest margin of victory for his 2002 Truck Series win at the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval. In three Truck Series starts, Bliss has one win, one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He has completed 100 percent of laps attempted (450 of 450 laps) and led 94 total laps. His average starting position is 14.0 and his average finishing position is 8.3.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: In his first-career start at Kentucky Speedway in 2002, Bliss scored the second-place starting position for the Truck Series race and after leading 94 of the 150 laps, earned his only victory at the 1.5-mile track with an 18.197 second margin of victory over Dennis Setzer. In that same season, Bliss secured three poles, five wins, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes on his march to claim the 2002 Truck Series title.
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER MIKE BLISS:
Talk about racing at Kentucky Speedway where you have had success and will be making your second start for KHI. “I like Kentucky Speedway. It’s a lot of fun and I think that we will run really well. We struggled a little at Nashville (Superspeedway), but I think we will be better this week at Kentucky. I’ve had some success at Kentucky and I think that with this team, I can carry some of that over to this week. Ernie Cope and this team will work hard to put us up front and I’m hoping we can be there at the end to contend for the win.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 KHI crew will unload chassis No. 053 for Bliss this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. This chassis was last on track at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway where KHI co-owner Harvick piloted the car to an eighth-place finish. Prior to Darlington, the chassis had two starts including Las Vegas Motor Speedway where two-time Nationwide Series champion Harvick won his first Nationwide Series race for sponsor Rheem, and Auto Club Speedway where a failed engine ended the team’s strong run with a 38th-place finish.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Kicking off the stretch of stand-alone events, the Nationwide Series returned to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway for the second time of the 2010 season. Bliss made his first career start for KHI, securing the sixth starting position. After fighting a loose-tight handling car for most of the race, Bliss was able to secure the fifth position on lap 225 to earn the No. 33 team their eighth top-five and 12th top-eight finish of the season.
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
June 12, 2010
Kentucky Speedway
Meijer 300
Race length: 200 laps/300 miles
Banking: 14-degrees in the turns
8-degrees on the frontstretch
4-degrees on the backstretch
Track layout: 1.5 miles
Shape: D-shaped Oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday:
First Practice: 5:00 p.m., ET – 6:15 p.m., ET
Final Practice: 6:45 p.m., ET – 8:00 p.m., ET
Saturday:
Qualifying: 4:05 p.m., ET
TV: The Meijer 300 can be seen live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m., ET.
Radio: The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will broadcast the race live at 7:30 p.m., ET.
No. 33 KHI Chevrolet Specs:
Chassis: 053
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Mike Bliss
Nationwide Stats at Kentucky
Year No. Team Start Finish
2009 1 JF 21 28
2008 1 JF 15 8
2007 22 AF 16 9
2004 20 JG 9 3
2003 20 JG 11 31
*JF: James Finch
*AF: Armando Fitz
*JG: Joe Gibbs
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.