NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Ford 200

Topics:  Ford 200

Kevin Harvick
November 14, 2008

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by tonight's third place finisher, Kevin Harvick.
Why don't you tell us about your run tonight.
KEVIN HARVICK: We had a good night. Truck was not as good the last run as what it had been the previous couple runs before that, and we got a little bit off and everybody pitted for whatever reason.
I felt like we had a good enough truck to challenge for it, and we got in a good little battle there and wound up third. It was a good night for us.

Q. Could you just talk about the battle that Hornaday and Benson had and how that ended up?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I felt like obviously it was great to watch all year, and the back and forth, and it felt like we had it in hand there. And then they pitted and they lost. That's just the way it goes, and everybody tried hard.

Q. As a car owner, how much were you aware of what was going on during the race and how much were you aware of what he needed to do in the last few laps? Were you in the loop as far as where he was?
KEVIN HARVICK: I was very aware of what they needed to do, and that was beat the 23. Obviously it's one of those deals where, like I say, I felt like they had it in hand, the way that the pit strategy worked out, it worked out. I feel like they probably would have won the race if they don't pit.
But there's a lot of different ways of looking at it, and we lost.

Q. You touched on this. Were you surprised, not just Ron's team, but so many people elected to make a pit stop with like less than ten laps left in the race?
KEVIN HARVICK: Yeah, I knew there was debris left on the racetrack, and we saw Johnny run good there on two tires and really do what he needed to do to get track position, and then he faded.
Like I say, I felt like from my position, watching the trucks and watching the 23 go backwards and watching the 33 hold his position in the front, I felt like they had it under control. I didn't feel like it was -- I knew I wasn't going to pit, so I didn't know where everybody else was in their situation.

Q. After a whole season where you fight for the championship and to have it be decided by such a narrow margin, just talk a little bit about how this series usually has about the best points race that you can find in the three top divisions.
KEVIN HARVICK: Well, these things are fun to drive, and obviously they punch such a big hole in the air that you can pull back up to people. The trucks are -- you can kind of manhandle the things and make them do what you want them to do and get away with it. They just have a great aero package and the way that the rules are in these things really promotes good racing.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Kevin.