Kevin Harvick Is On A Trophy Hunt At Charlotte

Primary sponsor Busch Beer will help the driver of the No. 4 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in his trophy-hunting pursuit by featuring a special-edition Busch hunting blaze orange paint scheme this weekend at Charlotte.

While the 2014 Sprint Cup champion is hunting race wins, race fans will be on the hunt for Busch Beer gold trophy cans as part of Busch Beer’s campaign dubbed “Hunt One. Win Big.” Fans will have the chance to win the grand prize hunting trip of a lifetime, as well as weekly hunting-themed prizes.

The promotion will feature updated packaging with four unique hunting game cans and a new golden camouflage trophy can. Can graphics will represent games from different geographic regions of the United States.

For entry into the “Hunt One. Win Big.” promotion, legal-age drinkers (except residents of California) who find a gold trophy can inside specially marked packages of Busch and Busch Light, can take a photo of themselves with it and submit it on Busch.com. Consumers can also download a can wrap to enter without a purchase. This year, every valid entry receives one Busch Beer hunting coolie – or foam can sleeve. Once entered, consumers are eligible for weekly premium prizes like hunting daypacks and solar recharging kits. Five grand prize winners will experience an epic, once-in-a-lifetime, all-expense-paid adventure to hunt some of the best game available in the country. Details can be found at Busch.com.

Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Hunting Chevrolet SS scheme will mimic the Busch hunting cans – featuring classic Busch logos, along with blaze orange throughout and green silhouettes of deer, elk, pheasant and ducks in a wilderness setting. Enlarged versions of the ever-elusive gold trophy can graphics will appear on both the driver and passenger sides. Harvick will also be outfitted in a camo firesuit to complete the hunting look and feel on the track.

Harvick has successfully hunted trophies at Charlotte Motor Speedway in his career. In fact, he has three Sprint Cup points-paying wins at Charlotte, with one coming in the 2014 Bank of America 500.

In October 2014, the Bakersfield, California native started seventh, led 162 of 334 laps and beat runner-up Jeff Gordon to the finish line by .571 of a second to secure his position in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Round of 8 on his way to winning his first Sprint Cup championship.

Charlotte represents the first race of the Round of 12 in this year’s Chase, and Harvick would love nothing more than to hunt down his fourth win of the 2016 season and lock up his position in the Round of 8 early in his pursuit of NASCAR’s ultimate trophy – the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup.

“Well, I didn’t actually know that, but it’s nice to know that you can go to any of these racetracks and win because we have. They’re all hard to win at. I think as you look at going to Charlotte, really trying to put the car back in victory lane is the first goal. If you can’t, then really try to get the best finish you can. That comes with no mistakes and really trying, if you do have a mistake, to overcome it and capitalize on the moment if you have it to actually get to victory lane.”

Between Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega, which track are you looking forward to most?

“I think Charlotte, just for the fact that we’ve had so much success there. We’ve run well there, really, every time we’ve been there with our Stewart-Haas Racing cars. Going there this weekend is definitely something that I’m looking forward to. Any racetracks that you’ve had some success at, you definitely want to go back. Charlotte is probably the one I’m looking forward to the most, and then obviously Kansas and Talladega will come after that. Hopefully, we can get off to a good start.”
What are the challenges Charlotte presents?

“I mean, there could be challenges no matter where you go. Charlotte is a really finicky racetrack and, with the way we practice, most of the practice will be done during the day with the race being at night. Temperature has a huge factor in how the racetrack changes, how the pace changes, so you have to try to guess a little bit on that. Obviously, the weather could be a little bit of an issue as we creep into the weekend. You have to try to plan and balance all those things to have a good plan, but you have to be ready to abort that plan and come up with a new one on the fly at any given point.”

• 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. Since their pairing at the beginning of 2014, Harvick and Childers combined to produce 11 victories, nine poles, 51 top-five finishes and 70 top-10s; led 5,650 laps; won the 2014 Sprint Cup title; and finished runner-up in 2015 to champion Kyle Busch in 101 Sprint Cup events.

• Trophies of 2016: Harvick is one of 13 Sprint Cup winners through the first 29 races of 2016. He scored his first 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. He scored his second win of the season in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where he started 24th, led 128 laps and beat runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., by 1.933 seconds. He scored his third win of the season Sept. 25 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, where he started 19th, led eight laps and finished .442 of a second ahead of runner-up Matt Kenseth.

• Points Position: Harvick advanced to the Chase for the Sprint Cup Round of 12 by winning the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Sept. 25. He secured the second seed in the Round of 8 by virtue of his win. Harvick finished the regular season with 876 points – more than any other driver. It marked the second consecutive season he has led the Sprint Cup points after the 26-race regular season.\

• Harvick at Night: According to research conducted by Charlotte Motor Speedway’s communication department, and verified by NASCAR Stats & Information, Harvick has won six of the 57 Sprint Cup Series night races since the beginning of 2012 and logged a series-best average finish of 8.72 during that span.

• First or Second: Since joining SHR at the beginning of 2014, Harvick and Childers have teamed to score 34 top-two finishes – 11 wins and 23 runner-up efforts in 101 total races. The pairing has finished either first or second in nearly 34 percent of the Sprint Cup races since the start of 2014.

• 10,000 Laps Led: After leading 214 laps at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Harvick became just the fifth active full-time driver to lead 10,000 laps in his Sprint Cup career. He joins Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth. Harvick led 139 laps in the Good Sam 500k at Phoenix earlier this season to surpass 9,000 laps led for his Sprint Cup career.

• 1,000 Laps Led for the Third Consecutive Season: Harvick has led 1,219 laps through the first 29 points-paying races of 2016. He has now led 1,000 laps for a third consecutive season. He has led at least one lap in 19 of 29 points-paying Sprint Cup events this season. Prior to joining SHR in 2014, Harvick’s season-high was 895 laps led in 2006.

• Harvick at Charlotte since Joining SHR:Harvick has five 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 three appearances in the non-points-paying All-Star Race and an 11th-place finish in 2016. Harvick has one win, three second-place finishes and a ninth-place finish in his five 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, Joey Logano in October 2015 and Martin Truex Jr. in May 2016.

• Double Duty at Charlotte:Harvick will drive the No. 88 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Friday night in Charlotte.

• 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 34 wins, 151 top-five finishes, 279 top-10s and 15 poles in 567 career Sprint Cup starts heading into Saturday night’s Bank of America 500.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!