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Pre-Race Report: Aaron's 499
Event/Date: Aaron's 499 - April 26, 2009
Venue: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Notes
This Week's Shell-Pennzoil Chevy at Talladega Superspeedway ... Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 238 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in Sunday's Aaron's 499. Harvick was scheduled to drive this car in this year's Daytona 500, but a crash during practice forced the team to use a backup car instead.
It was driven in a number of races last year, including Auto Club Speedway at California in February, Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May, as well as the June race at Michigan International Speedway and the fall race at Bristol Motor Speedway. In those five races, Harvick qualified in the top-10 four times and posted three top-10 finishes, his best result being a fourth-place run at Bristol in August.
Talladega Totals ... In 16 NSCS starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Harvick has one pole, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. Additionally, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has earned a 23.6 starting average, a 14.6 finishing average and has completed all but 22 laps of competition (3,000 of 3,022, or 99.3%) contested in those 16 starts at the famed Alabama race track.
Restrictor Plate Success ... Harvick has competed in 32 NSCS point races on restrictor-plate tracks (Daytona and Talladega), completing 98 percent of the laps. He has one win (2007 Daytona 500), two poles, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. Additionally, "Happy" has led 166 laps and has only recorded one DNF (did not finish).
Loop Stats ... At a track known for passing, no one has more green-flag passes over the past four years than Richard Childress Racing. Jeff Burton holds the top spot in that ranking, while Harvick is right behind him in second. Over the past eight NSCS races at Talladega, Harvick has 2,909 passes under green-flag conditions.
Did you Know? ... Chevrolet holds the record as the manufacturer with the most success at the storied Alabama track with 33 NSCS victories.
RCR at Talladega ... Richard Childress competed as a driver in Talladega's inaugural race in 1969 and used his winnings from that race weekend to help start RCR. Childress boasts nine victories at the storied Alabama race track - all of them coming with Dale Earnhardt. Additionally, in 112 starts, RCR boasts four poles, 29 top-five, 47 top-10 finishes and just shy of $8 million in earnings.
"Two Score" ... The 2009 season marks Richard Childress' 40th anniversary as a team owner in NASCAR's top division. Childress' first Sprint Cup Series start came at the famed Alabama race track on Sept. 14, 1969. The owner-driver went on to capture seven top-five and 75 top-10 finishes in 285 starts before hiring Earnhardt in 1981 to drive his race cars.
Since then, Childress has transformed his Welcome, N.C.-based operation to a four-team empire and has accumulated six Cup Series championships, 89 wins, 43 poles, 375 top five's and 763 top-10s over 1,890 starts with 24 different drivers. At the same time, RCR has amassed five NASCAR Nationwide Series championships along with a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Childress is also the first NASCAR team owner to win championships in all three of NASCAR's national touring series.
RCR 40th Anniversary Announcement ... RCR has scheduled a press conference for Saturday, April 25, at 9:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time in the infield media center at Talladega Superspeedway. The press conference will kick off RCR's 40th anniversary celebration that will conclude at the fall races in Talladega, where Richard Childress made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in 1969 in the track's inaugural event.
One and Done ... For just the second time this season, Harvick will not be competing in either a Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series companion event in conjunction with a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event.
Up to Speed ... Flag-to-flag coverage of the Aaron's 499 will take the green flag Sunday, April 26 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on FOX and broadcast on Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the ninth points-paying race on the 2009 schedule for NASCAR's senior division will be telecast on SPEED Saturday, April 25 beginning at 11a.m. EDT.
Kevin Harvick Quotes
It seems like the new car style works best at a track like Talladega. Do you agree?
"The race track just lends itself to anything when you're wide open around there. The trucks and the Nationwide cars put on a great race there and the Cup cars put on a great race as well. It's just a 'racy' race track. With the repaving they've done, it's zero handling. It's all about speed."
Does the new car style make the racing a lot different at Talladega then it did with the older car?
"I don't think it's really changed the race a whole lot. The way that you drive the cars is a little bit different, and the way that they draft and things like that. For the most part, the way that it looks on TV, it looks like the same Talladega race that we've always had, just wild and crazy.
On the last lap, do you want to be the guy in the lead, or do you want to be running second or third and in a position to make a run at the leader?
"I think it all depends on what the pack looks like behind you. If you're leading and they shove you out there and they have a run coming, you're usually a sitting duck. If that pack is piled up like it normally is at Talladega and you're the leader, it could come from anywhere - bottom, top, middle. No matter wherever they're pushing, you better hope they're pushing you or you're going to get passed."