Kevin Harvick Is Searching For His Second Win Of The Season

Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will feature a special-edition Busch Light outdoors paint scheme with iconic Realtree camouflage, blaze orange accents and a Busch Light trophy can giving a nod to the beer brand’s seasonal Great Outdoors packaging.

Busch Beer and Realtree come together to form a natural collaboration, as both brands have deep roots in outdoor pursuits. Given the overlaps between Busch Beer and Realtree, including established relationships with Harvick and SHR, it makes sense for the brands to team up at Talladega.

Busch’s Great Outdoors campaign runs through Nov. 20, with specially marked packs of Busch Beer and Busch Light featuring the new Great Outdoors look, introducing bold colors, wildlife and the brand’s iconic stream. The promotion features 30,000 golden trophy cans to be placed randomly nationwide, allowing lucky consumers to enter the Great Outdoors sweepstakes for a chance to win weekly prizes or the grand prize – a trip to Big Cedar Lodge with professional angler Kevin VanDam.

Busch Beer fans can also check out the collaboration on BuschBucks.com, where consumers can redeem points for Busch Beer and Realtree co-branded gear. The program is simple – register at BuschBucks.com, purchase eligible products and collect points by snapping a picture of the receipt and uploading it to BuschBucks.com. Redeem points for Busch-themed prizes ranging in point values, from apparel, coolers and tents, to scrap metal from Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Fusion. Race fans can head to BuschBucks.com for more details.

While consumers can win by enjoying a cold, crisp and refreshing Busch Light, Harvick will be trying to score his own prize Sunday afternoon at Talladega. A win would automatically secure his position in the Round of 8 in his pursuit of the ultimate NASCAR prize – the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series trophy.

The Bakersfield, California native had a fast start in the Round of 12, securing two stage wins and a third-place race finish last weekend at Charlotte to provide a 26-point advantage over the ninth-place driver with two races remaining in the round.

Harvick has shown speed at the superspeedway races in 2017 – especially on qualifying day, where he has started sixth or better in the three restrictor-plate events on the season. While speed has been on his side, luck, on the other hand, has eluded the No. 4 team on race day, with a top restrictor-plate finish on the year of 22nd in the season-opening Daytona 500.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s lone Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway came in April 2010, when he started fourth and beat runner-up Jamie McMurray by .011 of a second – the 15th-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Hopefully, with the help of Busch Beer and Realtree, Harvick can stalk his competitors in the closing laps and secure what may be one of the season’s most difficult trophies to capture.

“Plate racing is something you have to be aggressive at just for the fact that, if you’re not aggressive, it always seems like you are not going to be where you need to be. Nine times out of 10, I believe, the aggressor is going to be the guy who comes out on the good side of things just for the fact that you’re making things happen and you’re not waiting for something else to happen. When you wait for something else to happen, that’s usually when you get in trouble because it’s usually someone else’s mess. You can still get in trouble if you’re aggressive, but it seems like, with this rules package and the way that things are, it’s best to stay aggressive and try to stay up front.”

Do you approach Talladega differently this year than in years past?

“I think, with the current points system, it’s better to stay up front and try to get as many points in each stage as you can throughout the day. Obviously, if you don’t qualify well, that makes it much more difficult but, with the new points system, I think you’re going to see a much different race. Guys aren’t going to be able to leave 20 potential points and playoff points on the table. They’re going to be racing for every point – that’s a good thing for the fans and should make it an exciting race.”

· Points Position: Harvick arrives at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for the Alabama 500 ranked third in the driver standings with 3,069 points after his third-place finish Sunday at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. He maintains a 26-point advantage ahead of ninth in the standings heading into the second of three Round of 12 races this weekend.

· Playoff Qualifier: Harvick clinched his position in the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as he scored his first Cup Series win of the season at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June. He started 12th, led 24 laps and had more than a five-second cushion when the final yellow flag waved to end the race under caution.Harvick and the No. 4 team scored one race win and three stage wins to account for eight playoff points and finished fourth in regular season points to pick up an additional seven points to earn the sixth seed for the 2017 playoffs.

· 11,000 Lap Led: Harvick led 149 laps at Charlotte and has now led 11,016 laps in his NASCAR Cup Series career, becoming just the 17th driver in Cup Series history to surpass 11,000 laps led for his career. Johnson, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth are the only active drivers to accomplish the feat.

· Harvick at Talladega since Joining SHR:Harvick has seven NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega since joining SHR at the beginning of the 2014 season and has finished in the top-15 and led laps in five of the seven races. He started eighth, led 15 laps and finished seventh in April 2014. He started 39th, led two laps and finished ninth in October 2014. He started 24th, led a lap and finished eighth in May 2015. He started seventh, led four laps and finished 15th in October 2015. He started 29th, led nine laps and finished 15th in May 2016. In May 2017, Harvick led 15 laps and finished 23rd at the 2.66-mile superspeedway in Talladega.

· Harvick in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: The Alabama 500 will mark Harvick’s 34th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Talladega. He has one win (April 2010), six top-five finishes and 14 top-10s at the 2.66-mile oval. The 41-year-old driver has led 202 laps, has an average starting position of 21.8, an average finish of 15.3 and has completed 96.1 percent (6,018 of 6,265) of the laps he’s contested there.

· Harvick in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega: Harvick has made eight starts in the Xfinity Series at Talladega. He has one pole (April 2010), two top-five finishes and three top-10s. He has led 95 laps, has an average starting position of 9.8, an average finish of 18.2 and has completed 82.6 percent (784 of 949) of the laps he’s contested there.

· On The Pole: Harvick has scored four Cup Series pole awards in 2017 – three coming on 1.5-mile racetracks. He scored his first of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lap of 29.118 seconds at 190.398 mph. His second of the season came at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, when he made a lap at 27.217 seconds at 198.405 mph. His third came at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 with a lap of 27.918 seconds at 193.424 mph. The most recent came at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where he posted a lap of 27.669 seconds at 177.730 mph.

· All-Time Wins List: Harvick scored his 36th career Cup Series win at Sonoma in June, which is ranked 22nd on the all-time wins list. His next Cup Series win will move him into a tie with Bobby Isaac for 21st on the all-time list. Among active drivers, Harvick ranks fourth behind leader Jimmie Johnson’s 83 career wins, Kyle Busch’s 42 and Kenseth with 38 wins.

· Career NASCAR Cup Series Totals: Harvick has 36 wins, 164 top-fives, 302 top-10s and 21 poles in 604 career Cup Series starts heading into Sunday’s race at Talladega.

· Personal Announcement: On Tuesday, July 11, Harvick kicked off his SiriusXM Radio show “Happy Hours” by announcing that he and wife DeLana are expecting to add a daughter to their family around the first of the year.

· Harvick’s Happy Hours on SiriusXM Radio: On March 14, Harvick announced that he will hostHappy Hours on SiriusXM Radio. The show debuted March 28 and airs on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. ET, featuring Harvick’s distinctive perspective on his sport and life outside the track. Harvick and co-host Matt Yocum take calls from listeners and give NASCAR fans a unique view on the driver’s life and interests when he is away from the racecar.

· Back in the Broadcast Booth: Harvick is set to join the FOX Sports television booth for the final time in 2017 this weekend at Talladega, where he will broadcast both NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying and race on Saturday. He has worked on the FOX TV broadcast crew for five Xfinity Series races and Saturday afternoon will mark his third appearance in the Camping World Truck Series booth.

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