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NEWS
January 3, 2008
Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 champion
Kevin Harvick enters TD Banknorth 250
OXFORD, Maine - Kevin Harvick is
stock car racing’s equivalent of a big-game quarterback.
Consider the 2007 season, when
Harvick swept the season-opening Daytona 500 and Orbitz 300 at
Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Three months later, with
another million-dollar jackpot sitting on the table, Harvick scored
his first-ever victory in the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge at
Lowe’s (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
Harvick also is part of a new NASCAR
generation that pledges its allegiance to racing anything, anywhere,
at any time. Pull all those clues together and it’s no surprise
that Harvick has announced his entry into the 2008 TD Banknorth 250
at Oxford Plains Speedway.
The 35th annual short track
extravaganza is set for Sunday, July 20. It is again an off-weekend
for NASCAR’s premier series, ensuring that at least one NASCAR
Sprint Cup driver will enter the TD Banknorth 250 for the fifth
consecutive year.
“I was delighted when Kevin
contacted us about competing in the TD Banknorth 250,” said OPS
owner Bill Ryan. “When you look at the last four events, the bar
was set extremely high with champions such as Matt Kenseth, Kurt
Busch and Terry Labonte and a future champion like Kyle Busch
choosing to compete at Oxford. Kevin is a tremendous addition to
that list and an immediate threat to win the race.”
Harvick, 32, has accumulated an
amazing list of accomplishments in his relatively young NASCAR
career, including a combined five championships as a driver and team
co-owner.
Even the most casual fans know
Harvick for his victories in two of the most dramatic finishes in
NASCAR Sprint Cup history. Last February, Harvick rallied from deep
in the field to edge Mark Martin by little more than the length of a
fender and win the Daytona 500.
That performance recalled an
emotional victory seven years earlier at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor
Speedway. In only his third Cup start, steering a car formerly
driven by the late, seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt,
Harvick defeated Jeff Gordon in a photo finish.
Harvick has also won one of the
sport's biggest races in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway in 2003.
Harvick is the 2006 and 2001 NASCAR
Nationwide Series champion. In 2007, he expanded his horizons by
collecting a title as a team co-owner along with his wife, DeLana,
when Ron Hornaday directed his Kevin Harvick Inc., ride to the Truck
Series championship.
So, with all those accomplishments on
Harvick’s résumé, why the TD Banknorth 250 on what otherwise
would be an off weekend?
That live-to-race mentality mentioned
earlier is part of the story, but there is also a measure of family
tradition involved. Harvick’s late father-in-law, John Linville,
unsuccessfully attempted to qualify at Oxford on several occasions
in the 1980s, when he was a mainstay during the early years of the
Nationwide Series.
“I’ve heard nothing but good
things about Oxford Plains Speedway,” Harvick said. “From all
the stories I heard about last year’s race, I can only imagine
what this years has in store. When it is all said and done, I would
like to tell people that I not only made the show, but won the
race."
Harvick will add his name to a list
of more than 40 drivers who have competed in both the Cup series and
the TD Banknorth 250.
He also creates a milestone by
becoming the 10th Daytona 500 winner to participate, joining a
who’s-who of the sport that features Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip,
Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Geoff Bodine, Davey
Allison, Ward Burton and Dwayne “Tiny” Lund. Those drivers have
combined for 11 Cup championships. Bodine was the first driver to
win multiple TD Banknorth 250 titles, achieving that status
back-to-back in 1980 and 1981.
“The history of this race is
staggering, and having Kevin Harvick enter the 2008 event writes
another amazing chapter six months ahead of time,” said Ryan.
“With Kevin Harvick, the fans in our region get an opportunity to
see a driver who has been a Chase for the Championship contender and
someone who has won most of the major races in the sport. But there
are so many unique variables involved in a TD Banknorth 250 that it
will be fun to see if Kevin can pull it off.”
Car and sponsorship details for
Harvick’s entry in the prestigious, lucrative late model race are
to be announced.
After Earnhardt’s death at Daytona
in 2001, Harvick tirelessly competed for the championship in both
the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series for Richard Childress Racing,
becoming the first driver to do so many years before it became
fashionable. Harvick was rewarded with a Nationwide title in only
his second full season, plus a ninth-place finish and Rookie of the
Year honors in Cup.
With six Nationwide Series wins in
2007, Harvick moved into second in all-time wins behind Martin with
32 victories in the leading support division. He captured nine
checkered flags in his second Nationwide championship campaign in
2006.
Astonishingly, Harvick’s racing
career already spans almost three decades. According to his
autobiography at kevinharvick.com, Harvick received a go-kart as a
kindergarten graduation present in 1980. After seven national and
two Grand National kart championships, Harvick advanced to stock
cars and NASCAR’s regional touring series as a teenager. He
pocketed the Winston West championship in 1998, and a brief stint in
the Truck Series caught the eye of Childress shortly
thereafter.
TD Banknorth 250 tickets are priced
at $50, $40 and $30. A seating chart is available on online at _www.oxfordplains.com_
(http://www.oxfordplains.com)
. For more information about specific seat availability or to
purchase tickets, please stop by the Speedway office on Route 26 or
call (207) 539-8865 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Fans who purchased seats for the 2007 race will be allowed
to reserve those same tickets until early February. Details and
deadlines will be announced on the Speedway web site.
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