Saturday, August 11 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, NY

Kevin Harvick celebrates his win...

Harvick Wins Second Straight Road Course Race

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 11, 2007)--This week Kevin Harvick got to do his burnout without unexpected company.

Driving a car he described as “just flat-out awesome,” Harvick beat Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton to the finish line by a comfortable 3.529 seconds to win Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen. The victory was Harvick’s second straight, his 31st in the Busch Series--tied with Jack Ingram for second all-time--and the fifth this season in 17 starts.

The 2006 series champion ran away from the rest of the field at Watkins Glen International after a restart on Lap 73. Polesitter Kurt Busch tried to rally over the closing laps, but by the end of the race, Busch had worn out his brakes in attempt to make up for an early four-tire pit top that had cost him valuable track position.

Busch faded to third by the finish, a few car lengths ahead of Paul Menard in fourth. Rookie Brad Coleman ran fifth, followed by Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Casey Mears, Ryan Newman and Andy Lally.

After short-pitting on Lap 4, Harvick came to the pits for the final time under caution on Lap 39 and stretched his fuel the rest of the way in the 82-lap event. He restarted seventh on Lap 41, but by the time the fielded took the green flag on Lap 52 after a caution for debris, Harvick was in the lead and well on the way to a second straight Saturday celebration.

This time, however, he didn’t have a disgruntled Robby Gordon as a distraction. Gordon had done a simultaneous burnout with Harvick last Saturday at Montreal in protest of a scoring decision that cost Gordon a chance to win the inaugural Busch race at Montreal.

“It was a really, really smart race that we ran, and we had a really fast car to go with it,” Harvick said. “We stuck to our plan and did everything we planned to do when we were close to our (pit) windows.”

Burton’s chances diminished when he tangled with David Reutimann in the inner loop early in the race and damaged his left front fender. The resulting aerodynamic disadvantage cost Burton the opportunity to challenge his teammate for the win.

“I got a fender torn off of it racing with a lapped car,” Burton said. “That was my fault, and that hurt us throughout the day.”

An optimistic start to the day disintegrated for Busch, who had to abuse his equipment to get back to the front.

“I felt like we had a great day in store for us,” Busch said. “When we pitted early in the race, some guys took fuel only, and that’s what got us way behind. Then our brakes faded away. We had a really good car, really fast most of the day--just behind on pit strategy, I guess. I overworked it, which I didn’t think I could with this little Busch car.”

Harvick didn’t get much recognition for his win in Montreal, as overshadowed as it was by the controversy involving Gordon and Australian Marcos Ambrose, whom Gordon spun with two laps remaining.

“This put the exclamation point on it,” Harvick said of the victory at Watkins Glen. “To have them hardly talk about you when you win a race is kind of frustrating, but you don’t whine about it.

“You just go back out there.”

See the Event Stats section following for complete race results and point standings...

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Kevin Harvick won the Zippo 200 at the Glen, his 31st victory in 183 NASCAR Busch Series races. He tied Jack Ingram for second on the all-time NASCAR Busch Series winners list.
• This is his fifth victory and 16th top-10 finish in 17 NASCAR Busch Series races in 2007.
• Harvick also won the NAPA Auto Parts 200 last week at Montreal, becoming the first driver to win back-to-back NASCAR Busch Series road-course races since Ron Fellows won here at Watkins Glen in 2000 and 2001.
• This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in four races at Watkins Glen.
• Jeff Burton (second) posted his 11th top-10 finish in 13 races in 2007. Burton gave car owner Richard Childress a sweep of the top-two positions.
• Kurt Busch (third) posted his third top-10 finish and his season-best in four races this season.
• Brad Coleman (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Carl Edwards now leads the NASCAR Busch series point standings by 766 points over David Reutimann.

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

Entry List

Saturday First & Only Practice

Qualifying Order

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings

Schedule/Broadcast Times

Practice: Friday, August 10 (ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m./AT, 5:30 p.m./ET)

Qualifying: Saturday, August 11 (ESPN2 & TSN-Alt at 12:30 p.m/AT, 11:30 a.m./ET

Pre-Race Show: Saturday, August 4 (ESPN2 & TSN-Alt at 4 p.m./AT, 3 p.m./ET)

Race: Saturday, August 4 (ESPN2 $ TSN-Alt at 4:30 p.m./AT, 3:30 p.m./ET)

