NASCAR Cup

Watkins Glen: Harvick - Friday media visit

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, met with media members at Watkins Glen International and discussed previous success at The Glen; strategy as the Chase approaches and strategy in the Chase. ON THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING BACK AT THE GLEN ...

Edited: Aug 11, 2007, 2:34 AM

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Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, met with media members at Watkins Glen International and discussed previous success at The Glen; strategy as the Chase approaches and strategy in the Chase.

ON THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING BACK AT THE GLEN AS THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER: "It is nice to come back to somewhere where, I enjoy racing. I enjoy racing on the road courses and like coming here, so it is nice to come back. Knowing that we won last year's race here, hopefully we will run good this weekend."

ON CHANGES TO TRACK AND RUNNING NEW-GENERATION NASCAR RACE CAR AT THE GLEN: "We have tested this car a lot and have run Sears Point already, we have, hopefully, a good place to start. The biggest thing is just figuring out what the transmission ratios need to be, what is different there. That will be the biggest thing. The second biggest thing will be a change in driving style, where you brake a little bit different that in the Monte Carlo."

ON POCONO TUNNEL TURN: "The Tunnel Turn here is a lot like Indy in all four corners. Indy kind of has the same characteristics as what Turn Two is here. Your car is really on the edge for the most part to be fast. My car has typically been pretty good in Turn Two, the Tunnel Turn. Hopefully, we haven't taken any of that away."

ON BATTLE LAST YEAR WITH TONY STEWART TO GET THE WIN: "Any time you are able to race the guy who has been winning at a particular race track and win the race, that is how you want to do it. It was a lot of fun. His car was a little bit better the first couple of laps then my car would get better as the laps in a run went on. It was a lot of fun."

ON BEING ABLE TO TAKE RISKS LAST FIVE RACES BEFORE CHASE TO GET WINS: "We are going to keep racing. We aren't going to do anything different than what we normally do. We are just going to go out and race as hard as we can. That is it."

ON ENJOYING UPCOMING NIGHT RACES AT BRISTOL, RICHMOND, ETC: "I enjoy the night stuff especially during the summer because it is so much cooler. I don't think there is anything that gets any better than Bristol at night. Hopefully, racing will be as good as it has been before they redid the track. We will just have to wait and see how that shakes out."

ON IF IT WILL BE HARDER TO GET A HANDLE ON NEW CAR IF WEATHER AFFECTS PRACTICE TIME: "I don't think so. I think we have all been here have been here enough. The weather should be fine tomorrow. It is a matter of how much practice we get today, whether we qualify. I think we will get a little bit of practice."

ON IF MONTREAL RACE HELPED TO PREPARE FOR THE GLEN: "None. The cars are so much different, there is just really not anything you can compare."

ON WHAT TEAM HAS DONE TO PREPARE FOR THE GLEN WITH THE NEW CAR: "We have tested at VIR a couple of times. Really, we are still working through the car to totally understand what it wants and what it needs to make it turn and get grip and all the different things that we have to deal with there. It is really hard to test because you don't have the right tires. Obviously you can't go to a race track that you race on. It is just more of a rhythm thing than it is anything else. You just have to take your best guess at it."

ON HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE A LEGITIMATE SHOT AT WIN SUNDAY AT THE GLEN WITH ROAD COURSE SPECIALISTS IN THE FIELD: "I don't think a road racer has ever won this race. I am tired of hearing about road racers."

ON WHEN LOCKED IN CHASE, HOW STRATEGY IS DEVELOPED: "We have had a Chase strategy since the beginning of the year. The most important thing is to position yourself to get in to the Chase. We aren't anywhere close to comfortable at this point. You just have to go out and race as hard as you can. You have guys that have a little momentum on their side right now. We just don't need to make any big mistakes right now."

ON DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GLEN AND SONOMA: "The speed is a lot greater here at the Glen than it is at Sonoma. The braking zones are a lot faster than what you would have there. Two totally different tracks with different driving characteristics. Sonoma was a lot about track position. You go there with that in mind. Here you have to carry a lot of speed and get through the braking zones good. "

ON BEING A GOOD ROAD RACER: "I have always been good at road racing. I have been fortunate to get the finishes that we need lately. We have been on both sides of the fence, unlucky and had bad finishes and lucky and good finishes. We have been competitive every time we have been on road course."

-credit: gm racing

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