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Kevin Harvick
Chicagoland Speedway Photo Gallery 2009
Harvick's Pit crew keeps him in the hunt.. finishes 19th
Photos by Dan Peters
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Kevin Harvick at The Brickyard, 2008
Kevin Harvick Atop Washington Post’s Online March Madness Celebrity Challenge Standings After First Two Rounds
Brendan Gaughan, who played Basketball at Georgetown, poses in a Davidson Jersey after thier win over the Hoyas
NASCAR Photo
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 26, 2008) – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (RCR), leads a power-packed field of athletes, political personalities and media in The Washington Post’s Online March Madness Celebrity Pick standings after the first two rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Brendan Gaughan, who drives the No. 10 MaxxForce Diesel Ford in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and played college basketball for the Hoyas of Georgetown University, is currently in fourth position to give NASCAR a big presence atop the standings.
Also participating from NASCAR is Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley Tools/Best Buy Dodge, and Jeff Burton, Harvick’s teammate at RCR and driver of the No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet, who are in 16th and 21st place, respectively.
Others in the field include pro tennis player Serena Williams, Washington Wizards all-star forward Antawn Jamison, political commentator Tucker Carlson, political strategist James Carville, DC blogger Dan Steinberg and Washington Post columnist and co-host of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Michael Wilbon, who is currently in third place.
“I am pretty excited to be leading the Washington Post celebrity NCAA tournament pick challenge,” said Harvick. “Having last weekend off gave me a chance to watch a lot of basketball and keep up with my bracket. If North Carolina can win this deal, I will be sitting pretty. However, I can’t believe my teammate Jeff Burton, is among those bringing up the rear. He must have picked Duke to win.”
In fact, Burton, a devout Duke fan, played with his head rather than his heart in picking Kansas, not Duke, to have that one shining moment, but lost Pittsburgh, his other finals team, in their loss to Michigan State. He also has North Carolina and UCLA in the final four in San Antonio.
Although Harvick is in good position for the time being, Sadler should not be overlooked as he is the only driver to have all his final four picks still intact (North Carolina, UCLA, Texas and Kansas – with North Carolina as his national champion overtaking UCLA in the final game). Harvick picked Memphis to bow to North Carolina in the final game and also picked UCLA in the final four, but saw one of his final four teams eliminated.
Although Gaughan got off to a fast start, his hopes of besting the field were dealt a fatal blow when his alma mater, Georgetown (also Harvick’s lone final four pick to be ousted), who he picked to win the national championship, was eliminated by cinderella Davidson this past weekend. Said Gaughan (Hoyas basketball member from 1993 – ’97), “The good news is that I’m sitting in fourth right now. The bad news is that there’s only one way for me to go now – down. My Georgetown Hoyas got beat by a very strong Davidson team. I’ve said from the get-go of these brackets that’s there’s one team that I was worried about through the tournament. I didn’t think that Kansas would be a problem for us, but I felt that if Davidson got by Gonzaga, that that was going to be tough game from for us. The boys from Davidson – which I now live five minutes from that campus – I’m very proud of what they’ve done. Dell Curry did a great job of teaching his boys how to step up when he needs to. Go Davidson.”
“You will most likely see me in a lot of Davidson garb this weekend at Martinsville because everyone at Circle Bar Racing wants to make sure they get their dig in.”
To view the overall standings heading into Thursday’s Sweet 16 action and track the celebrity picks until the end of the tournament, go to: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/ncaa/madness/standings/celebs/
NASCAR Photos
Harvick Returns To Track After Eventful 2007 Season
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2008) – Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) has a reputation for being a guy who will race any time, any where – whether it’s running his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship team or following up his victory in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in Charlotte by running in a NASCAR Camping World Series race in Iowa the next day.
So what else would the defending Daytona 500 champion do with his offseason?
“We raced every weekend at my house,” said Harvick of the asphalt go-kart track at his house that drew 10-12 people from the neighborhood on a regular basis. “We started a couple years ago. It’s something we’ve become addicted to. We enjoy it. It’s time to get away from everything, but do something you like to do.”
