Kevin Harvick No. 29 Preview Fact Sheet

Kevin Harvick’s 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats

• Wins – 0
• Poles – 0
• Top Fives – 1
• Top 10s – 1
• Laps Led – 9
• 644 of 687 Laps Completed – 93.7%

Notes

This Week’s Reese’s Chevrolet Impala SS at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 272 in this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 500. This car, built new for 2009, is the same car Harvick finished 12th with last Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That race marked the first time the car had been on a race track. The team will use Chassis No. 270 as the backup car this weekend.

Two Great Tastes

Reese’s, a major associate sponsor of RCR’s No. 29 Chevrolet Impala SS, kicks into high gear this weekend in Atlanta as Harvick and the No. 29 team transform their bright yellow-and-red Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet into a bright orange Reese’s racing machine for the Kobalt Tools 500.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are peanut butter-filled chocolate cups.  They were created in 1928 by H.B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and foreman for Milton S. Hershey. 

The H.B. Reese Candy Co., established in the basement of Reese’s house in Hershey, Pa., went on to merge with The Hershey Company in 1963 due to the popularity of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Today, Reese’s has become the No. 1 selling candy bar in the United States and the Reese’s brand is the most successful brand owned by The Hershey Company.  

Stat Facts

In 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at NASCAR’s fastest track, Harvick has one win, two top-five and three top-10 finishes.  

First Win

AMS was the site of Harvick’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win.  He claimed the win by .006 second over Jeff Gordon, the third-closest margin of victory at Atlanta, on March 11, 2001. 

Points Check

After Sunday’s 12th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick jumps five point positions and now holds down the 11th spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers’ standings.

RCR in the ATL

In 99 starts at AMS, RCR has earned four poles and nine wins including Harvick’s emotional victory in the Cracker Barrel 500 on March 11, 2001. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won eight times at the ultra-fast Hampton, Ga., track.

Additionally, RCR boasts 25 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes at AMS. Meanwhile, RCR prepared race cars have also led 2,695 laps at the 1.54-mile quad-oval. Childress, a former driver on NASCAR’s senior circuit, recorded his best finish at Atlanta with a ninth-place effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on Nov. 2, 1980. 

Media Opportunity

Harvick will be available at the infield media center to field questions from the media Fri., March 6 at 10:30 a.m.  

Double Down in Atlanta

In addition to his driving duties with the No. 29 Reese’s Chevrolet, Harvick, a three-time race winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, will drive Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s No. 2 Charter Communications Chevrolet in the March 7 American Commercial Lines 200.

The race will air live on SPEED beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).  The race will also be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network (PRN) and Sirius Satellite Radio.  Qualifying for the event will air live on SPEED at 9:30 a.m. EST on Sat., March 7.

Reese’s Perfect Fan

Reese’s is conducting a contest to find the “Perfect Fan.” With two ways to enter (by phone and online), contestants tell what makes them the “Perfect” Kevin Harvick Fan for a chance to win the “Perfect Race Experience!”

Grand prize includes a trip for four to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a day at the races and a tour of the RCR shop. Visit www.reesesracing.com for more information.  Reese’s Perfect Fan contest ends March 31, 2009.

New Reese’s Racing Website

Fans are encouraged to check out the brand new ReesesRacing.com website. The site features lots of new downloads and photos of Harvick and the entire Reese’s No. 29 team. New video clips will be added soon.

Up to Speed

Live coverage of the Kobalt Tools 500 at AMS will take the green flag Sunday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will be telecast on FOX. The event will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. 

Qualifying for the fourth of 36 points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races will air live on SPEED, PRN and Sirius Satellite Radio Friday, March 6 at 6:45 p.m. EST. 

Kevin Harvick Quotes

RCR had three cars finish in the top-12 at Las Vegas. Going into Atlanta, what's the outlook for RCR overall and you specifically? 

“I think for us on our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet team. The first three weeks have been really pretty good.  We obviously finished second at Daytona.  We ran really well at California.  We had the problem there at the end of the race, but performance was good. 

"(Our) performance was good last week. (We) just kind of got caught there with the caution coming out while we were on pit road.  We were able to come back and finish 12th, (so it) wasn't a bad day. 

"Our cars have been performing well.  I was glad to see the other cars ran well this weekend.  So far, so good.  We ran well in both races last year at Atlanta.  (We’re) coming off a couple good weeks performance-wise, (so) I think we'll be okay."

You won this race eight years ago on a very emotional day for the entire RCR organization. It was your first Sprint Cup Series win as well. What do you remember about that day?

“I think for us it's obviously something that you can't do twice.  To win your first race is something that's pretty cool.  To do it in our third start, with everything that was going on, you can really look back on it now and reflect on those types of things. 

I don't remember a whole lot from that particular day.  There are just so many emotions that were running through my mind - good emotions, bad emotions, everything that was happening.  It was a little bit confusing, to be honest with you. 

Going back now, you look at where the sport was, everything that did for the sport, and the racing is always really good at Atlanta, so that's fun to be part of a finish like that. 

For several years it was kind of our Achilles' heel.  Then we came back last year and ran really well, so that felt good to run good at the race track where you got your first win.”

This is Atlanta Motor Speedway’s 50th anniversary. How would it feel to go into the record books, winning your second race on the speedway’s anniversary?

“I think they all go in the record books.  We've obviously started off the year with winning the Bud Shootout, ran great in the 500, had a decent week in California, and had a little problem there at the end.  We ran decent in Vegas. I think winning is around the corner for us. 

Obviously, we've done it already in the Shootout.  I think we just got to keep the consistency level.  If it's the 50th anniversary, that will make it even better.  It's good to win no matter what the anniversary is.”