Kevin Harvick using same Michigan chassis from June race

Harvick's chassis this week has won three poles.

Chassis No. 4-929: 

Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Busch Light/Mobil 1 Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-929 in the Consumers Energy 400 Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Built new in 2016, Chassis No. 4-929 made its debut at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October, when it won the pole with lap of 27.547 seconds at 196.029 mph, led 12 laps in the race, but failed to finish due to a mechanical issue. It made its second appearance in the 2016 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where it won a second consecutive pole with a lap of 30.399 seconds at 177.637 mph. In 2017, Chassis 4-929 made five starts, scoring one pole, two top-five finishes, three top-10s and a lowest finish of 14th at Michigan in June. It won its third consecutive pole with a lap of 29.118 seconds at 190.398 mph in the final round of qualifying in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where it dominated the majority of the race, leading 292 of 325 laps before suffering a pit-road penalty that led to a ninth-place finish. It started ninth and finished fourth in the 2017 season finale at Homestead. Its first appearance of 2018, Harvick started 10th and finished 35th at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California after an early race incident with Kyle Larson resulted in extensive damage. In its most recent appearance came at Michigan in June, where Harvick started second, led 49 laps and finished runner-up to teammate Clint Bowyer in a rain-shortened event.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light/Mobil 1 Ford Fusion: 

What does it take to have a good finish at Michigan? 

“How you finish at Michigan depends on how your day is going. If you’re having a good day, it’s not really hard to tell your guys what you need and everyone is in a good mood. If you’re having a bad day, you can get behind at Michigan really fast. Usually, when you’re hooked up at Michigan, the leaders have clean air and move through traffic pretty well. But, if you’re in the middle of the pack, you find yourself getting behind and going a lap down pretty quickly. You’re going to end up with a green-flag pit stop and a whole bunch of green-flag laps. You just have to be going from the time the green flag drops and keep yourself in position at the end.” 

Do you enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway? 

“I think we’ve finished really well there over the last couple of years and scored a lot of second-place finishes and top-fives. I learned a long time ago that sometimes those things happen, so it’s better to be on a top-five streak than a 10th -place streak. The good thing about the racetrack is that it has definitely aged and the groove has spread out over the last couple of races, so you have a lot more options than you did a few years ago when they repaved it. Every time we go back there, it gets a little more racey. When we go back this time, there should be lots of room to race and you’ll see lots of speed. As we go through the restarts and traffic and different things, we’ll have to see how it all goes, but it should be interesting.”

Kevin Harvick using dominant Las Vegas chassis this week at Pocono

Kevin Harvick is the 5/2 co-favorite to win at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.

Chassis No. 4-1041: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-1041 in the Gander Outdoors 400 Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Built new in 2017, Chassis No. 4-1041 made its debut at Pocono in June, when it started 12th and finished second to race winner Ryan Blaney by .139 of a second. It made its second appearance in July at Pocono, where Harvick started sixth and finished runner-up to Kyle Busch by 6.178 seconds. It made its final appearance of 2017 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October, when Harvick started third, led a race-high 149 laps and finished third. The chassis visited victory lane in its first start of 2018 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, when Harvick started second and dominated by leading 214 of 267 laps and finishing 2.906 seconds ahead of runner-up Busch. In its most recent appearance Chassis No. 4-1041 started second, led 89 laps and finished fourth at Pocono in June.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

What are your thoughts on heading to Pocono this week? 

“As we go to Pocono, we obviously want to win there, especially since its one of the two tracks we haven’t won at. I know that Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and the organization itself has put a lot of effort into this particular weekend trying to get to victory lane and take that race off the list. It’s a place I enjoy going – not so much the place I enjoyed going in my previous life before I came to Stewart-Haas Racing. It was never a track we ran very well at, but we’ve come to find out that if you have the cars where they need to be and the people around you, things are much different. So, Pocono is a place that I’ve learned to enjoy more than I did in my previous life at RCR.” 

The group at Pocono has done so much to improve the infrastructure and fan experience. What does that mean for the racetrack? 

“Well, people see effort. When you go to Pocono, you see effort from the time you turn into the tunnel and see the waterfall – going through the tunnel to the guardrails all the way to the campgrounds. Everything there has been in a transition. You feel like you’re having more fun when you go to Pocono now than you did, say, six or seven years ago.”

Kevin Harvick using winning Atlanta chassis in Coca-Cola 600

Kevin Harvick is 9/5 to win at Charlotte Sunday.

Chassis No. 4-1038: 

Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Mobil 1/Busch Beer Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-1038 in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Built new in 2017, Chassis No. 4-1038 made its NASCAR Cup Series debut in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Harvick won the pole with a lap of 27.217 seconds at 198.405 mph. He went on to lead 77 laps and secure a fourth-place finish. In its start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in June, Harvick started 18th and finished ninth. At Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Harvick won the pole with a lap of 27.669 seconds at 177.730 mph. He went on to lead 22 laps and scored a ninth-place result, finishing the race one lap down. At the fall Dover race, Harvick started ninth and finished 17th. In its final start of 2017, Harvick started third, led 38 laps en route to his first-ever Cup Series win at Texas, where he beat 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. by 1.580 seconds. In its only start of 2018, Harvick dominated at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, where he started third and led 181 of the 325 lap event and crossed the finish line 2.690 seconds ahead of runner-up Brad Keselowski.

Charlotte Notes of Interest:

 Dynamic Duo: While this is Harvick’s 18th year in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s only his fifth with crew chief Rodney Childers. Since joining forces at SHR in 2014, Harvick and Childers have combined to produce 19 victories, 17 poles, 77 top-five finishes and 108 top-10s while leading 7,485 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017. The team has qualified for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway three of the last four seasons. 

 Back-To-Back – Harvick is coming off consecutive points-paying wins at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. He first scored back-to-back wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and made it three wins in a row the following week when he reached victory lane at ISM Raceway near Phoenix. 

 Three-Peat Notes – Harvick’s three consecutive wins at Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix marked only the 24th time in NASCAR’s modern era (1972 to present) that a driver won three consecutive races. In nine of the 23 previous times a driver won three consecutive races in a season, that driver has gone on to win the championship. Prior to Harvick’s three-peat, Kyle Busch was the most recent driver to win three in a row – in 2015, when he went on to score his first and, so far, only championship. Ironically, Busch has also won three straight races this season – April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, April 16 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, and April 21 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. Dale Earnhardt Sr. is the last driver to win three consecutive points-paying races in a row twice in one season, when he accomplished the feat in 1987. 

 DYK? Seven of the last 15 NASCAR Cup Series races have been won by a driver over 40 years old. Harvick, age 42, is responsible for six of those victories.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1/Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule. How do you manage that extra 100 miles on the engine? 

“It definitely throws a kink into things because you wind up with fewer practice laps. This comes from the engine department, because this year you have to run your engines twice and you have to take care of them as much as you can. There’s also been a much bigger interest in where you shift and the temperatures during practice. So from that standpoint, that’s where you see the extra 100 miles in the race that makes a difference. It’s always an interesting weekend to be able to practice enough to still run the same tolerances with engines being pushed for 600 miles instead of 500, and you get there by taking that time out of practice.” 

Is the Coca-Cola 600 more physically or mentally challenging? 

“It just depends on how hot it is, honestly. If it’s a good weekend and the weather is nice, then it’s more mentally challenging than physically challenging. Either way, it’s still challenging both mentally and physically in some way, shape or form. The hardest part mentally is just getting yourself to overcome those last hundred miles because you are used to the 400- or 500-mile races.” 

You have an added advantage with Mobil 1 as a sponsor. It’s more than a sponsor, with its technology directly benefiting how you perform on the racetrack. How advantageous has this relationship with Mobil 1 been since you joined SHR in 2014? 

