Entries for March 2010

 Governor McDonnell to Serve as Grand Marshall of Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Race.  

It’s been a pretty good week for Kevin Harvick at Martinsville Speedway and he’s still got another day to go.

Harvick captured the Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday after winning the pole for both the Kroger 250 and the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race on Friday.  A win in the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 would give him a perfect week at the historic half-mile

"It was a lot of fun for me, just for the fact that the thing was so dominant to drive," said Harvick, who is also the NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader. "I didn't really have to do a whole lot different -- I just drove my line every lap, and we were able to make our way through traffic when we needed to.

"When we passed the No. 17 (Timothy Peters) for the lead, it looked like his truck started to get a little loose getting into the corner, and we were able to capitalize on that."

Saturday’s win was the eighth truck series victory of his career and his second of the season.

Harvick led 187 laps, and he dominated for most of the day on the way to a 1.5-second win over Ron Hornaday Jr. Brian Ickler was third, followed by Timothy Peters and Johnny Benson.

Peters, who won at Martinsville last fall and also captured the season-opener at Daytona, led late in the race and gave Harvick a spirited battle until Harvick took the lead for good on lap 190.

“Every time we have come here, not matter what it is, we’ve run well,” said Peters, who lives less that a half-hour from Martinsville Speedway. “I’m just thankful we can have that success up here. I just love coming here.”
 

Without turning a single qualifying lap Kevin Harvick captured the pole for two races at Martinsville Speedway Friday afternoon.

Persistent rain showers washed out time trials for both the Kroger 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. Harvick was awarded the pole for both events by virtue of NASCAR’S points system.

“Obviously this is the place where if you’re going to have that happen (qualifying washed out) and start up front, this is the place you want to do it,” said Harvick, who is atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points . “But this is a good place to have that happen and I’m looking forward to both races.”
For the first time this season for either series, lineups were set according to the respective series' rulebooks. So Harvick will lead the 43-car field for the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 to the green flag on Sunday.

After five Cup races, Harvick's No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team has a one-point lead on 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing squad, which will also start on the front row.

Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will start third followed by Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart.

 Because 2009 Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday, Kevin Harvick Inc.'s other driver, has a past champion's provisional available to him, his truck's owners' points were transferred to the No. 2 Chevrolet, which this weekend is driven by the team owner. Hornaday will roll off 31st in Saturday's race.

Truck Series runner-up Matt Crafton will line up second in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet.

 Andrea Barbour scored 45 points to lead the PHCC Lady Patriots to the NJCAA Division II National Championship game with a 91-72 over Kankakee C.C. on Friday night in semi-final action. The Patriots will battle Kirkwood C.C. on Saturday night with a chance to earn the school's first NJCAA National Title.

Barbour added 11 rebounds to her tournament high 45 points and Kendra Allen added 16 points for the 24-0 Lady Patriots. PHCC held a 51-40 lead at halftime. The Patriots shot over 55% from the field throughout the game and shot over 70% from the free throw line while holding Kankakee C.C. to just 40% shooting from the field.

PHCC's opponent Kirkwood knocked off Schoolcraft C.C. 58-44 in the other national semi-final game to advance to the championship. Kirkwood is now 35-1 on the season heading into the title game.