HARVICK PUTS LABELS ASIDE IN CHASE.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK Motor Sports Kevin Harvick For the racing team owned by Kevin Harvick and his wife Delana, see . Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975 in Bakersfield, California) is an American race car driver and car owner, competing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving has been called many things throughout his NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. career. When Harvick landed in the car Dale Earnhardt This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. For his son, see Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. For the racing team he founded, see Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. drove before his death in the 2001 Daytona 500, he was called undeserving. When Harvick won his first Cup race in only his third start, he was called promising. When Harvick was handed a one-race suspension from NASCAR for rough driving a few years ago, he was called a hothead. When Harvick won the NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR's "minor league" circuit (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organization's "big league" circuit, the Nextel Cup. title in 2001, he was called a champion. When Harvick's team was caught qualifying for Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas, is a 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) complex of four different tracks for automobile racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. without a full tank of gas, he was called a cheater. After four years of racing on NASCAR's top circuit, Harvick has been dubbed one of the Cup's young guns, the group of 20-something drivers who are the future stars of stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States and Great Britain held largely on oval rings of between approximately a quarter-mile and 2. . He also has been labeled as one of its bad boys, known for unpredictable outbursts on and off the race track. If anything, Harvick is putting more into NASCAR than he is taking out. Aside from driving for the high-profile Richard Childress Racing RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team fielding Chevrolets for Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, and Scott Wimmer in the NEXTEL Cup Series as well as the #2 BB&T Chevy for Clint Bowyer, the #21 AutoZone Chevy for Harvick No. 29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American mid-size car. Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year (as competition with the Ford Thunderbird), it has gone through six generations as of 2007. on the Nextel Cup Series, Harvick and his wife, DeLana, also own race teams at the Busch, Craftsman Truck and West series levels. As a driver, he has recorded four consecutive second-place finishes in the Busch Series and leads the points standings. Tony Stewart, driving a car owned by Harvick, won the Busch Series season opener in Daytona Beach, Fla. But his lead in the Busch Series won't last. He doesn't plan on running every Busch race, like he did in his rookie Cup season, when he took over driving duties for Earnhardt's team. Brandon Miller eventually will drive the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 21 Chevy for 15 Busch Series races this year. Instead, Harvick's focus is on the Nextel Cup Series and the Chase for the Championship. ``You come out strong, you're leading the points, and we've talked about it already this year, it would be nice to win a championship in anything that you race,'' said Harvick, a driver from Bakersfield. ``We got to look at the big picture. The Cup car is the big picture, keeping yourself healthy and (invigorated in·vig·or·ate tr.v. in·vig·or·at·ed, in·vig·or·at·ing, in·vig·or·ates To impart vigor, strength, or vitality to; animate: "A few whiffs of the raw, strong scent of phlox invigorated her" ) so that you're ready to go at the end of the year.'' After a fifth-place finish in Vegas, Harvick cracked the Cup Series top-10 in points for the first time this season. But he was knocked from eighth to 10th place in the standings after getting hit with a 25-point penalty and a $25,000 fine for qualifying for the Las Vegas race without a full tank of gas. The top-10 drivers will be eligible for the Chase for the Championship - the final 10 races of the year that determine the Nextel Cup Series champion. ``That's the big-picture plan,'' Harvick said. ``Winning the Busch Series championship is important, but the Cup championship is the ultimate goal.'' In addition to driving on the Cup and Busch series, Harvick owns the Truck Series team for Ron Hornaday Jr., a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. Harvick also will field driver Burney Lamar of West Sacramento with cars for five NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series, races and four Truck Series races. ``I know he has enjoyed racing all his life,'' said Hornaday, driver of the No. 6 Chevy Silverado on the Truck Series. ``For what he's done, he enjoys it. He's putting his money right back into it.'' But his focus is on Cup racing. After narrowly missing the first Chase, Harvick has to have a little redemption on his mind. A top-10 driver for most of the year, Harvick hit a speed bump at California Speedway in September and plummeted in the standings. He finished 28th at Fontana, the 25th race of the season, and fell out of the top 10. The next race, at Richmond International Raceway Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. in Virginia, was the cutoff point Cutoff point The lowest rate of return acceptable on investments. for the Chase and Harvick's 12th-place showing wasn't good enough to get him back in the top 10 in points. Every Cup team has had a year to reflect on the first Chase format. But Harvick said despite what point system is used, he has seen a more intense style of racing develop over the years. ``The way the sport is now, no matter how the points system is, it's more aggressive than it was three, four, five years ago,'' Harvick said. ``Everything is as aggressive as you can get it week in and week out.'' Given Harvick's reputation, he should know a thing or two about aggression. CAPTION(S): box Box: RACE WEEK BY TIM HADDOCK |
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