“It was really mind-blowing when I first came to Stewart-Haas Racing. Every time we went to qualify, we really didn’t do anything different from the driver’s seat, but we’d always pick up a tenth-and-a-half or two-tenths of a second, and it literally came down to the oils in the engine, the oil in the transmission, the oil in the rear gear and the things they did from a lubricant standpoint – those were the biggest changes we made to the car before we would go and qualify. So, when you see that level of technology and commitment to the things that go in your car, every piece of it adds up to a pretty big chunk of speed. It’s pretty remarkable.” 

You’ve had quite a start to the season with five wins in 12 races. What has led to this kind of performance? 

“I would just point at the experience of the race team because of the fact this is our fifth year together. We’ve been through a lot of very high-pressure situations, low-pressure situations, good moments, bad moments. And everybody just gets along so well on our race team and, when you look at that as a group, it’s something that’s pretty special. I think the second thing is the fact that Ford has brought a lot to the table for our race team. It’s allowed us to expand our engineering staff over the first winter and really just brought resources to our team. So, when you add all those pieces to the puzzle up and look at the experience of the race team and you look at the partnerships we have with Ford and Mobil 1 and all the support we have from our ownership group to let us go out and explore and do the things and take the chance of switching to a different manufacturer and take the chance of bringing things into our own house and controlling more of our own parts and pieces, those things all added up.” 

What does it mean to honor and remember a military member on your No. 4 Mobil 1/Busch Beer Ford Fusion this Memorial Day weekend?
“There isn’t any sport that honors the military any better than NASCAR. I know a lot of sports do a lot of things for our military but, when you roll into this particular weekend with the Coke 600 and you are a part of the celebration and remembrance for all the things that have happened with our military, to see the support that NASCAR and everybody in our garage gives the military, especially on this particular weekend, is something that gives you goosebumps. We are honored to carry the names on our cars.”

Kevin Harvick using two-time winning chassis at Martinsville

Kevin Harvick is 12/1 to win at Martinsville Sunday.

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-843: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-843 in the Martinsville 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-843 won two races, two pole positions and led 748 laps in its first season. Harvick won the pole and led 238 laps en route to winning the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. At Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Harvick won the pole, led 223 laps and finished 13th. The final race of 2014 for Chassis No. 4-843 was perhaps the most impressive as it started third and led 264 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix in November. In its three starts of 2015, Harvick started and finished second and led 116 of 325 laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and started eighth, led 26 laps and finished ninth in the Coca-Cola 600. At Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Harvick started second, led three laps and finished 42nd after an engine failure. Its most recent appearance came at Richmond in September 2015, where Harvick finished 14th. Since 2015, chassis 4-843 has served as a backup 18 times, but has not seen race action.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

Where do you want to be at Martinsville to help you avoid trouble on the racetrack? 

“I think the best position to be in at any racetrack is in the lead. You want to be in control of the race and try to get yourself in a position to where you can have a good, clean restart and have as much clear track – especially at Martinsville – just for the fact that there is so much pushing and shoving on the restarts to get to the bottom lane that you want to try to be as far forward as possible.” 

When you think of Martinsville, what comes to mind? 

“Some guys just have a knack for Martinsville. There are some weekends when I show up and I feel good about where I’m at and some weekends I just feel like I’ve never been there before. You look at this little bitty racetrack and you think it would be so simple, and you go out there and it becomes so hard. We had a decent finish there last time. We finished fifth and ended up on a flatbed – we couldn’t get it on the truck. We were backwards crossing the start-finish line with the tires smoking. There’s nothing better than that, though. At least you finish the race.”

Kevin Harvick using brand new chassis for Phoenix

Kevin Harvick (9/4 odds) was fastest in both Saturday Phoenix practices.

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-021: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-021 Sunday in the TicketGuardian 500k at ISM Raceway near Phoenix. Built new in 2018, Chassis No. 4-021 will make its debut this weekend. 

TicketGuardian 500k Notes of Interest: 

 Freaky Fast Since 2014: Harvick is in his 18th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and his fifth at StewartHaas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. Since joining forces, Harvick and Childers combined to produce 16 victories, 15 poles, 70 top-five finishes and 100 top-10s; led 7,060 laps; won the 2014 Cup Series title; finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch, eighth in 2016 and third in 2017. The team qualified for the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway three of the last four seasons. 

 Points Position: Harvick arrives at Phoenix ranked first in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 135 points after back-to-back wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Playoff Qualifier: Harvick qualified for the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his back-to-back wins at Atlanta and Las Vegas. He will enter the playoffs with a minimum of 13 playoff points. He gained five playoff points for each of his two wins and picked up three additional points for one stage win at Atlanta and two at Las Vegas. 

 100 and Counting: Harvick scored his 100th career win in NASCAR’s top three series when he won Sunday’s Cup Series race at Las Vegas. He has 39 Cup Series wins, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Camping World Truck Series. Harvick and Childers also have 100 top-10s since they joined forces in 2014.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. talked on pit road after Las Vegas about how you looked like did in 2014, and Truex said, “There goes Kevin Harvick off in his own ZIP code again.” Does it really feel that way, or has so much changed in that time, is it difficult to compare? 

“For me, there were a lot of questions coming into the weekend. I think Atlanta is its own beast, but I think we answered a lot of those questions for ourselves. And now it’s about navigating the rest of it, and how do you push yourself forward, what do you need to work on, even though things are going good. Sometimes you have to trick yourself and everybody else into thinking, ‘OK, well, everything is going good.’ Well, I can promise you that the 78, the 18, the 2, the 22, everybody is going to work, and they’re going to get better. I mean, we did that last year. We’ve been in this position before, and you have to keep pushing forward to try to keep your advantage of things that are working well for you, but you also have to find out what your weaknesses are. This weekend, we’re going to a flat track, and we didn’t run well there in the spring. We ran better in the fall but not like we expect to run. So that’s an important playoff race. So we have to figure out how to motivate everybody to keep pushing forward, to not sit idle in the things that we’re doing, and become complacent in the things that you’re doing because it’s good enough right now but it won’t be when you get to summertime.” 

Does your car feel that much better than it did near the end of last year? 

“You’ve got to remember, at the end of last year, our car was as competitive as anybody. We drove to victory lane there at Texas and led the most laps and won both stages and just had some things not work out for us at Charlotte. So, the mile-and-a-half stuff has been on point since we got to Chicago last year. I think as you have the whole winter to step back, take a deep breath and work on some things, I think as you look at everything that’s changed, it’s obviously not hurt us as much as it hurt some other people. There’s still a lot of racing left to go. But it’s good to have momentum. It’s good to have things going early. It’s good to score playoff points because we saw how important they were last year for the 78, and you want to, when things are going good, you need to hammer it home. You need to capitalize on it. You need to win stages because there will be a point where you go through that lull where somebody else is hot, and you hope that your hot streak is longer than theirs so you can score more points and put yourself in a better position for the playoff points than anybody else.” 

You just scored your 100th win in NASCAR’s top three series and your next Cup Series win will be your 40th, tying you with Mark Martin for 18th on the all-time list. What do those accomplishments mean to you? 

“I think any place you get on the list at this particular point, for me, I just kind of laugh, just because of the fact that I don’t think you ever really – I never really thought that I would actually – get to the point of putting yourself beside Mark Martin and some of the guys who are on that part of the list. I think as you look at the last five years and you look at the wins and the championship and the way that things have gone, it’s really kind of rejuvenated everything that I’ve done and the way I feel about coming to the racetrack. You feel obligated to be a part of it during the week and try to put in the maximum amount of effort because (crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and (race engineer) Dax (Gerringer) and the engineers and everybody who’s working at the shop, they’re digging, and they’re not worried about where you’re at on the list. That, for me, is a good thing because it’s really week-to-week. They’ll go home and we probably won’t ever talk about what we did at Vegas until we come back to Vegas. It’s all about Phoenix this week and what we’re going to do and what we did wrong and what we did right at the fall race and where we’re at with the cars at this particular point and what do we need to work on and how do we need to work on things. Then we’ll fly home and have a good time and talk about how the weekend went. There are always things you can make better. There’s really no time to sit and reminisce about where you’re at on a list because, when things are like this, you want to capitalize on them and you want to capitalize on your cars and your people and your enthusiasm and the momentum and all the things that come with that. So, you’re almost scared to even really step back and say, we did this or we did that, and your name is on the list here. It’s just, ‘How do we keep doing this?’,And, ‘Let’s just keep pushing things forward and try not to stumble along the way and screw up what’s going on.’ To me, it feels a lot like 2014, except now you’ve got a team with five years of experience, and that’s pretty scary.”

