Kevin Harvick will once again lead the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for the Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. After winning Nationwide Series races last year at a short track and a 1.5-mile track in a KHI-owned car, Harvick is determined to add a superspeedwy victory to the list this season.

In this race last year, Harvick won the pole and finished the race 11th-place. In 15 total Nationwide Series starts at the famous 2.5-mile track, Harvick has one win, 10 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. He has led a total of 175 laps, completed 100 percent of the laps attempted, has an average starting position of 10.0 and an average finishing position of 6.1.

Harvick’s 2007 Nationwide Series victory at the track marked his first superspeedway win across all three series. In addition to the win, he swept the weekend by winning his first career Daytona 500 the following day. In 2009, Harvick added a Budweiser Shootout win to his list of successes at Daytona. 

ONE DOZEN AND COUNTING: The 2010 season will mark Harvick’s 12th season competing in the Nationwide Series. Harvick made his series debut at the age of 23 for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) at Rockingham (N.C) Speedway on October 23, 1999.

WELCOME BACK: For the second year in a row, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches will adorn the sides of the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet. Jimmy John’s returns to KHI for their second season as a primary and associate sponsor. Druing the 2009 season, Harvick earned his first Nationwide Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in dominating fashion behind the wheel of a ‘freaky fast’ Jimmy John’s car.

WEST COAST PAIRING: The 2010 season will mark the second full season that Harvick and crew chief Ernie Cope join forces in the Nationwide Series. Both west coast natives, Harvick from Bakersfield, California and Cope from Tacoma, Washington, enter the season looking to continue to bring their west coast swing to NASCAR’s top ranks. During the 2009 season, the pair earned two wins, including Harvick’s first win in a KHI-owned car, two poles, 14 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 22 starts for Harvick.

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK:

With KHI having 3 superspeedway wins to its credit and you having won at a short track and a 1.5-mile track in 2009 in a KHI-owned car, what would it mean to add a superspeedway win to your list of KHI victories? “I think Daytona is our most important race. I’ve been able to win on both the Cup and Nationwide side and this year we’ve put a lot of effort into our Nationwide and Truck programs. The superspeedway races are important and we’ve won a few races on the Nationwide program without me driving. I really only think I’ve run a few races in our stuff and hopefully, we can add that one to the list of wins.”

With Tony Stewart as a teammate in Daytona this year, how will that effect how you race? “I’ll race like I always have. I’ll race hard and hopefully one of the two cars can win the race. I know we will help each other to accomplish that, so it’ll be fun to have him back in one of our cars and I think anything less than a win from one of us will be a disappointment.”

Other than Stewart, who is someone else in the Nationwide Series that you will look to as a drafting partner? “It all depends on who you are around, who has fast cars, who you end up working with on a particular day and how your car is handling. The first few laps have a lot to do with who you work with. The main thing is to get your car handling good and if you have a fast car, you can usually find good partners.”

The No. 33 team ended last season on a high note with a win and consistently running in the top five. During the off season the team has worked hard building cars and testing in preparation for the 2010 season. Can you talk about the team and what your expectations are kicking off the 2010 season? How well the team has come together over the last year? “This has been a good winter for us. We’ve had very little turn over. Obviously Ernie (Cope, crew chief) and I have developed a really unique relationship, a good relationship and we feel like we’ve made our team better and our cars have gotten better. We feel like we have more power and have gotten more down force. Everything we’ve done, we felt like it has been a positive. We expect, with our experience working through last year, to go out and be just as competitive and hopefully, win more races.”

CHASSIS HISTORY: KHI co-owner Harvick will pilot chassis No. 052 this weekend for the 2010 season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. This is a brand-new chassis to the KHI stables and this will mark its first on-track appearance.

ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Nationwide Series by following @KHI_NNS. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Truck Series teams @KHI_TruckSeries. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick @KevinHarvick and @DeLanaHarvick.