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Zippo 200 at The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International
The Date: August 11, 20071
The Time: 4 p.m./AT, 3 p.m./ET
TV: ESPN2 & TSN-Alt, 3"30 p.m./AT, 2:30 p.m./ET
Track Layout: 2.45-mile road course
Race Purse: $1,114,803
2006 Winner: Kurt Busch
2006 Pole: Kurt Busch
Schedule (track local time/ET): Fri. – 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. – Practice; 5:30 p.m. – Final Practice (45 minutes, time permitting). Sat. 11:35 a.m. – NASCAR Road Race Qualifying (Impound).
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Green Flag Notes

• INSIGHT FROM JOE BALASH, NASCAR BUSCH SERIES DIRECTOR...“Watkins Glen, being the second of back-to-back road-course events, presents a unique challenge to the NASCAR Busch Series teams. “Teams have either had to build a third road course car to be prepared, or they’re spending extra time driving from Montreal to Watkins Glen so they can get to the garage early to do the maintenance on their cars from last weekend. “A number of NASCAR Busch Series teams arrived early Monday to change engines, rebuild brakes, switch out transmissions and restore sheet metal on the road-course cars. “This is the third of three road-courses in 2007 which gives our drivers a broad experience to build their road course talents. “The Glen is a wider track with more sweeping turns. It races more like a speedway than the tight chicane-like turns of Montreal.
• Montreal’s native open-wheel son is back for more NASCAR racing following his stunning debut last week at his home track. Patrick Carpentier (No. 22 Supercuts Dodge) is entered in Saturday’s race for Fitz Motorsports and also in Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event, driving the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge in place of Scott Riggs. Last week, Carpentier won the Busch Pole in his first NASCAR national series qualifying attempt, then promptly set the pace at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, leading the first six laps – 14 overall – before finally drag-racing two-time series champion Kevin Harvick (No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet) for the victory. Carpentier finished second.
• Stephen Leicht (No. 90 CitiFinancial Ford) had his second-best career finish (fifth) at Montreal last Saturday and looks to keep his season-long momentum going at Watkins Glen. The 20-year-old moved up one spot to a career-best, seventh-place ranking in the NASCAR Busch Series standings thanks to his finish at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a marked improvement from his 27th-place result in Mexico City last March. Five members of Leicht’s team went directly from Montreal to Watkins Glen – one of numerous teams handling preparations on their cars there due to the limited turnaround time for a second consecutive road-course race – a first in the NASCAR Busch Series. Ryan Fugle, an engineer and shock specialist on the No. 90 team, returns home to New York this weekend. Fugle is a native of Livonia, 45 minutes from Watkins Glen.
• The Watkins Glen entry list has a similar flavor to last week’s entries in Montreal, especially on the road-course “ringer” side. In addition to previously-mentioned aces Boris Said (No. 9 Ingersoll Rand Dodge), Patrick Carpentier, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Robby Gordon, others are back to try their hand for the second week in a row. Fourth-place Montreal finisher and three-time Watkins Glen winner Ron Fellows (No. 33 RoadLoans.com Chevrolet) returns along with Andy Pilgrim (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet), Jorge Goeters (No. 27 Brewco Motorsports Ford), Andy Lally (No. 47 Clorox Ford) and Scott Gaylord (No. 52 Means Motorsports Ford). Also back is last week’s Montreal winner and reigning series champion Kevin Harvick.
• Andy Pilgrim may be a darkhorse at Watkins Glen. After running solidly in Montreal in his first stock-car outing (15th), the native of Nottingham, England who became a U.S. citizen in 1998 has 28 career starts at The Glen in seven different racing series, most recently in June, when he won the pole for the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT race, finishing fourth. All told at The Glen, Pilgrim has three wins, five poles and 17 top-five finishes. After gaining experience in Montreal, Andy Lally is another driver to watch this weekend. The three-time Grand Am GT Sports Car champion also has turned plenty of laps at Watkins Glen and has won twice there.
• Former NASCAR Busch Series regulars Paul Menard (No. 15 Menards Chevrolet) and Johnny Sauter (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet) renew their old series and state rivalry at Watkins Glen this weekend. Menard (Eau Claire) and Sauter (Necedah) are Wisconsin natives who have raced against each basis in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series this season, but will be meeting for only the second time in 2007 in NASCAR Busch Series competition. Menard finished sixth in the series standings last year, Sauter eighth. Both have raced twice before at The Glen in the NASCAR Busch Series, with Menard’s eighth place in 2005 the best among the two drivers.

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