Harvick’s 2007 eventful season included his victory in the Daytona 500 by just .02 seconds over Mark Martin, the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race win, qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, finishing fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings and celebrating Ron Hornaday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title for Kevin Harvick Inc.
“My wife did make me go on vacation for three days,” Harvick said, “but I’m used to moving and going and having things happen all the time. And when you all of a sudden stop, it’s hard to keep yourself entertained. We just kept the pace up and tried to stay home and do everything we could.”
The offseason ended Monday morning for Harvick, as he was the first to take the track for the second week of testing for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams at Daytona International Speedway. Those that were in the even-number positions in the car owner standings as of July 17, 2007, will test through Wednesday, July 16. Odd-number position cars tested last week.
NASCAR Preseason Thunder begins the lead-up to the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17. As a member of the exclusive club of past winners, Harvick has special appreciation for the task at hand.
“It’s all everybody wanted to talk about – whether you won the last race or two weeks ago or whatever you had done,” Harvick said. “And being able to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration with all the past winners is something that’s been pretty cool to be part of.”
Harvick gave Richard Childress his first Daytona 500 victory since Dale Earnhardt in 1998. Harvick will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner of the Daytona 500 since Sterling Marlin accomplished the feat in 1994-95. Since Marlin, the Daytona 500 winner has finished in the top 10 of the following year’s race just three times (Earnhardt, second in 1999; Michael Waltrip, fifth in 2002; and Dale Earnhardt Jr., third in 2005).
“It’s definitely something you never forget,” Harvick said. “I walked into my wife’s office the other day and she was on YouTube watching the race, and I thought that was pretty cool because it still gives me the chills every time I watch it.”
Harvick also enjoyed a new experience from the other side of the pit wall in 2007. Hornaday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship was the first for KHI and has given Harvick additional insight on what it takes to win a title.
“Ron has a great attitude with his people,” said Harvick, a two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion for Richard Childress Racing. “I’ve tried over the offseason to apply that and come in with a better attitude with my team. I think this morning everything went really good, and the guys are working with a little bit of a spring in their step.”
Harvick will field one full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series car, while driving the second car himself part-time. KHI will also again field two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rides.
“The goal is to have fun, be competitive, and win races,” Harvick said. “That’s what we built it for. I like to be at the shop and around the race cars. To me, it’s almost like playing a game to try to put all the people in the right places, and to try to put the right chemistry of people together.”
Harvick wins Back-To-Back Bud Shootouts.. Wins First race of 2010 Sprint Cup Series
NASCAR Photo
http://danspitstopracing.com/nascar_sprint_cup
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Kevin Harvick Wins a Wild 2009 Bud Shootout at Daytona
NASCAR Photos
The crew of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, take over Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. Driver Kevin Harvick later said during a news conference with the media that a major factor in taking the checkered flag was simple: "The car was fast."
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet, poses with his trophy for winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Budweiser Shootout Saturday
Crew members work on the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick, on pit road during Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Below)
Crew _________________________
Kevin Harvick at the 2008 Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway
Photos Above By Dan Peters
Kevin Harvick Makes a visit to the Coca Cola Bottling Plant
Kevin Harvick loads crates at the Richmond Coca-Cola bottling facility in Sandston, Va
Kevin Harvick (left) and Richmond International Raceway president Doug Fritz try out freshly canned Coca-Cola Classic at the Richmond Coca-Cola bottling facility.
Richmond International Raceway president Doug Fritz (left) looks on as NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick tastes a fresh-off-the-line Diet Coke at the Richmond Coca-Cola bottling facility.
Philadelphia Flyers center Jeff Carter (left) shows off his new Shell/Pennzoil jacket while Kevin Harvick displays his personalized #29 Philadelphia Flyers jersey.
NASCAR Photos
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 18, 2008) – When Kevin Harvick (No. 33 RoadLoans.com / Camping World Chevrolet) took the track first Friday morning at Daytona International Speedway for the start of NASCAR Preseason Thunder, he officially began his 10th year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
He’s won two championships (2006, 2001) and helped owner Richard Childress earn the series’ first split title when Harvick and Johnny Sauter claimed the owner championship in 2003.
