Sights set on New Hampshire Motor Speedway for RCR Driver Kevin Harvick as the Race to the Chase begins.

Photo taken by me (Brian Vermette) at New Hampshire last September on pit road before the start of the Sylvania 300.

With the road course in the Sonoma Valley in the record books, now it’s the Magic Mile’s turn, New Hampshire Motor Speedway will play host to two important races this season and this weekend’s race marks the start of the Race to the Chase, a 10-race strength covering all four types of racetracks from the superspeedway in Daytona next weekend, the famous yard of bricks at Indianapolis, the 2-mile high banks of Michigan, the historical road course in Watkins Glen, the 90+ degree heat night race at California Speedway and the good old short track action under the lights at Bristol and finally ending up at the final cut-off race for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship at Richmond.

For Richard Childress Racing, all three of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have visited victory lane at least once their Cup Series careers from Jeff Burton leading all 300 laps back in the fall of 2000, NASCAR fans may remember that race for three simple words, can you say “restrictor plate racing” on the “Magic Mile”, nevertheless, he passed polesitter Bobby Labonte and never looked back all day long, to the most recent RCR winner Clint Bowyer, who was the dark horse driver going into last year’s Chase races gave everyone something to talk about when he started from the pole and dominated the race to pickup his first Cup Series career victory, what a performance.

However, when it comes to RCR drivers not only running well, but visiting victory lane in New Hampshire not only in the Cup Series, but in the now Nationwide Series, one driver stands out, Kevin Harvick, he seems to be right at home on the flat-track with first a runner up finish to Carl Edwards in 2006, a race that I was watched in the grandstands at the start/finish line where Carl Edwards got out to a good lead after a pitstop, while Kevin Harvick who was faster at times over Edwards was running him down, but couldn’t caught him in the closing laps, that was a good battle for the victory and then last year, Harvick did one better by not only starting on pole (3rd pole at NHMS, 4th if you count the rain out in 2003), but this time nothing would stop him as Harvick won the race over none other than Carl Edwards.

While Kevin Harvick has had good success in now the Nationwide Series on Saturday, he has had his fair share of success on Sunday in the Cup Series races with winning from the pole in the Sylvania 300 back in 2006 driving the #29 Reese car to victory. Last year at now NHMS, he finished 8th in the July race and 17th in the September race.

For the September race where his teammate Clint Bowyer won, I was sitting on top of his pitbox (courtesy of his sponsor Shell) and he was running up in the top 10 (around 7th place or so) most of the day with somewhat an interesting handling racecar and if it wasn’t for that blown right front tire, he would have finished somewhere in the top 10 easily.

On that very day, I had the privilege courtesy of Shell and Edelman PR of doing a raceday feature on Kevin Harvick from the final prep work in the garage, thru the three inspection bays (at least from what I saw) to how he did throughout the race, which was called “From the garage to the pits: The Best Seat in the House in New Hampshire.” I never know just how much goes on race morning, from making sure the motor is tuned just right, to the little changes to the setup and just what the pit crews have to do before, during and after the race in such a tight area.

I can’t begin to describe just how tight it is down on pitroad during a Cup Series race and for those crew member to only check tire pressure, but to go get fuel each time and return a used set of tires to the garage area, the traffic on that little road behind the pits is even worse than what’s on pitroad, hat’s off to the crews too.

Now going into Sunday’s Lenox Tools 301 at NHMS (yes that’s an extra mile – would have made a difference last year), these next 10-races for RCR Racing are huge, not just to keep Jeff Burton who is 2nd in NSCS points -103 back from the leader “Shrub” and his teammate Clint Bowyer who is 10th in NSCS points -484 behind the leader in the top 12, but these races are huge for the Shell driver himself Kevin Harvick, who now finds himself 13th in NSCS points and in a fight to get back in the top 12 before Richmond, but never count Harvick out and with his stats at New Hampshire, what a perfect place to start.

For this blogger/writer, this Sunday in New Hampshire, I will have the privilege courtesy of his sponsor Shell and Edelman PR of not only doing a second feature on Kevin Harvick and the entire #29 Shell RCR Racing team, but following all three RCR Sprint Cup Series drivers in their quest to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, but make no mistake, Kevin Harvick is the man on Sunday I will be watching and I am looking forward to sitting up on Kevin Harvick’s pitbox as he goes for another victory at the “Magic Mile”.

And if you are going up to New Hampshire as a fan this weekend, we all know how high gasoline and diesel prices are right now, so be sure to check out this article called “How to stretch a gallon of gasoline” before you go, it just might help. Good luck to Kevin Harvick and his teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer on Sunday, see yeah at the race.

- Racedriven