‘HORSEPOWER HOUR’ TO FEATURE NASCAR SUPERSTAR KEVIN HARVICK
Jul 15, 2010
‘HORSEPOWER HOUR’ TO FEATURE NASCAR SUPERSTAR KEVIN HARVICK
NASCAR superstar Kevin Harvick will be the special guest on ‘Horsepower Hour’ this Monday evening, July 19th. The show will air from 6 to 7 pm Central time on Iowa’s Best Country, KIX 101.1 FM, as well as streamed live on the radio station’s official website, www.kixweb.com.
Harvick, who drives the Richard Childress Racing Shell/Pennzoil #29 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the KHI Jimmy Johns #33 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series, is the current Sprint Cup points leader and is fifth in the Nationwide championship chase. Harvick will be entered in Iowa Speedway’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the U.S. Cellular 250, on Saturday, July 31st.
For kindergarten graduation in 1980, Harvick received a go-kart and began his racing career. In the ten years that he competed on the go-kart circuit, Harvick earned seven National Championships and two Grand National Championships. Harvick left the go-kart circuit to begin competing in the local Late Model Series before moving on to the Featherlite Southwest Series – a regional touring division of NASCAR – in 1992. While completing high school, Harvick ran a limited schedule for two seasons and then in 1995, was back on track competing in a full season and earning Rookie of the Year honors.
Deciding to pursue a career in racing rather than study architecture in college, Harvick progressed to the Winston West Series. Two years later, Harvick won five races on his way to the 1998 Winston West Series championship. A brief stint in the Camping World Truck Series introduced Harvick to acclaimed car owner Richard Childress. Childress, having seen potential in Harvick’s hard-charging driving style, offered him a ride in the Nationwide Series. Harvick accepted the offer.
In 2000, Harvick won three races and finished third in Nationwide Series points on his way to the Rookie of the Year title. On the track, he was known for his aggressive driving, but off the track his affable attitude and ever-present smile earned him the nickname “Happy.” Harvick began 2001 as the favorite for the Nationwide Series title, and completed the year a Sprint Cup Series superstar. After losing Dale Earnhardt in a wreck on the final lap of the Daytona 500, car owner Richard Childress asked Harvick to assume driving duties for the GM Goodwrench Service Plus Monte Carlo on the Sprint Cup circuit. Despite the intense schedule and difficulty of driving full-time in two series, Harvick agreed and began the most incredible year of his life.
Harvick became the first driver in NASCAR history to run full time on both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup circuits – a total of 70 races – in one season, and the first to be named Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year the same season that he earned the Nationwide Series championship. In the fall of that same year, Kevin and wife DeLana ran their first Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) entry in the NASCAR Truck Series. The truck, built in a friend’s garage, set the stage for what is now a full-fledge racing operation.
Since his start in NASCAR’s premier racing series 10 years ago, Harvick has had many memorable career moments. He is currently one of only 20 drivers who have won a race in each of the National Series (Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup). Harvick went on to win his second Nationwide Series championship in 2006, competing in all 35 events. He recorded nine victories, 23 top-five and 32 top-10 finishes, holding an average finish of 4.6, all the while competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He earned five victories, 15 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes, and finished fourth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Continuing his success, Harvick made his mark on all three of NASCAR’s elite Series on his way to helping solidify KHI as a top team in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. In a total of 22 starts during the 2009 Nationwide Series season, Harvick was able to score two victories, including his first Nationwide Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway, two poles, 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. With the help of Harvick’s stellar stats, the No. 33 KHI Nationwide Series team finished the 2009 season fourth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Point Standings.
In addition to running in the Nationwide Series in 2009, Harvick also ran six races in the Camping World Truck Series claiming three wins, six top-five and six top-10 finishes. Of his three wins, he added his first set of back-to-back wins and first win on a 1.5-mile track by earning victories at the final two events of the season, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. While Harvick was making “guest” appearances in the Truck Series and walking away with wins, his KHI teammate, Ron Hornaday and the No. 33 KHI Truck Series team were making history of their own and made Harvick and wife DeLana two-time Truck Series Championship owners.
To cap the 2009 season, Harvick was named the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver of the decade with two series titles in the decade – 2006 and ‘01 – and was named the series’ Raybestos Rookie of the Year in 2000. During the decade, Harvick leads all NASCAR Nationwide drivers with 34 wins. Now halfway through the 2010 racing season, it is not unlikely that Harvick could conceivably win BOTH the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series titles, becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win two national championships in the same year.
Hosted by Iowa Speedway Vice President Craig Armstrong and “The Morning KIX Start” on-air personality Todd Collins, and presented by Culver’s, ‘Horsepower Hour’ airs every Monday evening during the North American racing season through the end of November. Listeners may call in to the show using the toll-free line, 800-753-6101, or e-mail questions and comments to HorsepowerHour@gmail.com. All calls and e-mails used on the air will automatically enter listeners in a drawing for high-speed Pace Car ride during the final major event weekend at Iowa Speedway on July 30th and 31st.
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