Kevin Harvick Las Vegas chassis 3-for-3 in top-fives

Harvick's Vegas chassis in 2017: 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd. Pretty good stuff.

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-1041:

Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-1041 Sunday in the Las Vegas 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Built new in 2017, Chassis No. 4-1041 made its debut at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, when it started 12th and finished second to race-winner Ryan Blaney by .139 of a second. It made its second appearance in July at Pocono, where Harvick started sixth and finished runner-up to Kyle Busch by 6.178 seconds. It made its final appearance of 2017 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October, where Harvick started third, led a race-high 149 laps and finished third.


KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

What’s it like to sit here with 99 wins in NASCAR’s top three series and to be chasing win No. 100? “It’s crazy that you can sit here and think that I’ve won 99 races in NASCAR’s top three series. I’m honored to say that I’ve gone to victory lane – ever. To be able to live out and get paid to do what you used to do for a hobby and now call it your job is pretty incredible. For me, it’s really taken up until I went to Stewart-Haas Racing to have an appreciation of how much you actually love sitting in this racecar. I am so lucky to be able to do what I do, drive around in circles, travel to all these places – there really isn’t ever a day that my job isn’t fun. To be able to have won that many races with some great people at different teams and different racetracks is something I really don’t ever think about it. I don’t ever look at stats a lot. I like to look at stats, but I like to look at everybody else’s stats when I’m doing the TV stuff. For me, it’s my job. It’s what I do. We’ve been fortunate to have so much success at it.” 

What was it like to have all four Stewart-Haas Racing cars perform well at Atlanta? 

“Everybody was really pleased with the performance at the first 1.5-mile race. The thing I took away from it was the No. 10 car and Aric Almirola were more competitive for us and that is important for us to have that extra set of notes that we really hadn’t used the last several years because that car hasn’t performed well enough. It hasn’t been competitive enough to really bring anything to the table. To see that No. 10 car running well is great for myself, Kurt (Busch) and Clint (Bowyer) and, really, everybody at SHR. To see Kurt up there leading laps. To see (No. 10 car crew chief) Billy Scott with a car up there that was winning the race with Kurt driving it had to be great confidence for him and his abilities. It was a great first weekend on the 1.5-mile tracks for SHR.” 

Compare Atlanta to Las Vegas. 

“The size of the racetrack is about the only similarity. Atlanta is so worn out and the surface is so abrasive. You go to Las Vegas and it’s newer and doesn’t have those huge rocks in the surface that wears the tires out. Las Vegas does still wear the tires out and you’ll have quite a bit of fall-off, but there is a really, really high pace. The hardest thing about that pace is the bumps in the middle of turns one and two on the bottom of the track. A lot of the guys will run the middle of the racetrack as the weekend goes on, and the groove will move all the way up against the wall. The other thing we’ll have to deal with is 20- to 25-mph winds at Las Vegas. A couple of years ago, we were in the middle of a sandstorm there at the beginning of the race. Vegas is really fast, and we deal with some fall-off, but we still carry a lot of speed.”

Kevin Harvick using winning Texas chassis at Atlanta

Kevin Harvick is a 9/2 co-favorite to win at Atlanta. 

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-1038: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-1038 in the Folds of Honor 500 Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Built new in 2017, Chassis No. 4-1038 made its NASCAR Cup Series debut in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Harvick won the pole with a lap of 27.217 seconds at 198.405 mph. He went on to lead 77 laps and secure a fourth-place finish. In its start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in June, Harvick started 18th and finished ninth. At Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Harvick won the pole with a lap of 27.669 seconds at 177.730 mph. He went on to lead 22 laps and scored a ninth-place result, finishing the race one lap down. At Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Harvick started ninth and finished 17th. In its final start of 2017, Harvick started third, led 38 laps en route to his first-ever Cup Series win at Texas, where he beat 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. by 1.580 seconds.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

You’ve led 100 or more laps in five of your last six races at Atlanta. Talk about that. 

“It’s been a really good racetrack to us to be able to lead a lot of laps. We’ve won some Xfinity and Truck races there and we’ve dominated a lot of the Cup races and just haven’t gone to victory lane enough. So, it’s just one of those places where we went to a tire test there in 2008 and figured some things out and nothing’s really changed since then. A lot of the same techniques, cracks and crevices are still there. Last time, we saw some of the racing lanes move up the racetrack, but it’s a great place to race. I love going to Atlanta and I hope the nice warm weather this weekend brings a lot of race fans to Atlanta.” 

You dominated last year and came up short in the end. What makes Atlanta such a fun place to race? 

“I led 292 laps last year at Atlanta and screwed it up with a speeding penalty at the end of the race. But, I think if you would talk to the garage in general, this is one of the drivers’ favorite tracks. I think the reason it is considered one of the favorite tracks on the circuit is that the tires wear out so fast, cars slide around and you just have to do so much behind the wheel to be able to make your car go around the corner all day. It’s a very fun place to race but, for me, it’s been a very frustrating place to race because we’ve run so well through the years there and only been to victory lane one time – and that was my very first time. It’s a place we want to go to and run well and hopefully they keep putting a lot of patches down – a lot of patches. Anybody from a fan standpoint or a driver standpoint, feel free to find Marcus Smith on Twitter and tell him how great the old asphalt is and do not repave the racetrack. The campaign has begun – do not repave Atlanta.” 

What do you like about the Atlanta Motor Speedway layout? 

“I just love the abrasiveness of the racetrack. It still has a lot of speed for the first three or four laps, but then it has a lot of fall-off and a lot of bumps that give it character. As a driver, you just love the challenge that comes with racing at Atlanta. This is always one that I circle on my calendar as a favorite and I look forward to racing in Atlanta this weekend.” 

At some point in time, if they have to repave, do you keep the same configuration or change it up a bit? 

“I have told Ed Clarke this – he is the president of Atlanta Motor Speedway – I’ve told him face-to-face that if you repave Atlanta Motor Speedway, and you can remember back to the last time they repaved and gave it its current configuration, just how fast it was. Atlanta is just one of those racetracks where the banking is just really smooth getting into the corner and the transitions are really smooth off of the corner, the exits open up really nice – you can just carry a ton of speed. For me, that is not exactly what we need more of. If you’re going to redo the racetrack and you just have to repave it – and the only way I would repave it is if you can’t dry it like we had at Texas a few years back. I would do everything that I could not to repave it because of the fact it’s just a great place to drive and the competitors love it. I would definitely try to reconfigure it in some way, shape or form if you did have to repave it. I told Ed that, if it was me, I would just move the backstretch in a whole bunch and go back to the original tighter corners they used to have. If you’re going to go through the whole repaving process, have an open mind and the ability to have some ownership where they’ve redone their corners and some of their racetracks with the banking. They’re obviously willing to change things and make them different. There is no way I would just repave it in the current configuration because it would be lightning fast.” 

What’s it like to be back at the site of your first NASCAR Cup Series win? 

