When the Nationwide Series returns to action Saturday after a couple of weekends off, many eyes will surely be on Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski to see whether or not the two drivers have put their differences aside after their brush up in the Kobalt Tools 500 Sprint Cup Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick will attempt to quietly improve his already stellar record in Thunder Valley and maybe grab a little piece of history along the way.
Harvick is already the Nationwide Series win leader at Bristol with five trips to victory lane. If he can get number six in Saturday's Scotts Turf Builder 300, or at least finish in the top-five, he'll tie series legend Tommy Houston for all-time top-five finishes in the series at 123.
"I grew up on a high-banked, half-mile race track, and it's the same style of racing that I'm used to, although Bristol is much faster," Harvick said. "But overall, Bristol just fits my driving style."
In addition to being the Nationwide Series' top Bristol winner, he also leads the series in top-fives with 12 and is second to Kenny Wallace in top-10 series finishes at the track with 15. Wallace has 18. Also worth mentioning -- Harvick also has a chance to tie the record for most Nationwide poles at Bristol Motor Speedway. With his current tally of two, one more would tie him with leaders Jason Keller and Morgan Shepherd. To say that Harvick is good at Bristol would be a gross understatement, to say the least. No wonder the driver lists Bristol Motor Speedway as one of his favorite tracks.
Another reason why Harvick has such a fondness for Thunder Valley -- it was in this race in 2009 that he captured his first Nationwide Series win in a car that he owned. The previous four came in Richard Childress Racing entries.
Bristol aside, Harvick currently occupies the seventh position in the championship points standings, still mulling over the decision of whether or not to race the full Nationwide schedule this season in an attempt to claim his third series title.
Television coverage for Saturday's Scotts Turf Builder 300 is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start on ABC.
To be notified when new articles are posted, follow me on Twitter or become a fan of NASCAR Examiner on Facebook.
Comments