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Pre-Race Report: Texas Motor Speedway
Event/Date: Samsung 500 - April 5, 2009
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, Texas
Notes for the Race
This Week's Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway … Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 272 at Texas Motor Speedway. Built new for the 2009 season, Harvick drove this car to a top-five finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a 38th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
Stat Facts … In 12 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at TMS, Harvick has two top-five and four top-10
finishes. Over those same 12 races, the Bakersfield, Calif., native has completed all but nine laps of
competition.
Former Winner … Harvick is still searching for his first Sprint Cup Series win at Texas, but he's visited Victory
Lane at the Fort Worth track a number of times. In 2001, he drove RCR's No. 2 Nationwide Series entry to a win and then did the same in 2005, 2006 and 2007 behind the wheel of RCR'S No. 21 Chevy.
RCR at TMS … In 43 starts at TMS, dating back to 1997, RCR has recorded one win, five top-five and 16 top- 10 finishes with Harvick, Burton, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Green. Prior to TMS's inaugural season, Childress, a former driver in NASCAR's top division, earned a pair of top 10s while he was still behind the wheel at the now defunct Texas World Speedway in College Station.
Points Check … Harvick moved up two spots after his11th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway and now sits
10th in the Sprint Cup Series drivers' point standings after six events.
Houston … Before heading to Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick will make a stop in Houston to participate in activities surrounding the Shell Houston Open PGA TOUR event. Harvick's sponsor, Shell, has sponsored the event since 1992 and in those 18 years, the Shell Houston Open and its related activities have donated over $45 million in support of local children's charities.
First, Harvick will visit Fall Creek Elementary School to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new school park in coordination with SPARK - the School Park Program, a non-profit organization operating out of the City of Houston Mayor's office.
Developed in 1983 as a way to increase park space in Houston, Texas, SPARK develops public school grounds into neighborhood parks. SPARK combines the resources of the Department of Housing and Community Development, seven local school districts, Harris County, the private sector, neighborhood group, PTA/PTO groups and concerned citizens.
Shell has been instrumental in securing the partnership between Fall Creek Elementary and SPARK. Funds from the Shell Houston Open and Shell's Environmental initiatives were provided to SPARK to allocate to this school park. During the groundbreaking, Shell volunteers will be on site to plant trees.
Harvick then heads to Redstone Golf Club, site of the Shell Houston Open, to meet Shell VIP's and cheer on several members of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil pit crew. Jackman Nick Terry, front tire changer Jason Pulver, front tire carrier Austin Craven and rear tire carrier Matt Kreuter will all play in the Shell Houston Open Grand Pro-Am event on Wed., April 1.
Taking a Break … For the first time this season, Harvick will not be pulling double duty on a NASCAR weekend. In addition to his duties in the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Harvick has driven in either a NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race for his own team, Kevin Harvick, Inc., during each of the circuit's previous six stops. This weekend, the KHI-owned entry will be driven by Tony Stewart in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at TMS.
Meet the Press … Harvick will be available to field questions from media at the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet hauler Fri., April 3 at 11:25 CDT.
Up to Speed … Flag-to-flag coverage of the Samsung 500 will begin Sun., April 5 beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Eastern Daylight Time. The race will be televised live on FOX and broadcast on the Performance
Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the seventh points-paying race on the 2009
schedule for NASCAR's senior division will be telecast on SPEED Fri., April 3 beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
Kevin Harvick Quotes
What are your thoughts on Texas Motor Speedway?
"We've had a lot of success in the Nationwide car and decent runs in the Shell-Pennzoil Cup car and, with it being Shell's home state, it would be nice to get a win there, for sure."
It's a very fast track. Is it difficult to pass there?
"Texas is a really fast track. Turn 2 is probably the toughest part. You wind up getting a little bit tight up off the corners because the transition flattens out really fast there, so that's kind of the passing spot. If you can keep your car turning right there you can get up underneath somebody and get a good run down the back straightaway.
"It depends on where the groove goes. Sometimes, I've been there and it's moved up a little bit where you can move around the racetrack and make your car work up there. For the most part, the car that wins will probably be on the bottom."
Is it similar to Las Vegas and Lowe's Motor Speedway, in terms of the asphalt getting older and the racing grooves widening out?
"I think it's better than Vegas and Charlotte in that respect. At Vegas and Charlotte you can move up to the top groove, but the asphalt's a little bit more aged at Texas so it doesn't have that 'super grip.' It's not on that razor's edge like Charlotte and Vegas are, so it's seasoned well enough to where you can wear the tires out and you have a good feel for the race car. You know when it's getting sideways and you can kind of keep up with everything."