“You can’t ever win the first one twice. To come back here and know everything that was attached to that first win is something you look back on and realize the magnitude of the situation. I guess the second thing is, I can’t believe we haven’t won there since. It’s definitely one of my favorite racetracks and we’ve led a ton of laps there. For whatever reason, on Sundays, we haven’t been able to put the finishing touches on it. Fridays and Saturdays in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series, we’ve won a ton of races but, hopefully, we can end that Cup Series streak this weekend. I’m looking forward to having Folds of Honor there this weekend. They’re a big part of all the sponsors on our car and I would call Major Dan a good friend. He participates a lot in the activities we do. Usually, for whatever reason, when we’re around Major Dan, we’ve had a lot of success over the next weekend’s race so, hopefully, we can go to victory lane and have someone from the Folds of Honor hand us that trophy.”

Kevin Harvick using winning Bristol chassis in Food City 500

Kevin Harvick is 7/1 to win Food City 500.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What did you take away from your win last August at Bristol? 

“For me, I was excited that you were able to use the bottom of the racetrack, and the lap cars had an option. You just didn't get pinned up high. Really just want to applaud the racetrack for the effort that they made to really get that bottom groove working so that we had multiple grooves of racing, and I think as a driver you had a lot of options to make your car work and maneuver through traffic and make up positions. We started 24th and pretty much drove through the field because of that.” 

What did you think of Bristol Motor Speedway adding VHT resin to the racetrack last year to make the racing groove better? 

“Taking a chance like that, it could have been a complete disaster, but everybody was all in on trying to make the racing better. The SMI group has a little bit of an advantage on everybody else when it comes to those types of situations with their drag race side of things and the VHT and how to apply those things. How to rubber it in with all their concrete launch pads, so they had a pretty good insight on what they needed to do to the bottom after the driver council and NASCAR got together and told them what we thought we needed to do to try to make better racing at Bristol. So they were all in. This is just a classic example of collaboration between SMI, NASCAR and the driver council and seeing the outcome of it was pretty exciting, just because of the fact it does open up options. I think it definitely has opened everybody's eyes to saying, all right, that worked pretty darned good because the last few years we'd been there, you get on the bottom of the racetrack and you are three or four tenths slower. Now you could hold your ground and get past lapped cars. It gave everybody an option to do something different, and as a driver, that's what you want. You want options.”

Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-884: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion built on Chassis No. 4-884 in the Food City 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-884 made its debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where it won the pole, led 12 laps and finished eighth. It also won the pole in its second appearance at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August, when it led 195 laps and finished 19th. It won its third appearance at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October, when it started seventh and led 162 laps. He won his last outing in Chassis 4-884, when he beat runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to the finish line by 1.933 seconds in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Bristol Night Race in August 2016. It has scored two wins, six top-two finishes, seven top-fives and nine top-10s in 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts.

Jimmy John’s Racing Team Report – Bristol Motor Speedway Notes of Interest:

 Freaky Fast Since 2014: Harvick enters his 17th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and his fourth at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In their first three seasons together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce 12 victories, 11 poles, 54 top-five finishes and 75 top-10s; led 5,815 laps; won the 2014 Cup Series title; finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch and eighth in 2016.

 Points Position: Harvick arrives at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway ranked 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 198 points after a fourth-place finish Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. He trails leader Kyle Larson by 117 points. Harvick also has scored three playoff points for stage wins.

 Lap Leader: Through the first seven NASCAR Cup Series events of 2017, Harvick has been at the front of the field more than any other driver with 419 of 2,142 laps led. That’s nearly 20 percent of the total laps contested. He holds a six-lap advantage over Kyle Busch’s 413 laps led.

 Pole Position: Harvick has won two poles through the first seven events of 2017. He scored his first of the year March 3 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lap of 29.118 seconds at 190.398 mph in the third round of knockout qualifying. He won his second pole of the season April 7 at Texas with a lap of 27.217 seconds at 198.405 mph in the third round of knockout qualifying. Coincidentally, they are also the only two races of the season that Harvick ran both the Xfinity and Cup Series races in the same weekend. He has won 13 of his 18 career NASCAR Cup Series poles since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

 Harvick in the NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol: The Food City 500 will mark Harvick’s 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol. Harvick has two wins (April 2005, August 2016), one pole (August 2014), 11 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s at the half-mile oval. He has led 862 laps, has an average starting position of 16.6, an average finish of 13.9, and has completed 97.7 percent (15,657 of 16,027) of the laps he’s contested there.

- True Speed Communication

Kevin Harvick using All-Star chassis for Coca-Cola 600

Kevin harvick is 6/1 to win his fourth Charlotte Cup race Sunday.

Chassis Information: 

Chassis No. 4-995: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-995 in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Built new in 2016, Chassis No. 4-995 made its Sprint Cup debut Saturday night in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. Harvick started first, led 21 laps in the first segment and overcame a mechanical issue related to the car’s steering to finish 11th . Coca-Cola 600 

Notes of Interest:  

Earning It Since 2014: Harvick is in his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and his third at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In their first two seasons together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce eight victories, nine poles, 37 top-five finishes and 48 top-10s; led 4,431 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch.  

2016 Race Winner: Harvick is one of six Sprint Cup winners through the first nine races of 2016. He scored his lone win of the season March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway in one of the closest finishes in series history, when he beat runner-up Carl Edwards to the finish line by .01 of a second. The win should secure Harvick a spot in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.  

All-Star Results: Harvick started from the first position after rain forced the cancellation of qualifying at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon. He jumped out to an early lead and led 21 of the first 25 laps before a mechanical issue related to the car’s steering caused Harvick to finish 11th . – more – Jimmy John’s Racing Team Report – Charlotte Page Two  

Points Position: Harvick scored a 15th -place finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in the most recent points-paying Sprint Cup race to hold his lead in the Sprint Cup point standings. He now leads second-place Kyle Busch by 21 points heading into the Coca-Cola 600.  

2016 Loop Leader: According to NASCAR Stats and Information, Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in 2016 in points (418), driver rating (116.2), average finish (7.6), average running position (6.136), laps led (688), percentage of laps led (17.6), fastest laps run (516), percentage of fastest laps run (110.3), miles led (860.73), laps run on the lead lap (3,880), percentage of laps run on the lead lap (99.39), laps in the top-15 (3,669) and percentage of laps in the top-15 (94.0). He ranks second in bonus points (17), top-five finishes (five), top- 10 finishes (nine) and laps completed (3,903). He also ranks fourth in quality passes (992). 

9,000 Laps Led and Counting: Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career. He is one of only five active Sprint Cup drivers to lead more than 9,000 laps. The others are Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Busch and Matt Kenseth. After leading 117 laps at Dover, Harvick now sits at 9,545 laps led for his Sprint Cup career.  

Leading Laps: Harvick has led a series-best 688 laps through the first 12 points-paying races of 2016. The Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City are the only two races of 2016 in which Harvick did not lead at least one lap.  

Harvick in the Coca-Cola 600: Harvick will make his 16th Coca-Cola 600 start Sunday. In 15 previous Coca-Cola 600 starts, Harvick has two wins (2011 and 2013), four top-five finishes, six top-10s and has led 159 laps. He finished second in his first attempt in 2001, but didn’t record another top-five finish until he won the 2011 race. Since 2011, Harvick has two wins, a second-place finish (2014), an eighth-place finish (2012) and a ninth-place finish (2015).  

Harvick at Charlotte since Joining SHR: Harvick has four Sprint Cup points-paying starts at Charlotte and three non-points starts in the Sprint All-Star Race since joining SHR at the beginning of the 2014 season. He has scored runner-up finishes in his last two appearances in the non-points-paying All-Star Race and finished 11th last weekend. Harvick has one win, two second-place finishes and a ninth-place finish in his four points-paying starts since joining SHR. His lone win came in the Bank of America 500 in October 2014, when he started seventh, led 162 laps and beat Jeff Gordon to the finish line by.571 of a second. He finished runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in May 2014 and Joey Logano in October 2015.  

