NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick have announced they are planning to race at Gateway International Raceway July 16-17 in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events.
Keselowski, the NNS qualifying record holder at Gateway, will race his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Dodge Ram in the CampingWorld.com 200 July 16 and the No. 22 Dodge for Penske Racing in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 July 17.
Two-time Gateway winner Harvick is racing both events for Kevin Harvick Inc., co-owned by he and his wife, DeLana. The two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champ won the races here in 2000-2001 and looked to become the first-ever driver to win three NASCAR races at Gateway during last year's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. But a late-race pitstop for fuel handed the win to Kyle Busch, who would go on to win the season points' title.
"Last year was disappointing," said Harvick. "We really had a fast car and dominated the race. Gateway has always been a good track for me and I've been able to have success there over the years. We should have scored our second win of the season there last year and the first win for Jimmy John's, but unfortunately, we came up a little short. This year I'm ready to go back and put all the pieces together. I'm looking for similar results, but this time I want to walk away with the win."
In racing the CampingWorld.com 200 at Gateway, Keselowski returns to his roots—he started his NASCAR career in the Camping World Truck Series racing for his dad, former ARCA champion Bob Keselowski. While creating his own Truck Series team, the younger Keselowski looked at the examples set by both his father and by Harvick.
"You look at what Kevin's (Harvick) done with KHI. I think that should be the blueprint for any driver that wants to start his own team," said Keselowski. "That's definitely the model I'm using. I'm proud of what we have assembled and I think we have some good days ahead of us at BKR. Coming from a racing family, I learned just as much about running a race team as I did driving a race car."
If Keselowski can win the CampingWorld.com 200, he will become the 20th driver to win races in all of NASCAR's top three series. That win would also make him and his dad the only father-son combo to have won races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, his father having won at Richmond International Raceway in 1997.