And Daytona has been good to Harvick with RCR and with his own Kevin Harvick Inc. team. Last February, he won the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race before capturing one of the most exciting Daytona 500 victories in the event’s history driving for RCR. In 2005-06, Tony Stewart won the first race of the season in NASCAR Nationwide competition driving for KHI.
But this season’s kickoff has a different feel to it for Harvick. For the first time in a decade of series competition, he won’t be driving for Childress. Instead, he’ll be driving his own KHI cars. And he’ll be helping to develop new talent, bringing newcomer Cale Gale into the fold.
“I’ve been so fortunate to run the 21 and the 2 (for RCR) and win a lot of races (32, second all-time in series history),” Harvick said. “But it was time to do something different for myself.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of running my own cars and creating a little bit different challenge from all aspects. I know what it’s been like the last few years to be winning races and being competitive week in and week out, and that’s what we are shooting for.”
Harvick and his wife, DeLana, have built KHI into a championship-caliber team with their NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series organization, capturing the title in that series last November with driver Ron Hornaday Jr., who also will drive in select NASCAR Nationwide Series events for the team.
Gale relishes the opportunity to learn from two champions as he begins his NASCAR national series career.
“To be able to race with (Kevin and DeLana) and share a car with Ron Hornaday is a dream come true for me,” Gale said. “The main thing is to go out and do everything I can as a race car driver when I am in the car. Start to race consistent, get better finishes each and every week and learn as much as I can as quick as possible.”
That learning curve will be just fine with the boss, who is one of four current or former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who are returning to the NASCAR Nationwide Series as owners to develop drivers, crew members and team personnel as well as help grow the series.
“With Nationwide coming on board, it’s a huge boost for the Series,” Harvick said. “I think as we go forward (the series) will be as strong as ever and you will see more young guys, more independent teams and hopefully more Cup drivers having Nationwide teams and participating in the series, supporting the sport as they should.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2008) – Perhaps it was the West Coast air or proximity to his hometown of Bakersfield, but Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) was happy to go to work Thursday at California Speedway.
“I think everybody has figured out why everybody likes to live in California – because of the weather today,” he said during a lunch-break visit to the track’s infield media center.
Sunshine and a calm atmosphere aside, the fit and feel of his car during the first session of a two-day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test at California also had Harvick – the defending Daytona 500 champion whose nickname is “Happy” – distributing verbal kudos.
Thursday’s and Friday’s California test was preceded by a two-day session earlier in the week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, all part of NASCAR Preseason Thunder – NASCAR’s annual January test sessions – and all in preparation for the first fulltime season of competition for NASCAR’s new race car.
With the snow-capped San Gabriel mountains overshadowing the backstretch and none of the wind that plagued drivers Monday in Las Vegas, Harvick said positive results from earlier in the week in Nevada seem to have crossed state borders. He was 13th-fastest during Thursday’s morning session – 180.180 mph (39.960 seconds) while Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet) was ninth-quickest at 180.537 mph (39.881 seconds)
“As we went to Las Vegas, I think everybody was surprised just how well the cars unloaded,” Harvick said Thursday. “I think the most difficult thing we've experienced probably over the last few days is just the different mindsets coming into the different styles of racetracks.
“Las Vegas is very wide open, lots of grip. Here you slide around and there's a lot of fall-off on the tires. So just trying to understand the difference from the setup that you're going to take from Las Vegas to here was a good experience for us.”
This week’s West Coast test is yielding research crucial to early-season races. But regardless of data accumulated and lessons learned, Harvick says one reason for the new car’s genesis should not be forgotten – safety.
“You can get in and out of the cars no problem with your helmet on,” he said. “You've got plenty of room. Your head's not resting against the window net. You don't have any problems getting the seats mounted in the cars.
“It has to be applauded just for the fact that the safety side of it is tremendously better just because the drivers are more comfortable in the cars, able to get in and out of them easier.”
NASCAR PHOTO
Kevin Harvick's GM Goodwrench Car at The USG 400. July, 2005
DPR Sports & Racing News
United States
ph: 630-776-3411
dan
