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KEVIN HARVICK – 2019 Kentucky Race Advance

Kevin Harvick has won just about everywhere he’s raced.

He’s scored 106 total NASCAR victories (45 in the Cup Series, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Truck Series) and only three other drivers in NASCAR history have passed 100 wins in its top three series: Richard Petty, David Pearson and Kyle Busch.

Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2014, as well as the 2001 and 2006 NASCAR Xfinity titles. He’s one of only four drivers to win the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500.

However he has not won at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, nor at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, site of Saturday night’s Kentucky 400. But he’s come close at Kentucky, having finished in the top-10 in six consecutive races races there, including his first top-five when he came home fifth in 2018.

Harvick has scored two Xfinity Series wins at the 1.5 mile oval, the first coming in 2001 and followed up 13 years later in 2014.

While he’s looking for his first Cup Series win at Kentucky, so is sponsor, Hunt Brothers Pizza.

Hunt Brothers Pizza has sponsored Harvick in NASCAR for 10 years and, last year, he took the company to victory lane by winning the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He has also won two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races with Hunt Brothers as a sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in 2011 and at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway earlier that season.

Hunt Brothers Pizza is sponsoring Harvick in three NASCAR Cup Series races in 2019 and Kentucky is the second. The company also sponsored him in the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race in 2014 and 2015, which were conducted at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Harvick finished second in both races.

With more than 7,800 locations in 28 states, Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go Hunk, perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with “All Toppings No Extra Charge.” Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Hunt Brothers Pizza is family owned and operated with more than 25 years of experience serving great pizza to convenience store shoppers through its store partners.

Harvick, Hunt Brothers Pizza and the rest of the No. 4 team are hoping they can “cook up” a victory this week.

 

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

 

You’ve scored six straight top-10s at Kentucky but are still looking for that first win. What makes Kentucky so challenging?

“We’ve actually run really well there the last couple of years and led a lot of laps. I’m not sure it is any one thing that makes Kentucky challenging, to be honest, just for the fact that they’ve recently repaved it and it really is a unique track where it is hard to get everything just right.”

What challenges does the heat in Kentucky present this time of year?

“Kentucky is always a hot race and we’ve had some weather there over the last few years but, to be honest, it’s the same for everyone. It really just comes down to preparation for the driver and the team. As a driver, I have to take care of myself to make sure I’m ready. The team has to focus on the doing the best it can to make it as bearable in the car as possible. It also makes it tough on the handling of the car, especially on a new racing surface. It’s going to be very slick and hard to get the setup just right, but I’m confident in my team and the preparation they put into this race.”