Harvick at Charlotte in the Xfinity Series: Harvick has 26 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He has three poles (May 2001, May and October 2003), seven top-fives, 16 top-10s, and has led 293 laps with an average finish of 10.8. He has also scored top-fives in five of his last six Xfinity starts at Charlotte. His best Xfinity finish at Charlotte was second in October 2012, when he took the checkered flag 2.760 seconds behind race-winner Joey Logano.  

Harvick at Charlotte in the Camping World Truck Series: Harvick has three starts at Charlotte in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started third, led 70 of 136 laps and finished fifth in his first start in May 2003. He started sixth and finished fourth in May 2004. In his most recent Truck Series start at Charlotte in May 2007, Harvick started 24th and finished 28th after he suffered a mechanical issue.  

Career Totals: Harvick has 32 wins, 142 top-five finishes and 266 top-10s in 550 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Saturday night’s All-Star Race.

Kevin Harvick using winning Dover chassis from last fall

Kevin Harvick is 6/1 to win at Dover on Sunday.

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 10, 2016) – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race as the defending race winner at the concrete mile oval, but he’s still chasing perfection.

Harvick arrived at Dover last October ranked 15th in points after issues at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon placed him in a “must-win” situation to advance to the Round of 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

The odds were long as Harvick had never made a trip to victory lane in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover.

With his back against the wall, he went on to deliver the most dominant performance of his Sprint Cup career. He started 15th after rain cancelled qualifying Friday afternoon, but he quickly raced his way to the front and led 355 of 400 laps to beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish line by 2.639 seconds.

According to NASCAR Stats and Information, he registered a 149.7 driver rating out of a possible 150.0, narrowly missing his fourth perfect driver rating in a Sprint Cup race. He previously registered perfect 150.0 driver ratings at Phoenix International Raceway on three occasions – November 2006 and 2014, and March 2015.

Harvick’s Sprint Cup win last October was his first at the Monster Mile, but the Bakersfield, California native has run well at Dover in recent years.

He won the Sprint Cup pole at Dover in September 2014, when he turned a lap of 22.095 seconds at162.933 mph in the second round of qualifying. On race day, he stayed at the front of the field for 223 laps but had to settle for a 13th-place finish after a valve stem issue led to a flat tire following a pit stop and caused him to fall a lap down to the leaders.

In May 2015, the 2014 Sprint Cup champion started sixth and led 91 laps, but finished second after Jimmie Johnson beat him by 0.435 of a second in a green-white-checkered finish.

In the last four Sprint Cup races at Dover, Harvick leads all drivers with 152 points and 693 laps led. The next-closest competitors in those categories are Martin Truex Jr., who has 148 points, and Johnson, who has 295 laps led.

This weekend, Harvick will seek to repeat his successful run at Dover and score his second Sprint Cup win of the 2016 season. He scored his first in only the third race of the season at Phoenix. That win, by a .01-of-a-second margin over Carl Edwards, tied for the 10th-closest finish in Sprint Cup history. A second win this weekend at Dover would virtually secure Harvick’s spot in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup and provide added bonus points to start the first round of the playoffs.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What has it been like the last two-plus seasons – whether you collect wins or championships – getting into a car without having to worry about whether you’re going to be in a position to compete and you know you are in contention every race?
“For me, it’s been about, ‘All right, don’t screw any of this up.’ You know, how can I contribute to make this better? I think a lot of those things were talked about before Rodney ever started at Stewart‑Haas Racing on day one. I think, for me, there’s been a lot of things changing over the last four or five years, personally. We put a lot of effort into how we live and where we live and what we own, what we don’t own, just to try to make being parents better and be better on Sunday. I think as you look at my situation, I have a group of people who believe in each other. I have a group of people who are experienced and, for me, as I’ve been able to get in these racecars, I don’t worry about how they’re going to run when I show up at the racetrack. I know they’re going to run fast. We’ve run fast at virtually every race we’ve ever been to. For me, it’s about, all right, look at your notes, look at the past history, look at the things that you’ve done, and you’d better be ready when you get on the racetrack for the first lap of practice because they are. There’s a sense of, if I’m not prepared, I’m letting them down because I know every one of them is prepared. There’s never a weekend that they show up that they aren’t prepared. So, for me, it’s almost been a good motivator to make sure that you show up prepared so you’re not letting those guys down who did their job during the week.

What does it mean to win at a track as unique as Dover?
“Well, I’m just happy we finally won that one because Keelan (son) kept asking for Miles the trophy. It’s really the only one we don’t put in storage with the rest of them. It’s in his playroom. That’s what he asked to do with it. So I’m just glad that I didn’t let him down and we finally got him one.”

When you took the checkered flag, how much of a relief was it? Was it like a big weight lifted off your shoulders?
“You know, I never really felt any pressure. I would have been more disappointed for my guys and for Stewart‑Haas Racing than I would have been for myself. I would have found a way to kind of cope with everything and move forward and do things going forward. I would have been more disappointed for the guys on my team, for the guys at the shop who put their heart and soul into all these racecars that we put on the track for Stewart‑Haas Racing. I could have dealt with it myself. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in my life and career of things that you’ve had to handle. But a lot of those guys hadn’t, and I would have felt like I let them down more than anything and would have felt bad more for that than I would have myself, for sure.”

Jimmy John’s Racing Team Report
Round 12 of 36 – AAA 400 Drive for Autism – Dover International Speedway

Teammates:
Danica Patrick – No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/Autism Delaware Chevrolet SS
Tony Stewart – No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS
Kurt Busch – No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet SS

Primary Team Members:
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports
Headquarters: Concord, North Carolina

Engine Specialist: Jereme Jackson
Hometown: Lincolnton, North Carolina

Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Chassis Information – Chassis No. 846:
Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-846 in the AAA 400 Drive for Autism NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-846 debuted at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in March 2014. It scored its only win in October 2015 at Dover, where it started 15th and led 355 of 400 laps. Its most recent appearance came in March 2016 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, where it started second, led 142 laps and finished second. It also has four second-place finishes, seven top-five finishes and eight top-10s in 10 starts.

Dover International Speedway Notes of Interest:

Freaky Fast Since 2014: Harvick is in his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and his third at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In their first two seasons together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce eight victories, nine poles, 37 top-five finishes and 48 top-10s; led 4,431 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch.

2016 Race Winner: Harvick is one of six Sprint Cup winners through the first nine races of 2016. He scored his lone win of the season March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway in one of the closest finishes in series history, when he beat runner-up Carl Edwards to the finish line by .01 of a second. The win should secure Harvick a spot in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Points Position: Harvick scored a runner-up finish Saturday night at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City to hold his lead in the Sprint Cup points standings. He now leads second-place Kyle Busch by four points heading into Sunday’s race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

2016 Loop Leader: According to NASCAR Stats and Information, Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in 2016 in points (390), driver rating (116.3), top-10s (nine), average finish (6.9), average running position (6.143), laps completed (3,504), fastest laps run (461), percentage of fastest laps run (98.5), miles led (743.73), laps run on the lead lap (3,489), percentage of laps run on the lead lap (99.57), laps in the top-15 (3,289) and percentage of laps in the top-15 (93.9). He ranks second in bonus points (15), third in laps led (571) and percentage of laps led (16.3). He also ranks fourth in quality passes (968).

9,000 Laps Led and Counting: Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career. He is one of only five active Sprint Cup drivers to lead more than 9,000 laps. The others are Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Busch and Matt Kenseth. After leading nine laps at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Harvick now sits at 9,428 laps led for his Sprint Cup career.

Leading Laps: Harvick has led 571 laps through the first 11 races of 2016. He failed to lead a lap at Kansas to end his streak of races with at least one lap led at nine. The Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Go Bowling 400 at Kansas are the only two races of 2016 in which Harvick did not lead at least one lap.

100 Percent: Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Harvick and Kurt Busch are the only two Sprint Cup drivers to complete 100 percent (3,504 of 3,504) of the laps run in the first 11 Sprint Cup races of 2016.

