Las Vegas Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event/Date:  Shelby 427 – March 1, 2009; Venue:  Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas

Notes

• This Week’s Race Car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 272 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This car, built new in 2009, has never been on a race track. The backup car is Chassis No. 261, the same backup the team used last week at Auto Club Speedway.
• Stat Facts … In 19 starts in NASCAR’s top-three divisions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), Harvick has one win, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.  In his Sprint Cup career at LVMS, Harvick has led 43 laps and completed all but five laps of competition in eight Sprint Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval.
• Points Check … Harvick dropped to 16th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings after his 38th-place finish last week at Auto Club Speedway.  
• All Good Things Must End … Last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Harvick recorded his first DNF (did not finish) in 82 races. Prior to that, his last DNF was at Dover in September 2006.  The Sprint Cup Series driver who now holds the longest current streak without a DNF is Harvick’s RCR teammate, Clint Bowyer, whose cars have been running at the end of 75 consecutive Sprint Cup Series events.
• RCR in Vegas … In 29 overall starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, RCR cars have earned four top-five and nine top-10 finishes with four different drivers – Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Mike Skinner. Harvick’s fourth-place run last March at LVMS is RCR’s best effort at the mile-and-a-half oval.
• Former Winner … Harvick is a former winner at LVMS, claiming victory in the 2004 NASCAR Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300.  
• Celebrate … Kevin and DeLana Harvick will celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary on Sat. Feb. 28. The couple got married in Las Vegas in 2001, two days prior to Harvick scoring his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series top-10 finish (eighth – Las Vegas Motor Speedway). The couple will celebrate by having dinner at the same local restaurant they visit each year, a tradition that began on their first anniversary.
• Wanna Bet … According to the Web site www.wsex.com (World Sports Exchange), Harvick is a 25:1 favorite to win the Shelby 427.  The 33-year-old driver’s odds to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship are listed at 30:1.    
• Double Down in Sin City … 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 Rheem Chevrolet in the Feb. 28  Sam’s Town 300.  The race will air live on ESPN2 beginning at 4 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 third of 35 races on the 2008 Nationwide Series calendar will air live the same day on SPEED at noon EST.  
• Oil Leak … Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines employees discovered a punctured oil filter on the engine of Harvick’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet after hard contact with the outside wall of Auto Club Speedway on lap 208. The filter was replaced and the engine restarted but the damage done to the car prevented the team from returning to the race. 
• Up to Speed … The Shelby 427 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will take the green flag Sunday, March 1 at 3:30 p.m. EST and will be telecast live on FOX.  The event will also be broadcast live on PRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.  Qualifying will air live on SPEED, PRN and Sirius Fri., Feb. 27 at 6:40 p.m. EST.  

Kevin Harvick Quotes

What are your thoughts on Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

“It used to be one of my favorite race tracks that we would go to. It’s kind of a high-banked, mile-and-a-half track. Now, it’s got some bumps in it, and you can move all over the place and make your car do some different things.

"When you get those newly-paved tracks and you go there the next year, things usually change drastically. I have a feeling that we’ll kind of have something that we don’t really expect in terms of grip levels being lower and maybe tires being a little bit different than what they were last year.

"We’ll see where the race track goes but, usually in the desert, the tracks go whatever way they’re going to go a lot faster.”

The goal of the changes made to the track was to improve the racing and the quality of the entertainment for the fans. Do you think the track succeeded in achieving its goal?

“I like the old configuration. I’m a flat track type of guy, though. The old configuration had kind of aged-in and the tires would fall off really fast and that’s usually when tracks get really good. Now, they’ve just kind of built one that’s like all the rest.”

Las Vegas is a gambling town and drivers are sometimes seen as being gamblers in some respects. Do you consider yourself a gambler?

“I think it all depends on the situation. I mean, we’ll gamble. We’ll definitely kind of take some chances here and there. As a driver, when you’re put in the right situation where you need to gamble, I’ll take a chance and do what I have to do to see how it all turns out.

"Usually, though, we like to get what we can out of the day. If you can put yourself in position to take those gambles, that usually means you’re doing something right. I’m not a huge gambler, but I will in the right situations.”

You’re celebrating your anniversary this weekend. What’s one of the things you remember most about your wedding day?

"It was a great day for DeLana and me, but I think it was a good day for a lot of the team, too. We had just lost (Dale) Earnhardt, and everyone was really hurting. I think the wedding gave all of us something positive to focus on, even if it was just for a few hours. Hopefully, it helped lighten the guys' hearts for a little while."