No. 2 Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick owned Phoenix International Raceway in 2006. He won both races at the track that year, and has not finished outside the top 10 in his past four races there.
Harvick's team will be bringing the same car to Phoenix that finished sixth at the track last year. It also raced at Martinsville in October and finished 10th.
Last year was the first year NASCAR used its new Cup stock car at Phoenix. Harvick had more success in the old Cup cars, and said he noticed a difference in the how the race unfolded.
“The pace is a little bit slower," said Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "The cars fall off a little bit more. We had a good test there but I’m sure the weather will be different this weekend. However, the cars were a little bit faster than they were last year when we raced them at Phoenix. The races have been different there than they have been in the past. I think that will kind of come back as we get a better handle on the car every week.”
Harvick is coming off an 11th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway and is 59 points behind his RCR teammate Jeff Burton, who leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.
“This year we’ve been fortunate to run consistently week in and week out, and that’s what you have to do to win the championship," Harvick said. "If we can keep running consistent and put ourselves in position to win every week we will have a chance at the championship at the end of the season.”