Harvick at Dover in the Sprint Cup Series: Harvick will make his 31st Sprint Cup start Sunday at Dover. He scored his lone win at the concrete mile oval in October 2015, when he started 15th, led 355 of 400 laps and beat runner-up Kyle Busch by 2.639 seconds. Harvick earned his first Sprint Cup pole at Dover in September 2014 with a time of 22.095 at 162.095 mph. Harvick has two career Sprint Cup runner-up finishes at Dover, most recently in May 2015, when he started sixth, led 91 laps and finished runner-up to Jimmie Johnson. Harvick’s Dover resume shows one win, five top-five finishes, 14 top-10s and 838 laps led with an average finish of 14.3.

Harvick at Dover in the Xfinity Series: Harvick has 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover but none since September 2013. He has one pole, which came in his first Xfinity race at Dover in June 2000 at a speed of 154.912 mph. He also started first in September 2003 and June 2006, when no time trials were held. He has four top-five finishes, 10 top-10s, and has led 290 laps with an average finish of 11.2.

Harvick at Dover in the Camping World Truck Series: Harvick has two starts at Dover in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started second, led 18 laps and finished fifth in his first race at Dover in May 2011. He won the pole with a speed of 158.235 mph and finished third in June 2012. He has an average starting position of 1.5 and an average finish of 4.0 with 114 laps led in his two starts.

Career Totals: Harvick has 32 wins, 142 top-five finishes and 266 top-10s in 549 career Sprint Cup startsheading into Sunday’s AAA 400 Driver for Autism at Dover.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing

Dale Earnhardt Jr. a prohibitive 9/2 favorite at Talladega

Earnhardt Jr. using winning  chassis from Talladega last year this week. 

LAS VEGAS -- Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have won the past four races on the Sprint Cup schedule, but for Sunday's Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, it's Dale Earnhardt Jr. who comes in as the prohibitive 9-to-2 favorite. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson is 8-to-1 and all other drivers are 10-to-1 or higher for the second restrictor-plate race of the season.

All Junior has done at the high-banked 2.66-mile layout over his career is win six times, including this race last fall — he also finished second in the fall. His next win at Talladega will break a tie with Jeff Gordon for second most in track history. Dale Sr. is the track's all-time leader with 10 wins, including the last of his great career in 2000.

In addition to all of Junior's outstanding past history at Talladega, he's also got his favorite restrictor-plate package chassis going, a car that won in two of the four plate races last season.

“We’re going to have ‘Amelia.’ She is fixed and (crew chief) Greg (Ives) says she is going to be the primary," Earnhardt said. "He’s fired up his Twitter account recently … and he let all the fans know on Monday that Amelia is coming back. I’m excited about that — we know how she ran last year. We just have to run Talladega like we have to win it, just like we did the last time we were there. We did a good job. If we run it like that, we’ll be up front at the end.”

Anytime a crew names the car — this one after pilot Amelia Earhart — there is some serious confidence in it.

Here's a look at all the odds to win posted at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook with a look at each drivers past Talladega history:

NASCAR at Talladega betting odds

Dale EARNHARDT JR 9/2 - He's the master of the draft, having led a series high 960 laps over 32 starts. The next Talladega win for Hendrick Motorsports will be their 13th which will break a tie with Richard Childress Racing for most owners win.

Jimmie JOHNSON 8/1 - A two-time winner with a 16.9 average finish in 28 starts. His last win came in 2011, finished second to Junior last spring. This team has the plate package figured out well and all four cars should be competitive helping push each other to the front.

Denny HAMLIN 10/1 - Beyond looking at past track history, you also want to take notice of what happened in the last plate race and Hamlin dominated during Daytona speedweeks this year, winning the Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500. His winning Daytona 500 car is on display for the fans in Daytona, so he'll be using the winning Sprint Unlimited car. He won his first career plate race at Talladega in 2014. Expect the No. 11 to be Junior's main challenger.

Read More Here.....complete list of odds to win on TheLInemakers.com

Kevin Harvick using sixth-place Atlanta chassis at Richmond

Kevin Harvick is 6/1 to win at Richmond on Sunday.

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (April 20, 2016) – Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will feature Busch Light for the first time during this weekend’s 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. It marks the first appearance for a Busch brand on the No. 4 since February’s season-opening non-points Sprint Unlimited during Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

While Busch Beer has a rich racing history dating back to 1978, Busch Light, which was introduced to the public in 1989, will make its debut as a primary sponsor in the Sprint Cup Series.

Busch Beer first sponsored the award presented to the pole winners of what was known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1978. Busch Beer went on to be the “Official Beer of NASCAR” from 1988 through 1997 and was the title sponsor of the stepping-stone division to Sprint Cup – currently known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series – from 1984 through 2007.

Busch Beer’s history as a primary sponsor in the Sprint Cup Series dates back to the first race of the 1979 season, when NASCAR champion Cale Yarborough drove Junior Johnson’s iconic No. 11 car to a third-place finish at Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway. Yarborough drove the No. 11 Busch Beer car for the entire 1979 and 1980 seasons. He went on to score 10 wins, 38 top-five finishes, 44 top-10s, 15 poles and led 4,130 laps over the 62-race span.

This weekend marks the first of four appearances by Busch Light on the No. 4 Chevrolet SS in 2016. It will next appear on the No. 4 Chevrolet SS in the non-points-paying Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, before appearing in July at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October.

Harvick’s history with Busch Beer goes back to his days racing in the Xfinity Series, which was then known as the Busch Series. He won two championships in the stepping-stone division to the Sprint Cup Series. He won his first championship in 2001while racing in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). The Bakersfield, California native won five races, scored 20 top-five finishes, 24 top-10s and led 1,265 laps in 33 starts that season and beat runner-up Jeff Green for the championship by 124 points.

The 2014 Sprint Cup champion scored his second Busch Series championship in 2006 while racing both the Nos. 21 and 33 Chevrolets for RCR. He scored nine wins, 23 top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and led 1,197 laps. That season, he dominated the competition and won the championship by 824 points over current Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards.

Harvick is hoping to continue his success racing with Busch Light this weekend. He has three Sprint Cup wins and seven Xfinity Series wins for a total of 10 wins at Richmond between NASCAR’s top two touring series. His most recent Sprint Cup win there came in April 2013, when he led only three laps but beat runner-up Clint Bowyer to the finish line by .343 of a second in a green-white-checkered finish.

This weekend, Harvick will attempt to put Busch Light in victory lane for the first time while he scores his second win of the season and his fourth Sprint Cup win at the .75-mile Virginia oval.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Do you have a favorite win at Richmond?
“I remember the ones I lost more than I do the ones I won. The first one where Ricky Rudd and I were racing in 2001 was pretty cool. But, as you look back at the last one, we won in 2013 as part of a green-white-checkered finish – I think we came from seventh to win, so I didn’t really expect to win that one. I think the other two were probably fairly strong nights for us.”

Is back-to-back short tracks a good thing for the No. 4 team this time of year?
“I think short-track racing is something that we all enjoy any time we get to go do that. I don’t know if having back-to-back short tracks is good or bad for us. I think right now we are fortunate to be on the side of things going well. We’ll just show up and race again.”

Do you consider yourself a short-track specialist?
“I think we’ve had success on short tracks in the past. It’s really just a matter putting a weekend together. It’s really no different than any other racetrack. This business is hard to be successful at and sometimes you go through years where short tracks are good and some years not so good. Some years, longer tracks are good and some are not so good. It’s really just about putting together a whole weekend. It all starts with practice on Friday and trying to qualify well. I enjoy the short tracks because we don’t get to go to quite as many as I think we’d all like.”

