TERRE HAUTE —
NASCAR Sprint Cup action continues Saturday night with the running of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Tony Stewart won the race a year ago. Kevin Harvick is the current leader in the Cup totals.
What a diffference a year has made for him and the Richard Childress Racing team.
Harvick feels good about staying at or near the top going into the 18th race of the season and second in the Race To The Chase.
He began the season by winning the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. He earned no points for that victory but it indicated the end of a slump for him and the RCR team.
A year ago, Harvick ranked 27th in the Cup totals. Now he is first, while teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer are eighth and 15th.
Harvick gives complete credit to his boss. “Richard … provides the money and resources,” he said on a teleconference this week.
Saturday’s race will be the final one on the Daytona track before it is repaved. Harvick said he is sorry about that — he won the Daytona 500 in 2007 — but feels certain the repairs will be good. “Time takes its toll; it will be totally different in February,” he said.
He noted that drivers have become more aggressive each week with the close competition. “It should exciting each week with more bent fenders,” he said.
Harvick has made it to first in the standings without winning a race but has been more than consistent. He has a series-high 12 finishes in the top 10 and is tied for first with seven top-five finishes.
“I would give our season an A+ so far coming off of last year. We’ve consistently been in the top five. That’s what you have to do to earn championship numbers,” he said.
He still rates Jimmy Johnson, who is second in the points race, as the driver to beat for another Cup title. “The ball is in our hands. We have to be prepared for it,” said Harvick.
The Cup contingent is at Chicagoland Speedway for another Saturday night race next week and will be in Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 on July 26.
“Those are places we have done well. I feel we can be competitive each week. We need to be consistent and be positive. We probably need to win one or two races and avoid disasters,” he said of keys to winning the Cup title.
The 34-year-old driver has been racing full time in the Sprint Cup races since 2001 and was rookie of the year in the series. His best finishes have been fourth twice, in 2008 and 2006.
Harvick won at Indianapolis in 2003 and won the race from the pole. “Everyone circles Indy on their schedule,” says Harvick.
Auto Racing
Year later, Harvick riding high entering Fourth weekend
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TRACKSIDE: Rain still a pain for Wabash Valley racing organizers
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Open-wheel sprint-car racing, whether it be at the national or local level, has earned a reputation over the years of generating its share of thrills and excitement for its fans and a valuable training ground for drivers seeking to hone their skills that someday might elevate them to the “major leagues” of their sport.
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Hurtubise, Sumar races on Action Track slate this weekend
Championship racing is scheduled this weekend at the Terre Haute Action Track with U.S. Auto Club features set for today and Saturday.
One USAC championship will be decided and the spread in the other division could widen or tighten up as a result of the races.
The Jim Hurtubise Classic for sprint cars is today. Only 26 points separate three drivers in the point totals. -
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Momentum, an element that can be as elusive to a race driver as that perfect setup, can spell the difference in winning or running at the rear of the pack.
It’s a force difficult to achieve and maybe even harder to maintain. One learns quickly to make the most of the opportunity when it comes his way.
It’s something Chase Stockon will carry with him coming into today’s Jim Hurtubise Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track.
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IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter had the chance to take a drive around Pocono Raceway, and promptly handed the car keys to racing great Mario Andretti.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rain forces postponement of Jim Hurtubise Classic
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METRO ROUNDUP: USAC points leader Levi Jones out for season
Levi Jones, the five-time and reigning United States Auto Club (USAC) National Sprint Car champion, will undergo season-ending surgery on Tuesday to repair two herniated discs in his neck. While a full recovery is expected, the 12-week rehabilitation period will not allow for Jones to finish out the 2012 season, where he has competed in the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car and TRAXXAS Silver Crown divisions for Tony Stewart Racing (TSR).
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JJ joins hero Mears among four-time winners of Brickyard
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Hamlin wins Brickyard 400 pole position
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Bordais, Popow take checkered flag after downpour
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TRACKSIDE: Indiana Sprint Week rises above heat, rain, poor economy
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Red-hot Hunter-Reay goes for fourth straight at Edmonton
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Clayton wins at Don Smith Classic
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The King of Speed
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Jones occupies driver’s seat: Six-time THAT winner leads Sprint Week series
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TRACKSIDE: Late models may have no long-term future in Indiana
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Kenny Wallace realizes Action Track dream
Kenny Wallace won the UMP modified feature, leading flag-to-flag for the victory on Thursday night at the Terre Haute Action Track.
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It is fittingly billed as “The Hell Tour” for many of the Midwest’s leading late model stock car drivers and their crews.
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Franchitti mired in post-Indy 500 slump
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TRACKSIDE: Retired driver LaJoie spreads the word of safety
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Trackside: Stanbrough on track at midseason
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Atchison, Virgilio win weekend races at Crossroads Dragway
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TRACKSIDE: Clauson bucks the IndyCar trend
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Stewart Racing driver hangs on in final laps
Tony Stewart Racing’s Levi Jones passed Robert Ballou with 11 laps to go and held off a charging Jon Stanbrough to take the Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series’ 25-lap feature Tuesday at the Terre Haute Action Track.
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Stewart takes nostalgic trip behind sprint wheel at Action Track
Any time the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion comes to Terre Haute, it’s a special day for Wabash Valley racing fans.
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TRACKSIDE: USAC Midget Classic not nearly as revered as it once was
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