WELCOME TO THE TEAM: Shelby Howard will be behind the wheel of the No. 2 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet Silverado for this weekend's AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park (ORP), It will be the first of a three-race partnership between Howard and Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI). In addition to ORP, the 25-year-old Greenwood, Indiana native will take over the No. 2 truck driving duties at Chicagoland Speedway (8/27) and Kentucky Speedway (9/3).
LOOKING FOR NUMBER ONE: Although Shelby Howard has three wins in the ARCA Racing Series (all in 2003), he has yet to find his way to Victory Lane in NASCAR's top-three series. Howard hopes to take the checkered flag for the first time this weekend at his home track. In his 38 Nationwide Series starts and 33 Truck Series starts, Howard's best NASCAR finish of fifth came at ORP in 2008.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Shelby Howard
How do you feel about making your KHI debut at ORP?
"I'm really looking forward to driving the KHI truck at O'Reilly Raceway Park because of the caliber of trucks that come out of the KHI shop. I consider ORP my "home" track as my home is so close to the track. I've logged more laps at ORP since I started racing when I was nine years old than any other track. I love short track racing and I am looking forward to racing the Truck Series and Nationwide races in one weekend."
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: After earning his first career Truck Series pole award, KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick had a dominating performance at Gateway International Raceway, leading 143 of 160 laps before bringing the No. 2 Chevrolet to Victory Lane. The win was Harvick's ninth career Truck Series victory, his third of the season.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will utilize chassis No. 043 this weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Chassis No. 043 made its debut at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March, where KHI co-owner dominated his way to Victory Lane.