Busch Light Racing Team Report
Round 9 of 36 – Richmond 400 – Richmond International Raceway
Teammates:
Danica Patrick – No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS
Brian Vickers – No. 14 Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy Chevrolet SS
Kurt Busch – No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS

Chassis Information – Chassis No. 899:
Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Busch Light Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-899 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richmond 400 Sunday at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-899 made its debut in September 2014 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, where it started sixth, led 79 laps and finished fifth. Chassis No. 4-899 made its 2015 debut in April at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where it started fourth, led 184 laps and finished 38th after being collected in an accident. It also raced at both Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon in 2015. In July, Harvick started 12th, led 59 laps and finished third in Loudon. He started second at Loudon in September, led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with less than three laps to go and finished 21st. Its final race of 2015 came in October at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where he started fourth, led 21 laps and finished 16th. Chassis 4-899 made a strong showing in its first race of 2016 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where it started sixth, led 131 laps and finished sixth.

Richmond International Raceway Notes of Interest:
Earning It Since 2014: Harvick is in his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and his third at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In their first two seasons together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce eight victories, nine poles, 37 top-five finishes and 48 top-10s; led 4,431 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch.

2016 Race Winner: Harvick is one of six Sprint Cup winners through the first eight races of 2016. He scored his lone Sprint Cup win of the season March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway in one of the closest finishes in series history when he beat runner-up Carl Edwards to the finish line by .01 of a second. The win should secure Harvick a spot in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Points Leader: Harvick scored a seventh-place finish Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway to reclaim the Sprint Cup Series points lead. He now holds a one-point advantage over Carl Edwards heading into this weekend’s race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Busch is Back: Busch Light makes its Sprint Cup debut as the primary sponsor of the No. 4 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Richmond. This marks the first appearance for Busch in a points-paying event in 2016. Busch Beer ran as the primary in February’s non-points-paying Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

2016 Loop Leader: According to NASCAR Stats and Information, Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in 2016 in points (287), bonus points (13), driver rating (118.9), top-10s (seven), average running position (5.784), quality passes (588), fastest laps run (352), percentage of fastest laps run (75.2), miles led (672.54), laps run on the lead lap (2,640), percentage of laps run on the lead lap (99.66), laps in the top-15 (2,508) and percentage of laps in the top-15 (94.7). He ranks second in laps led (499), percentage of laps led (18.8) and average finish (6.8).

9,000 Laps Led and Counting: Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career. He is one of only five active Sprint Cup drivers to lead more than 9,000 laps. The others are Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. After leading 13 laps at Bristol, Harvick now sits at 9,356 laps led for his Sprint Cup career.

Leading Laps: Harvick has led 499 laps through the first eight races of 2016. He has led at least one lap in seven straight races, including 13 laps last weekend at Bristol. The Daytona 500 is the only race of 2016 in which Harvick was unable to lead at least one lap.

Harvick in the Sprint Cup Series at Richmond: The Richmond 400 will mark Harvick’s 31st career Sprint Cup start at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Harvick has three wins (September 2006 and 2011, and April 2013), one pole (September 2005), nine top-five finishes and 18 top-10s at the .75-mile oval. The 40-year-old driver has led 987 laps, has an average starting position of 15.0, an average finish of 10.8, and has completed 99.0 percent (11,891 of 12,009) of the laps he’s contested there.

Harvick in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Richmond: Harvick has made 27 starts in the Xfinity Series at Richmond. He has seven wins, three poles, 18 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. He has led 1,387 laps, has an average starting position of 8.4, an average finish of 6.8, and has completed 99.9 percent (6,754 of 6,763) of the laps he’s contested there.

Richmond Sweep: Harvick won both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series races at Richmond in September 2006. In the Xfinity race, he started fifth, led 154 of 250 laps and beat runner-up Greg Biffle to the finish line by .925 of a second. In the Sprint Cup race, he also started fifth, led 54 laps and beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish line by .153 of a second.

Career Totals: Harvick has 32 wins, 140 top-fives and 264 top-10s in 546 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Sunday’s Richmond 400.

Kevin Harvick Foundation Park: On March 16, Harvick and baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. cut the ribbon to unveil the Kevin Harvick Foundation Park at the Boys & Girls Club of Kern County in Harvick’s hometown of Bakersfield, California. The park will provide a clean and safe environment in which local youth can play, learn and grow. The facility marks the second collaboration between the two organizations, which commenced their alliance by opening the Kevin Harvick Foundation Park in Greensboro, North Carolina, in November 2015. Much like the Greensboro park, the state-of-the-art facility in Bakersfield is designed for multisport use, featuring four outdoor fitness stations, a rubber track surface circling the field’s perimeter, and a digital scoreboard. The park, a gift to The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Kern County, will be maintained by the organization, with which the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and Kevin Harvick Foundation will collaborate to create and implement character education programming and clinics for the children who utilize the facility.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing

Harvick using eighth-place 2015 Martinsville chassis this week.

Kevin Harvick is 7/1 to win at Martinsville on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick Chassis Information: 

Chassis No. 4-864: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-864 in the Martinsville 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-864 made its debut at Martinsville in March 2014, when it started 18th , led one lap and finished seventh. It made its second appearance at Martinsville in October 2014, when it started 33rd and finished 33rd after being collected in an accident with Matt Kenseth. Its first appearance in 2015 also came at Martinsville, where it started 17th, led 154 laps and finished eighth after getting shuffled back on several late-race restarts. Its most recent start came at Martinsville in November 2015, where is started 12th, led 38 laps and finished eighth.

Jimmy John’s Racing Team Report – Martinsville Page Two Martinsville Speedway Notes of Interest:
Freaky Fast Since 2014: Harvick is in his 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and his third at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with crew chief Rodney Childers at the helm. In their first two seasons together, Harvick and Childers combined to produce eight victories, nine poles, 37 top-five finishes and 48 top-10s; led 4,431 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch. 

2016 Race Winner: Harvick is one of four Sprint Cup winners through the first five races of 2016. He scored his lone Sprint Cup win of the season March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway in one of the closest finishes in Sprint Cup history when he beat runner-up Carl Edwards to the finish line by .01 of a second. The win should secure Harvick a spot in the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup. 

2016 Loop Leader: According to NASCAR Stats and Information, Harvick leads all Sprint Cup drivers in 2016 in points (194), driver rating (124.4), top-10s (five), average finish (4.0), quality passes (470), fastest laps (193), percentage of fastest laps run (41.2), laps in the top-15 (1,225), percentage of laps in the top-15 (93.2), laps led (413), percentage of laps led (31.4), average running position (5.777), miles led (626.24) and percentage of laps run on the lead lap (99.77). He also ranks second in bonus points (10) and third in average starting position (8.2). 

9,000 Laps Led and Counting: Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career. He is one of only five active Sprint Cup drivers to lead more than 9,000 laps. The others are Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. After leading 142 laps two weekends ago at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Harvick now sits at 9,270 laps led for his Sprint Cup career. 

Harvick in the Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville: The Martinsville 500 will mark Harvick’s 30th career Sprint Cup start at Martinsville. Harvick has one win, three top-five finishes and 14 top-10s at the half-mile oval. The 40-year-old driver has led 556 laps, has an average starting position of 14.4, an average finish of 15.9, and has completed 97.7 percent (14,193 of 14,534) of the laps he’s contested there. 

Harvick in the Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville: Harvick has made 17 starts in the Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville. Harvick has two poles, seven top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has led 595 laps, has an average starting position of 8.1, an average finish of 11.6, and has completed 97.1 percent (3,846 of 3,960) of the laps he’s contested there. 

Career Totals: Harvick has 32 wins, 140 top-fives and 262 top-10s in 543 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Sunday’s Martinsville 500.

Kurt Busch says May Charlotte notes not relevant in October

Kurt Busch is 10/1 this week at Charlotte.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Oct. 7, 2015) – Kurt Busch will park his black-and-red Chevrolet SS for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in favor of an orange-and-black model.

