By the Numbers: Texas

Harvick still searching for first Nationwide win in KHI car

By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM
April 3, 2008
10:20 AM EDT

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Two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick has no intentions of winning the 2008 points title in his first season driving his own Kevin Harvick Inc. car. But that doesn't mean Harvick isn't focused on an owners championship -- and after six races, he has to be considered one of the favorites.

The No. 33 Chevy is currently leading the owner standings thanks to dominant performances by Harvick, but also Cale Gale, who made his first start of the season at Nashville.

KHI's No. 33 Chevrolet

2008 Nationwide results

Race	Driver	Start	Finish	Status	Laps Led

Daytona	Kevin Harvick	9	21	running	0
Fontana	Kevin Harvick	6	3	running	1
Las Vegas	Kevin Harvick	10	4	running	0
Atlanta	Kevin Harvick	6	2	running	5
Bristol	Kevin Harvick	6	7	running	0
Nashville	Cale Gale	13	8	running	0

The No. 33 has an average start of 8.3 and an average finish of 7.5. Harvick has two top-fives and four top-10s in five races, and Gale earned his first top-10 in the Nationwide Series at Nashville.

As the series returns from its off week, it heads to the Lone Star State which is bad news for those chasing Harvick in the owner standings. Harvick will be back behind the wheel for Saturday's running of the O'Reilly 300 (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at Texas Motor Speedway and if past history is any indication, expect him to extend his 16-point lead.

4Number of Nationwide Series wins for Kevin Harvick at Texas, a track record.

4.8Average finish of Kevin Harvick in eight Nationwide Series races at Texas.

7Number of top-10 finishes, in eight Nationwide Series races, for Kevin Harvick at Texas. His worst finish at the track is 11th coming in this race last season.

9.0Average start for Kevin Harvick in eight Nationwide Series races at Texas.

440Number of laps, out of 1,522, that Kevin Harvick has led in Nationwide Series races at Texas. Harvick has led at least 36 laps in six of the eight races he's run and he has finished on the lead lap in all eight races.

"We've always run good [at Texas] for some reason," Harvick said. "I really like this track. We don't seem to qualify well, but we always seem to finish great. It is one of those places that really fits with what we do at KHI."

It's been a strong start to the season for Harvick, but one thing is still missing -- something he would love to find Saturday at Texas.

"Although I've got some truck wins for KHI, to get my first Nationwide Series win for KHI and my fifth Nationwide Series win at [Texas] on the same weekend would be tremendous. I think it would be a great accomplishment for not only me, but the entire organization."

Just the facts ma'am

0Number of wins for Corpus Christi, Texas, native Bobby Labonte in 20 races at Texas Motor Speedway (14 Cup races and six Nationwide races). Labonte will run both races at Texas this weekend.

0In 14 Nationwide Series races at Texas, no driver has won from the pole. In fact, only two drivers have won from a starting position inside the top five and both have done it multiple times. Mark Martin won in 1999 and 2000 from the second starting position; and Kevin Harvick won in the fall of 2005 after starting third and visited Victory Lane after starting fourth in the '06 and '07 fall races.

1Only one driver with multiple Nationwide Series wins at Texas is running in this year's race: Kevin Harvick. Mark Martin has three wins at Texas and Matt Kenseth has two but neither are entered in the race.

3There have only been three instances in 14 Nationwide Series races at Texas where the race didn't run the expected 300 miles. In 2006, Kurt Busch won in a green-white-checkered finish; in 2002 and 1999 the race was shortened due to rain.

5Number of drivers entered in this week's race with an average finish at Texas inside the top 10: Kevin Harvick (4.8), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5.5), Jeff Burton (6.3), Robby Gordon (8.0) and Kyle Busch (8.7).

6.64Average number of cautions in 14 Nationwide races at Texas for an average of 36.57 laps.

9.64Average starting position of the winners in 14 Nationwide races at Texas. The last three spring race winners have started 25th, seventh and 10th.

10.35Average number of lead changes in 14 Nationwide races at Texas.

97.3Percent of laps Jeff Burton has been in the top 15 in the last four Nationwide races he's raced in at Texas. In those four races, he has four top-10 finishes, has led at least one lap in each race and has an average finish of 6.75.

270Number of laps Kyle Busch has led at Texas, third among all drivers behind Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth and tops among drivers without a win at the track. In six races at Texas, Busch has four top-fives including two second-place finishes.

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Texas Motor Speedway

Nationwide Series winners

Year	Winner	Start	Make

1997	Mark Martin	20	Ford
1998	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	16	Chevrolet
1999	Mark Martin	2	Ford
2000	Mark Martin	2	Ford
2001	Kevin Harvick	7	Chevrolet
2002	Jeff Purvis	13	Chevrolet
2003	Joe Nemechek	7	Chevrolet
2004	Matt Kenseth	15	Ford
2005	Kasey Kahne	25	Dodge
	Kevin Harvick	3	Chevrolet
2006	Kurt Busch	7	Dodge
	Kevin Harvick	4	Chevrolet
2007	Matt Kenseth	10	Ford
	Kevin Harvick	4	Chevrolet

Nationwide Series

Official Standings

Pos.	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	+1	Clint Bowyer	877	Leader
2.	+1	Carl Edwards	866	-11
3.	+2	David Reutimann	806	-71
4.	--	David Ragan	771	-106
5.	+1	Mike Bliss	757	-120
6.	+2	Brad Keselowski	756	-121
7.	-6	Kevin Harvick	751	-126
8.	+3	Kelly Bires	708	-169
9.	-2	Mike Wallace	706	-171
10.	-1	Jason Leffler	703	-174