Harvick and His No. 29 Rheem Team Aim for Top-Five Finish at Martinsville

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Goody’s Headache Shot 500
October 27, 2013 – Martinsville Speedway
Kevin Harvick, No. 29

Kevin Harvick will pilot chassis No. 420 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500. Harvick has driven this RCR-prepared machine four times this season at Martinsville Speedway in April, to Victory Lane at Richmond International Raceway in May, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July and again at Richmond in September. Harvick has made 24 Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville Speedway dating back to the 2001 season. Throughout his years in the Sprint Cup Series, the California native has made one trip to Victory Lane (April 2011). Harvick has also collected one pole award (2010), three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 13.7 paired with an average finishing position of 16.6, has completed 97.5 percent (11,736 of 12,034) of the laps contested and has 363 laps led to his credit.

What is it like to race at Martinsville Speedway?

Racing at Martinsville Speedway is definitely a challenge. You have the tight turns and you also have to worry about the tires falling off. It creates the ultimate challenge of keeping track position, dealing with the fall off of the car, deciding whether you want to be good on the start or end of a run, and when to get tires. There are a lot of challenges in strategy, but also in balancing your car at Martinsville. So, not only does the race track itself create a lot to challenges with the tight racing quarters, but you deal with challenges in the strategy as well. – Kevin Harvick

You talked about the tires falling off during a run at Martinsville Speedway. Do you think this is a good thing?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I was brought up racing was on a lot of old worn out short tracks that wore out the tires, so we always had to worry about tire management, strategy and what we put underneath our cars always came into play as we raced on those types of tracks. I think Martinsville (Speedway) is very similar to those tracks I used to race on, and is a good short track that has a lot of elements to think about in order to have a good day. – Kevin Harvick

There’s a lot of stress that goes along with things like pack racing at Talladega Superspeedway and battling traffic at Martinsville Speedway. How much does that weigh on you as a driver?

They are completely different styles of racing, but you can still get caught up in someone else’s mess really quick. No matter where you’re running. If you’re the leader and you come up on lap traffic, they want to stay on the lead lap and they will usually become more aggressive as they start pushing their way through the cars ahead of them. Martinsville (Speedway) is much like Talladega (Superspeedway) in the sense that you can get caught up in someone’s mess, and it’s just part of the game that you have to deal with. – Kevin Harvick

Radio & TV

ESPN’s live coverage from Martinsville Speedway begins Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The race will also be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Results at Martinsville Speedway

• Starts: 24
• Wins: 1
• Poles: 0
• Top 5: 3
• Top 10: 10
• Laps Led: 363
• Average Start: 13.7
• Average Finish: 16.58