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| Kevin Harvick wins 2016 fall Kansas race; he's 5/2 to win Saturday. |
The strong opening act prompted crew chief Rodney Childers to bring the car back to Charlotte the following weekend for the Coca-Cola 600, where Harvick used it to qualify eighth and finish second.
Its next race didn’t come until September at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the Southern 500. It inherited the pole when rain washed out qualifying, but Chassis No. 4-995 proved it belonged at the front, as Harvick led five times for a race-high 214 laps on his way to another second-place finish.
Its final start of 2016 came in October at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where it finally broke through to score a win. Harvick started 11th and led three times for 74 laps – including the final 30 – to earn his second NASCAR Cup Series win at Kansas and the 35th of his career.
Chassis No. 4-995’s first start of 2017 came in March at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Harvick started seventh but received damage to the nose of the car as the field stacked up in the bottom lane as the green flag waved. He rallied, nonetheless, finishing a respectable 13th.
Chassis No. 4-995 returned to action in May for a second run in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. It again proved fast at the 1.5-mile oval, winning the pole and leading three times for 45 laps before ultimately finishing eighth. It served as a backup for the remainder of 2017. Saturday night’s race at Kansas marks its seventh career start, it second at Kansas and first of 2018.
KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:
KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:
After nearly a month-long break from intermediate tracks, you return to one this weekend at Kansas. You said at Texas that you felt SHR and, specifically, your team had the best package for intermediate-style tracks. What are your expectations for Kansas as we race on it and then another batch of intermediates with Charlotte and Michigan coming up on the schedule?
“Our intermediates have been really good, and we’ve been good everywhere as a company. As you look at Kansas, in general, it’s been one of my best racetracks through the years. And since I’ve come to SHR, it’s probably been one of our top-two racetracks. It’s been a fun place to go to. I feel like we should’ve won more races there than we have, but I think you can say that at a lot of places, and sometimes the circumstances dictate that. I’m confident our Busch Light Ford will be fast. Anything less than a win there is usually a disappointment.”
It’s been almost six years since Kansas underwent a repave. How has the track evolved, and is it close to getting back to where it was before the repave?
“Kansas is one of our better repaves. Whatever the reason, it’s been a lot racier than a lot of the mile-and-a-half racetracks we’ve repaved. I don’t know if that’s because of the progressive banking or the preparation and time they take to prepare the track with the tire dragging, but it always widens out really well, and really has since the very beginning of the repave’s life.”
You’re back in Busch Light colors for Kansas, and we’ve seen the Busch brand really leverage its NASCAR initiatives between you, the Busch Guy and the Busch Pole Award (which you won at Talladega where everything came together as the Busch Guy presented you the Busch Pole Award while you ran a Busch Flannel paint scheme). Talk about the growth of this partnership and the value this kind of activation brings to the sport, as well as your role as the driver of the Busch Light Ford. “When you see a brand activating the way Busch is, it shows you the success of the program. Companies come in and activate and, when done well, it works really well for them. And with the Busch Pole Award, that’s just another sign of how strong the program is. Busch wants to stay involved in NASCAR and the Busch Pole Award is another platform to better leverage the car and the team and the brand.”
It’s Mother’s Day weekend, so after racing late on Saturday night you need to have a gameplan ready to go come Sunday morning for Mother’s Day. Whether it’s for your colleagues in the NASCAR garage who are juggling the same schedule as you, or for the guy who knows he has to deliver something nice for his mom and wife on Mother’s Day, what has worked best for you when it comes to delivering a successful Mother’s Day?
“A nice, hand-written card works well and, if you have kids, leave it to them to help you decide what you’re going to give Mom. They’ve got good insight.”
It’s been almost six years since Kansas underwent a repave. How has the track evolved, and is it close to getting back to where it was before the repave?
“Kansas is one of our better repaves. Whatever the reason, it’s been a lot racier than a lot of the mile-and-a-half racetracks we’ve repaved. I don’t know if that’s because of the progressive banking or the preparation and time they take to prepare the track with the tire dragging, but it always widens out really well, and really has since the very beginning of the repave’s life.”
You’re back in Busch Light colors for Kansas, and we’ve seen the Busch brand really leverage its NASCAR initiatives between you, the Busch Guy and the Busch Pole Award (which you won at Talladega where everything came together as the Busch Guy presented you the Busch Pole Award while you ran a Busch Flannel paint scheme). Talk about the growth of this partnership and the value this kind of activation brings to the sport, as well as your role as the driver of the Busch Light Ford. “When you see a brand activating the way Busch is, it shows you the success of the program. Companies come in and activate and, when done well, it works really well for them. And with the Busch Pole Award, that’s just another sign of how strong the program is. Busch wants to stay involved in NASCAR and the Busch Pole Award is another platform to better leverage the car and the team and the brand.”
It’s Mother’s Day weekend, so after racing late on Saturday night you need to have a gameplan ready to go come Sunday morning for Mother’s Day. Whether it’s for your colleagues in the NASCAR garage who are juggling the same schedule as you, or for the guy who knows he has to deliver something nice for his mom and wife on Mother’s Day, what has worked best for you when it comes to delivering a successful Mother’s Day?
“A nice, hand-written card works well and, if you have kids, leave it to them to help you decide what you’re going to give Mom. They’ve got good insight.”
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