NASCAR WCUP: Kevin Harvick Interview: Finishing second at Bristol

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 26, 2001

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo (finished 2nd): "Kevin Hamlin and the guys made great calls in the pits tonight adjusting the car. I got us behind a little bit early and then we had a bad pit stop. The guys made up for it and I made up for it on my end, I hope. These guys stand by me 100 percent. The GM Goodwrench car came up one short tonight."

(Did the body damage done in the early part of race hurt the car?) "It seemed like it went faster when we wrecked it. But I'm sure it didn't help. If we had everything straight, it might have been a little bit better through the corners. But it's still rolling and this is Bristol. So that's a good night for us."

"Tonight started off just about like last night. I wrecked the front on the car twice and we got behind and we had to go to the back. But we worked hard and made up for it in the pits and we came back up through the field so it was a good night for the GM Goodwrench car."

(Did you use the car up trying to chase Tony Stewart down early, or was he just better than you?) "I had to use my car up a little bit, but I think he was just a little bit better than we were on the long runs. The run before, 50 or 60 laps into it, he came on pretty strong. I think he got by Jeff (Gordon) there, and it looked like he had a pretty good car the longer it went. I think our only chance there at the end was for him to get stacked up there behind the lapped cars. But it wasn't meant to be. It was still a great weekend for us all around."

(What happened at the start of the race with the your frustration with the pit stops?) "Well, we just got behind and then had a bad pit stop and then they had two great pit stops there at the end of the race. But when I make mistakes they stand behind me, and when they make mistakes, I stand behind them. It's just such tight quarters and beating and banging and track position means so much that you just get a little bit frustrated sometimes. But they stand behind me all the way, and sometimes I forget that."

(How many close calls were there out there tonight?) "I think just about every lap is a close call. You're just up on top of the steering wheel every lap. There's just such tight quarters. The lapped cars are tough to get around here so you just have to pick and choose your moves and sometimes the lapped cars get going pretty good so it makes it tough to pass."

Text provided by Nancy Wager

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