Pre-Race Report

Highlights...

From Kevin Harvick...

This Week’s Race Car at California Speedway

Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 238 from the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable.  This is a new Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS. 

Stat Facts

In 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at California Speedway, Harvick has posted two top-10 finishes.  Additionally, the 32-year-old driver has completed 99% of all laps attempted and has led 31 laps. 

Iron Man

Harvick has not recorded a DNF (did not finish) in 45 consecutive races.  His last DNF recorded by Harvick was at Dover in September 2006.  Additionally, the Bakersfield, Calif., native led all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver in laps completed in – 10,481 of a possible 10,582 (99%).

Homecoming

There are seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers that hail from the state of California (A.J. Allmendinger, David Gilliland, Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears, who is also from Harvick’s hometown of Bakersfield).  No other state has that many NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers competing this year.  

One Trophy Missing From the Shelf

RCR has earned a Cup Series victory at 18 of the 22 tracks on the 2008 schedule. The only tracks on the current schedule where RCR hasn’t earned wins are California Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Additionally, RCR has Cup Series wins at 21 tracks, the three defunct tracks being North Wilkesboro (N.C.), Riverside (Calif.) and Rockingham (N.C.).

A Pat on the Back

Harvick will recognize students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Friday, February 22 at 2:05 p.m. in the California Speedway media center.  These students designed and built a prototype vehicle that traveled 1,902.7 miles per gallon using conventional fuel to win the 2007 Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition.  The Shell Eco-marathon Americas challenges college teams to travel the farthest distance using the least amount of fuel.  Teams compete using prototype vehicles fueled by conventional or alternative fuels or energy sources.  The winning team receives a grand prize of $10,000 that is awarded to the team’s educational institution.  The winning vehicle will also be on display at the California Speedway media center.  

Testing One, Two, Three, Testing

Harvick and the Shell-Pennzoil team tested California Speedway Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in preparation for the Auto Club 500 as part of NASCAR’s Preseason Thunder test sessions.  

Double Down in Cali

In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, Harvick, a 32-time race winner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will drive Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s No. 33 Roadloans.com Chevrolet in the February 23 Stater Bros. 300.  The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).  The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.  Qualifying for the second of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series calendar will air live the same day on SPEED at 12:30 p.m. EST. 

Media Opportunity

Harvick will be available in the California Speedway media center to field questions from the media Friday, February 22 at 2:05 p.m. 

Up to Speed

The Auto Club 500 at California Speedway will be televised live on Sunday, Feb. 24 beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST on FOX. The race will also be broadcast live on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the second of 36 points-paying races on the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series tour begins Friday, Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. EST and will broadcast live on SPEED.

How do you treat racing at Fontana near family and friends?

“It is nice to go out there, but I don’t treat it as time to get to see my family and friends.  I treat it as a job and go out like everybody else.  We get there the day before everything starts on track, so I don’t spend a lot of time with them.  It is cool to have them all there and obviously we are supported well there, but we still have to go out there and make it happen.”

A majority of the races at California haven’t been too exciting.  Do you think the Impala will improve the racing?

“With the Impalas as the tire run goes on the speeds fall off and the car’s handling seems to go away.  That’s going to require us to move around the race track and use a variety of different grooves.  I think the racing will be better.  In fact, I think the Impala SS is going to improve racing on all the mile-and-a-half and two-mile tracks.”

How disappointing was it to have a flat tire on the final lap of this race last year while you were contending for a win?

“Well, it is what it is.  If the race stayed green we wouldn’t have had debris from the wreck and the tire doesn’t go flat and things would have been very different.  However, we just came off winning the Daytona 500 so there really wasn’t much that was going to ruin our party.  I mean, things like this are going to happen.  We were the victim of that a lot in 2007 and were still able to stay in contention for the Chase.  I think this shows the maturity of our race team.  We just have to let these types of things roll off our backs and keep plugging along.”

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.  Everything is different between the Nationwide and Sprint car.  The throttles are 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 are going to definitely have to pay attention to what garage you are in and to what you are doing.”

What type of racing do you expect to see at California?

“I think you are going to see a lot of people moving around.  I think as you move the Impala SS around on the race track, you can make up some time on the rest of the competition.  You are going to see a lot of different grooves develop as the race goes on.  The high groove will come in at some point, as it has in the past.  There’s still going to be that surprise element that you will have that you didn’t come across during testing.  However, I think the racing is going to be much better for the fans with the new car.”