CHICAGO STATS: In five starts at Chicagoland Speedway in the Nationwide Series, Kevin Harvick has recorded two wins, three top-five and three top-10 finishes. In his last three starts, Harvick has two wins and a fourth-place finish.
In seven starts in the Sprint Cup Series, Harvick has recorded two wins, four top-five and five top-10 finishes. His two wins include the inaugural race in 2001 followed by the second consecutive race in 2002.
IN THE LOOP: Returning to Chicagoland Speedway this week, Harvick has outstanding stats in the Nationwide Series according to NASCAR’s “loop data.” He is currently second in four different categories: Driver Rating (121.2), Average Running Position (5.655), Fastest Driver Early in a Run (170.816 mph) and Speed in Traffic (168.151 mph). In addition, he is first for laps in the top 15 having run 97.7 percent of all possible laps in the top 15 (586 of 600 laps) and third in both green-flag speed (169.012 mph) and quality passes (average 36.7 for 110 laps) categories.
ANOTHER KHI FIRST: This is Harvick’s first start at Chicagoland Speedway in a Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI)-owned car.
BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:
What’s unique about Chicagoland Speedway? “Probably that you go through the corners pretty much wide open. You let off sooner than you do at most places, and you drive it all the way through the corners under power. That’s not extremely different from other tracks, but there is a lot more throttle here than at most places. You get back in it (the gas) a lot quicker than you do at most places.”
Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway look alike, but are they? “They really are different. The race tracks, from the outside looking at them, look exactly the same. But, every track has its own unique characteristics and these two tracks have their own. From what I remember, there are now multiple grooves at Chicagoland so you can run a little bit higher. You don’t have to run right on the bottom of the track. But, in qualifying, the bottom is definitely the way to go.”
What is the fastest way around Chicago? “The fastest way around Chicago is to run the white line the entire race. However, you never know what the tires and all the other circumstances are going to be when we go back. The track is still aging and it loses grip every time you go back. Over the past couple of years, we have been able to run up the race track a little bit. But I think the person who can run the white line the entire race will win.”
Chicago is a track where you have had success, how much does that help when you go back? “Well, Chicago has obviously been really good to us as far as the numbers go, but a lot of other places have been good to us too as far as the numbers go, but nothing has really gone right this year. We’ve wrecked too much. We’ve made a lot of mistakes. We started off the year really well and just haven’t had anything go right since about week five. It’s good to come to a race track where things are going good and hopefully you get that monkey off your back and you can go on with it.”
Do you like the switch to night racing that has taken place at Chicago?
“I don’t know exactly what the night race is going to do for the crowd. I’m sure there is a lot to do in Chicago on a Friday and Saturday night, so it will be interesting to see how all that works. Night racing is kind of a fad. I don’t know if that’s the best thing in the world to have. I like racing at night, but I don’t know if that’s the best thing for our sport.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: This weekend, the No. 33 team will race chassis No. 038 from the KHI stable. This chassis was last on track at Dover (Del.) International Speedway where Harvick scored a 13th-place finish. Prior to Dover, this chassis was on track with Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway (34th-place finish after a broken axle while leading), Atlanta Motor Speedway (second-place finish) and the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (third-place finish).
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Unloading for the second time this season at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Harvick and the No. 33 KHI team started from the seventh position. Harvick quickly moved to second place by lap eight. With a tight-handling car most of the night, Harvick lost several positions, falling as far back as 22nd on lap 53. Continuing to run under green-flag conditions, a late caution on lap 97 caused NASCAR to extend the race to a green-white-checkered finish. Harvick was able to capitalize on the late caution and crossed the finish line in the 12th position.
About Kevin Harvick Inc.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001, is a 70,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. KHI houses two full time Truck Series teams: the No. 33 Camping World/VFW Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday as well as the No. 2 American Commercial Lines (ACL)/RVs.com Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Camping World/RoadLoans.com/ Rheem Chevrolet driven by two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Cale Gale and the No. 77 Rheem/VFW Chevrolet driven by Cale Gale and Ron Hornaday competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. 2008 marks KHI’s fifth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Please visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.
QUICK NOTES
July 11, 2008
Chicagoland Speedway
Dollar General 300
Race length: 200 laps/300 miles
Banking: 18-degrees in the turns
11-degrees on the frontstretch
5-degrees on the backstretch
Track layout: 1.5 miles Shape: D-shaped Oval
Pre-Race Schedule:
Thursday:
Practice: 3:30-4:50 p.m., ET
Final Practice: 7:00-8:25 p.m., ET
Friday:
Qualifying: 3:35 p.m., ET
TV: The Dollar General 300 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 Camping World Chevrolet Monte Carlo Specs:
Chassis: 038
Engine: RCR
