HARVICK WINS AT TEXAS, CLOSES IN ON BUSCH VICTORY MARK


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Source: Janice Goss
Date: 11/06/2006

For the second straight year, Kevin Harvick pulled off the win at the Texas Motor Speedway, giving him nine wins on the season, one short of the series record set by Sam Ard in 1983.
Harvick put together another dominant performance, leading 145 of 200 laps en route to his 26th NASCAR Busch Series victory, leading the most laps in a race for the sixth time of the season. Harvick has won both races since clinching the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series championship and has won three of his last four starts.
In qualifying Friday evening, Harvick lapped the 1.5-mile Texas oval in 28.241 seconds (191.211 mph), posting the fourth-fastest time of the session.
When the green flag dropped on the 43-car field, Harvick fell one spot while he patiently waited for the field to sort out. Once that happened, the Bakersfield, Calif., native began methodically working his way through the field.
“Happy” was back to fourth when the field crossed the start/finish line to compete lap 15 and had moved into the third as the second caution flag was displayed on lap 31.
Crew chief Shane Wilson called Harvick to pit road one circuit later, after Harvick informed him the Coast Guard Chevy was a little tight off the corners. Following a four-tire pit stop, with only a slight air pressure adjustment, Harvick returned to the track third in the running order for the restart on lap 34.
Harvick once again returned his focus to the front of the field. He took over the second spot on lap 44 and passed Tony Stewart on lap 45 to take the lead.
The 30-year-old driver stretched the lead to almost a second until a caution flag was displayed on lap 64 for a single car accident in turn four. Thought the Coast Guard Chevy was fast, the handling could stand a bit of tweaking to find the balance Harvick needed to remain up front.
Minor air pressure adjustments were in order for the Coast Guard Chevrolet to assist Harvick with the handling. Harvick returned to competition on lap 73 first in the running order and remained there until green flag pit stops started on lap 128.
Harvick hit pit road for one final stop on lap 135. The crew performed lightening-fast and sent Harvick back on track in the 10th position. Once all the cars on the track had pitted, Harvick once again inherited the lead on lap 145.
Although Harvick continued to be one of the fastest on the track, he had to find some way to save fuel in the final 55 laps, which would be the most laps run on a tank of fuel all day. Harvick slowed his No. 21 Coast Guard Chevy just a bit to help conserve fuel. Stewart crept closer but Lady Luck loves Harvick. His red and blue Monte Carlo did run out of fuel – as it crossed the finish.
Harvick took the checkered flag and said on the radio: “Out of gas, boys. Awesome!”
Harvick beat fellow Cup star Stewart to the finish by 0.863-seconds. Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton was third, followed by pole-winner Mark Martin and Ron Hornaday Jr.
Harvick’s other RCR teammate Clint Bowyer finished 17th.
Next up for Harvick and Team Coast Guard is the November 11 Arizona Travel 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. The event will take the green flag at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and will be televised live on NBC. The race will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and XM Satellite Radio.





KEVIN HARVICK - NO. 21 COAST GUARD CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO SS –


“Talk about cutting it close. I didn’t have any gas left to do any burnouts. It ran out coming across the start/finish line.”


“It’s been a great year. This team has won 10 races, nine with me. We get in position and this year we’ve been able to capitalize on good race cars.”


“I saved gas as much as I could. Once I saw the 19 in my mirror, I needed to keep him as far back as possible. You save as much as you can until you feel like you can’t hold the guy off behind you.”


 

 



 

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