Written by:
NASCAR Communications
01/13/2008
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Kevin Harvick prepares to drive during NASCAR testing at Daytona. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR Photo)
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HERB BRANHAM: We are now joined by the defending champion of the Daytona 500, driver of the #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet, Kevin Harvick. Last year was big. How big would it be to win it again, and it's the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
KEVIN HARVICK: I think to just the win the Daytona 500 last year was something that I don't think I realized the magnitude of the race obviously, and to understand that and be able to come back and just when you rolled in this morning just kind of realize everything that happened the last February. And being the 50th anniversary of the race and being able to be a part of the 50th anniversary celebration with all the past winners is something that's been pretty cool to be a part of.
Q. Do you feel like today's test session was sort of the first step in getting you there to repeat the victory?
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I liked the fact that our main goal today was to be the first ones on the racetrack, and we accomplished that. We came down here with kind of a specific plan to engine wise with components that they ran, that they started with last week just to kind of get a handle on our whole company's, I guess, grasp of what car is the fastest and what car is not fast. So we're trying to sort that out between the six or eight cars that we have.
So we kind of came down here not with a speed plan, I guess you would say. It's just more of just kind of going through the plan of which cars, just deciding which car is which, and after we get through with that, we're still not done. We'll have changed two or three different engines and just going through those motions.
So we haven't really gotten to our cars. Clinton coming last week was great because right out of the box the car drives good, and there's a definite difference between the two cars. We kind of came down with a little bit different plan than normal but we accomplished our goal and that was to be the first ones on the track, so mission accomplished for the day.
Q. When you left here last year, given the way you had finished the previous season, you very much looked like a championship contender. What happened as the season went on? You just weren't as strong down the stretch.
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, I think our cars were strong. I think California kind of set the tone for our whole season. Five laps to go we get a flat tire and have a chance to probably win the race, and it just seemed like everything kind of went that way all year. Every time we had a good day, something went wrong, and every time we had a bad day it got worse.
In the end I think it shows the maturity of the team. I don't look at last year as really any different circumstances that we
were put through than 2002, and the results at the end of the year were better. So it's just we had a chance to win seven
or eight races, and just every time something, whether it was our fault or just circumstances, it went wrong.
The year before everything went right, and last year, just we couldn't make everything go our way when we needed a break here and there.
Q. Granted, the truck and the car are different vehicles, but as the championship winning truck owner, is there anything that transpired last year in Ron's drive to the championship that you think you could apply to your season this year in the car?
KEVIN HARVICK: I think his attitude. Ron has a great attitude with his people, and we've tried to I've tried to over the off-season tried to apply and come in with a better attitude and tried to apply that to my team. I think this morning everything went really good, and the guys are working with a little bit of spring in their step, and we all have a little bit more spring in our steps.
Hornaday, car-to-truck-wise, these cars and those trucks, they don't drive anything similar. I know a lot of people have talked about the way that they drive, but they don't drive very similar. I think the biggest thing Ron does is he's so good
with his people, and I think that's probably the biggest thing that we've tried to apply from my standpoint to our team.
