Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick finished third in NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup for the second consecutive season in 2011. The Richard Childress Racing driver scored four victories – at Auto Club Speedway, Martinsville, Charlotte and Richmond – to push his career total to 18 entering the 2012 season.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native moved into the Cup ranks in 2001 when he was named to drive for the team following the death of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt. He earned two wins that first year en route to a ninth-place points finish, doing so while also running for, and eventually winning, the Busch (now Nationwide) Series title.

Harvick has qualified for the Chase in five of the past six seasons. He won a career-high five races in 2006, finishing fourth in points, and won the season-opening Daytona 500 in 2007 in a thrilling side-by-side finish with Mark Martin.

Harvick also finished fourth in points in 2008 but went winless in the 2008-09 seasons. He won three races in 2010 and battled Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin for the championship, eventually finishing third.

He will be teamed with a new crew chief this year as Shane Wilson moves atop the pit box of the No. 29 Chevrolet.

In addition to his 18 Cup wins, Harvick also has 37 career Nationwide Series victories and is a two-time champion (2001, ’06) in that series. He is a 13-time race winner in the Camping World Truck Series.