KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 RHEEM CHEVROLET – FINISHED SECOND
POST RACE TRANSCRIPT:
KERRY THARP: Let’s get started in our post-race. We’ll roll right into the eighth annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event here at Phoenix International Raceway, Race 2 of the 2012 season. Our race runner up at today’s eighth annual Subway Fresh Fit 500 is Kevin Harvick, and he drove the No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Second place finish today and Kevin is third in points, eight out of the first place points leader. Kevin, talk about I know you said there on pit road that you were proud of your team for gutting it out here today even though you ran just a little bit shy of Sunoco there at the end.
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, when you come out of caution they tell you you’re nine laps short, you really don’t think there’s any possibility to make it. But a couple cautions and a little bit of saving and a little bit tighter crunch on the numbers, we wound up about a lap short.
But those are the types of things you’ve got to do to take the chances, and when you’re close enough to at least coast around, they did a good job. So we came here and struggled at the last race here and ran 25th, 30th all day and came back and raced for a win today. So they’ve done a good job over the winter, and hopefully that continues over the next few weeks in the preparation that they’ve done through the winter.
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Tony Stewart saw a potential top-10 result disappear when a freak mid-race engine issue caused him to lose two laps and finish a disappointing 22nd in the Subway Fresh Fit 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.
YOU’RE THE LAST ONE TO GO OUT THERE AND YOU TAGGED A GOOD NUMBER ON THE BOARD. BUT TALK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK THINGS ARE GOING FOR YOU THIS WEEKEND
RICKY STENHOUSE JR., No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang (Finished 3rd) – WHAT MORE DID YOU NEED THERE AT THE FINISH? “I think we had the fast race car there at the end. We just couldn’t go on restarts. We couldn’t get the grip and tires we needed the first lap or two and that gave up a lot of track position. We bounced back, fought hard and got a third place finish out of it. Not too bad for how far we fell back a few times. I just want to thank all the fans for coming out here. We really appreciate it and glad we could put on a show for you.”
HOW IS THE TRACK DIFFERENT FROM WHEN YOU WON HERE AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AS YOU DEFEND YOUR RACE WIN? “It was bittersweet to be out there on that backhoe. Knowing that we had just won the race, I didn’t want to see any changes happen to the race track, but at the same time I was excited for PIR (Phoenix International Raceway) and what they were going to be doing here. Obviously, they’ve built something that is very cool. Anytime a new pavement gets laid down on a track you go through some tricky times with tires and getting the surface worn in. It came in really nicely at the end of the race last year and already you can see what a difference that period of time and the amount of laps that has been put on the track. I’m really looking forward to a good race this weekend. We made some mistakes the last time we were here and had some brake issues and dealt with some things that really took us out of contention. We’re pretty excited about being back here. We feel like this is a good track for us and hopefully the things we learned are going to be beneficial this time around.”