Kevin Harvick Will Go From All-Star To Minor Leaguer This Weekend
With a plethora of new drivers dotting the rosters this season of the Busch East Series and NASCAR West Series, some fans may have hard time recognizing all the new faces.
But one driver competing in the Busch East/NASCAR West combination event Sunday at Iowa Speedway should be fairly recognizable to most race fans.
After competing Saturday in the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., reigning Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick is scheduled to compete in Sunday’s Featherlite Coaches 200 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Ia.
Kevin Harvick was the NASCAR West Series champion in 1998. He began his Nextel Cup career for Richard Childress Racing in 2001, replacing Dale Earnhardt after the seven-time Nextel Cup champion was killed in a last lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.
“I’m pretty excited about going to Iowa to run the East-West race,” Kevin Harvick said. “I’ve never been to Iowa, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about the track. It will be nice to go back and run with the series where I basically got my start in heavier stock cars. I learned a lot in the West Series and even won the championship. I feel like it helped prepare me for my future in NASCAR’s top series.”
The race will mark the first visit to the state of Iowa for either series. Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile oval with 12-14 degrees in the corners, 10 degrees in the front stretch and four degrees in the back stretch. The facility, located just east of Des Moines, opened last year.
The race will be broadcast live on HDNet at 4 p.m.
The race will be the second event in a three-day span for the Busch East and NASCAR West drivers, who will compete in another combination event Friday at Elko (Minn.) Speedway.
Middletown native Joey Logano will be looking to keep his perfect NASCAR record alive this weekend.
Joey_logano Logano, who is competing in the Busch East Series this season as a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the NASCAR West season opener April 19 at Phoenix International Raceway and the Busch East opener nine days later at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C.
Following the race at Iowa the Busch East will next compete at South Boston (Va.) Speedway June 2 before making their 2007 Connecticut debut with the running of the TSI Harley-Davidson 150 June 8 at Stafford Motor Speedway. The Busch East will also visit Thompon International Speedway July 14 and Lime Rock Park Aug. 18.
Check out more news here on the Busch East Series.
Shawn Courchesne, 3:27 p.m.
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