The No. 41 Chevrolet will sport the colors of State Water Heaters, a leading manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters. Based in Ashland City, Tennessee, State Water Heaters has seven water heater manufacturing plants and hundreds of distribution centers across the United States to ensure efficient service to State’s national customer base of residential homeowners, wholesalers, contractors and members of the engineering community.

Founded in 1946 by Herbert Lindahl, State Water Heaters began in a Nashville garage as a small entrepreneurial company producing coal- and wood-burning stoves. In the years that followed, State Water Heaters expanded and became a leader in the water-heating industry through steadfast commitments to seeking new materials, new technology and innovative engineering techniques.

It would make sense that a company like State would choose to align itself with a team like Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and driver Busch. After all, both started out small and rose quickly due to their commitment to excellence.

Gene Haas, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, founded Haas Automation in 1983. The company has always produced top-quality products at affordable prices, and all are built in the U.S. – in the company’s facility in Oxnard, California. It’s something Haas takes great pride in, and his goal was simple – to manufacture economical and reliable machine tools. That commitment has seen Haas Automation grow to become the largest machine-tool builder in the Western World.

In 2002, Haas formed Haas CNC Racing and entered the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with driver Jack Sprague. Nearly six years later, Haas announced a partnership with Stewart, and SHR was formed. With a goal of delivering excellence in every facet of the organization and exceeding commitments to fans, partners and employees, SHR builds value by creating an environment of competitiveness, superior technology, performance, teamwork and family amid the rich history of motorsports. Since 2009, the Kannapolis, North Carolina-based operation has expanded to a four-car team, has claimed a pair of Sprint Cup championships, and overall has earned 30 wins, 26 poles, 131 top-five finishes and 246 top-10s.

Busch’s career mirrors the foundations and goals that have made both State and SHR leaders in their respective industries. He began racing in his hometown of Las Vegas. The second-generation driver got his start the way most youngsters do – tagging along with his father to racetracks dotted among the Mountain and Pacific time zones. At just 7 years old, he was behind the wheel of a go-kart and, by 15, he was racing alongside his father Tom in Dwarf Car competition. Busch’s career was on the fast track as he was running full-time on the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour by 1998. He earned rookie of the year honors that season and won the series championship the following year.

It was during that championship-winning season that Busch’s skill attracted the attention of NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, who hosted driver auditions for a team he fielded in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Busch got the call to participate and, in a pivotal moment in his life, he won the audition and his big-time racing career was underway.

Busch’s star shined quickly. Less than a year after being hired to race in the Truck Series, Busch was promoted to driving the No. 97 Sprint Cup car. His aspiration of competing at the sport’s highest level was met, but it was quickly exceeded by his ability to compete among the best, and win. He claimed the Sprint Cup championship in 2004 in just his fourth season of full-time competition.

State Water Heaters, SHR and Busch have become champions in their respective trades thanks to their level of commitment. And this weekend, Busch hopes to celebrate the partnership with some shared success at the home track for most of NASCAR’s teams by scoring the win in the first race of the Contender Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Doing so would guarantee him a spot in the three-race Eliminator Round that will ultimately determine which four drivers vie for the championship in the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Having scored victories at five of the seven tracks remaining on the schedule – one apiece at Charlotte, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Phoenix International Raceway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway and twice at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Busch can’t be counted out as a threat for the 2015 championship.

Busch has proven he knows what it takes to get around Charlotte, having claimed the checkered flag in the 2010 Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race. Perhaps, this weekend, he’ll be able to score a second Charlotte win and deliver State Water Heaters its first Sprint Cup victory.

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 State Water Heaters Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Without a win a race in the first three races of the Chase, you still have momentum now heading into the second round. How nice is it to be part of the Contender Round?
“Well, it’s fantastic. Our team – we still feel like we’re a top-four team, so we still have work to do. But to have made it through the first round, all of the bugs and butterflies and all of the anxiety and the appendixes being taken out are done and overwith, and now we need to settle in. This is the who’s who. This is the top-12. This reminds me of qualifying each week. You advance to that third round of qualifying, which is the top-12, and you lay it out on the line and see what you get. These 12 can win at any given track, at any given moment, and they’re tough to compete with.”

You’re going to be racing 100 fewer miles and at night more of the time Saturday vs. the Charlotte race in May. How different do you expect the racing to be?
“It’s always faster in October, and you cannot rely on May’s notes as much as what you would want to do from last October, so October ’14 is more relevant than May of ’15. That’s what I’ve seen over the years about Charlotte.”

With the change in weather, how much different does the track drive than the last time you were here?
“It’s much cooler out, so it’s much faster. So what you ran to help preserve a tire in the May race is definitely different than October. You’ve just got to keep in mind that, yeah, what you did in May is good, and if you ran well, don’t get too stuck with it because October is very different.”

With Charlotte being the next race this week, what changes because it is a playoff race? Or, do you just go back to what you did the May race, the 600, the back half of that race and just kind of go off those notes?
“Yeah, you’re exactly right. It’s going off of the most consistent notes. Most of that is the spring race. But then the fall race, there’s something special about the fall race at Charlotte because of the speed that’s in the track. It’s like the earth has cooled off and you get into those cool nights that are in the 50s, and the track has so much speed in it that it’s a different setup than what you ran in May when the track is warmer.”

Chassis No. 933: 

Kurt Busch will pilot Chassis No. 933 in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Built new for 2015, Chassis 933 debuted at Charlotte in May, when Busch finished 10th . It was most recently raced at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, where Busch finished 10th .

 

Kurt Busch’s Charlotte Motor Speedway Performance Profile:

Year	Event	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2015	Coca-Cola 600	14	10	Running, 400/400	118	$140,045
2014	Coca-Cola 600	28	40	Engine, 271/400	0	$81,350
	Bank of America 500	11	11	Running, 334/334	2	$95,640
2013	Coca-Cola 600	2	3	Running, 400/400	8	$218,560
	Bank of America 500	10	14	Running, 333/334	0	$110,280
2012	Coca-Cola 600	42	27	Running, 396/400	0	$112,413
	Bank of America 500	21	21	Running, 332/334	0	$100,143
2011	×Coca-Cola 600	26	4	Running, 402/402	3	$190,900
	Bank of America 500	20	13	Running, 334/334	0	$119,625
2010	Coca-Cola 600	2	1	Running, 400/400	252	$399,623
	Bank of America 500	15	30	Running, 331/334	0	$75,950
2009	*Coca-Cola 600	17	34	Running, 226/227	0	$106,900
	NASCAR Banking 500	15	10	Running, 334/334	2	$99,600
2008	Coca-Cola 600	8	16	Running, 399/400	64	$97,250
	†Bank of America 500	19	3	Running, 334/334	0	$145,750
2007	Coca-Cola 600	2	32	Accident, 296/400	107	$126,758
	×Bank of America 500	8	26	Running, 335/337	13	$102,383
2006	Coca-Cola 600	20	39	Running, 290/400	0	$122,858
	Bank of America 500	42	32	Running, 208/334	0	$102,258
2005	Coca-Cola 600	35	43	Accident, 26/400	0	$132,145
	×UAW-GM Quality 500	7	2	Running, 336/336	2	$222,625
2004	Coca-Cola 600	32	11	Running, 400/400	0	$107,380
	UAW-GM Quality 500	21	4	Running, 334/334	3	$110,250
2003	*Coca-Cola 600	12	15	Running, 275/276	1	$110,950
	UAW-GM Quality 500	17	41	Accident, 229/334	0	$64,870
2002	Coca-Cola 600	24	31	Running, 395/400	2	$64,775
	†UAW-GM Quality 500	11	12	Running, 334/334	46	$68,650
2001	Coca-Cola 600	42	12	Running, 400/400	0	$70,775
	UAW-GM Quality 500	43	22	Running, 331/334	0	$46,580
2000	UAW-GM Quality 500	42	13	Running, 399/400	0	$42,600

* Race cut short due to weather.  

† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.  

× Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing

Charlotte odds from Las Vegas