NASCAR Cup

Kansas City: Kevin Harvick preview

Returning to a classic. HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (September 23, 2002) - As the NASCAR Winston Cup makes its second trip to the 1.5-mile (Kansas City) Kansas Speedway this weekend, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service team hope to put a ...

Published: Sep 26, 2002, 12:27 PM

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Returning to a classic.

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (September 23, 2002) - As the NASCAR Winston Cup makes its second trip to the 1.5-mile (Kansas City) Kansas Speedway this weekend, Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service team hope to put a stop to a trend they themselves set in motion this year.

The No. 29 team clinched the Winston Cup event at Chicagoland Speedway this July, becoming the only Winston Cup team to win at the Chicagoland facility (2001, 2002). Points chaser Jeff Gordon, last season's Kansas inaugural race winner, has a chance to collect the speedway's second win, but one thing stands in his way . . . Old Faithful.

Kevin Harvick's favorite car in the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) stable, car No. 88, or Old Faithful, was used not only at the Chicagoland event, but also Pocono-2 (6th), Indianapolis (5th), and Michigan-2 (3rd). During the five-race stint of short track events, Old Faithful has remained at home, this being the first time she has seen competition since mid-August.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo, comments on Old Faithful and getting back to speedway competition:

Old Faithful
"This car has done me no wrong. Every time we take it out, we're in sync with it. We can throw anything at it and it responds every time. The thing about it is it's not really all that tricked-out. It's pretty basic, but it flies. We were a little worried that we might run the magic out of it, but that doesn't seem possible. Half of the time, racing well means being confident in what you're driving. I'm confident in everything I drive at RCR, but when you're in a car that has the history that Old Faithful does, it brings it to a whole new level. It's like the car doesn't know anything that's not a top-10. We could use some of that right now."

Leaving the short tracks behind - for now
"It happened like I thought it would. That stretch of short tracks broke some people and helped some people. For our team, we experienced both sides of it. We were strong enough to remain about the same. We've got this stretch of speedways coming up, mostly 1.5 miles. I love short track racing, but my stats alone tell me that these races coming up might be the best thing for us. We've got this weekend at Kansas, then Talladega. RCR is always good on restrictor plate tracks. Then we're off to Charlotte, have one short track event at Martinsville, and then Atlanta. They'll help us pick up our momentum again.

"What we have going for us is a lot of knowledge in our engine program. All of these 1.5 to 2 milers seem to have been won on fuel mileage and pit strategy. We've been on the good end of that deal more than once. It just takes good planning and understanding what you've got."

-rcr-

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