Richard Childress Racing Press Release

Kevin Harvick continued the winning ways for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) with a victory in Saturday’s Yellow Transportation 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Harvick’s win, the sixth consecutive victory in Busch and NEXTEL Cup competition for RCR, was the 24th of his Busch career and moved him to third on the all-time win list. It also gave him a 729-point lead over Carl Edwards in the series point standings. Should he leave the Oct. 13 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., with at least a 760-point lead, he would clinch his second NASCAR Busch Series title.

The win is Harvick’s seventh of the season – the most in one season by a driver since Dale Earnhardt Jr. who went on to win the 1998 championship. Former champion Sam Ard holds the record with 10 wins in 1983.

In qualifying Saturday morning, Harvick lapped the 1.5-mile Kansas City oval in 31.409 seconds (171.925 mph), posting the seventh-fastest time of the session.

When the green flag dropped on the 43-car field in front of an estimated 82,000 spectators, Harvick fell a few spots 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 sixth when the field crossed the start/finish line to compete lap 18 and had moved into fourth as the first caution flag was displayed on lap 25.

Crew chief Shane Wilson called Harvick to pit road one circuit later, after Harvick informed him the Coast Guard Chevy was a little tight in the gas. Following a quick four-tire pit stop, with no adjustments, Harvick returned to the track third in the running order. Harvick remained in the top five until green flag pit stops began on lap 94.

Harvick stayed on the track long enough to lead a lap and grab five valuable points. The 30-year-old driver then hit pit road on lap 97 for a four-tire pit stop, including an air pressure adjustment -- Harvick returned to the track in the 12th position.

However, once the green flag stops were complete, the No. 21 Coast Guard machine was second in the running order behind the dominating car of Matt Kenseth. Harvick was unable to pass Kenseth until a pit stop with 35 laps to go, when Kyle Busch took only two tires and grabbed the lead on pit road and Harvick restarted second with Kenseth in third.

The 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Champion took the lead in the 185th lap and never relinquished it, even with a flurry of late restarts.

Kenseth was second, followed by Busch, Tony Stewart and Harvick’s RCR teammate Clint Bowyer, respectively.

In two weeks, the Busch Series returns to Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the 31st of the 35-race tour.

The Dollar General 300 from Concord, N.C., will take the green flag Friday, October 13 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight time and will be telecast on TNT. The event will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and XM Satellite Radio.

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

“This race was won on pit road tonight. My Coast Guard crew had a great stop that got me in front of Kenseth. The guys made my car a little better on the final stop and I was able to get past Kyle. Everything just worked out for us today.”

“I felt like we were a little off on our mile-and-a-half program. So they build a brand new car, tuned up the engine, and I felt like we were pretty good right off the truck.”

On possibly winning the Busch Championship …

“It’s an incredible accomplishment, especially since at the beginning of the year we ran a few different cars and we had to kind of move things around a little bit. The No. 21 Coast Guard Chevy has been good week-in and week-out no matter where we’ve been. The days we’ve been off, we’ve still been able to make a really good day out of it. It’s just been one of those years where everything has gone our way.”