Kevin Harvick

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Kevin Harvick Busch 4BUSCH RETURNS TO RACING IN 2016 AS SPONSOR OF
DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK AND NO. 4 TEAM OF STEWART-HAAS RACING
Storied Brand to Engage with Fans “Earning It” at Racetracks Nationwide
and Launch @BuschBeer Twitter Handle

Concord, N.C. (Oct. 8, 2015) – Busch announced today that the brand will return to NASCAR, reigniting its storied history in the sport by sponsoring Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team of Stewart-Haas Racing for select races beginning with the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Busch, Busch Light and other special-edition Busch paint schemes will be featured on Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet SS for 12 races in 2016. The iconic Busch logo will first appear on the hood for the Feb. 13 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Formerly known as the Busch Clash, this non-points exhibition race helped kick-start the brand’s involvement with NASCAR 36 years ago. Additional races will be determined shortly after NASCAR releases the 2016 Sprint Cup schedule.

“Busch’s NASCAR roots go back to 1978 and we’re thrilled to reconnect with these passionate fans that identify with our ‘Here’s to Earning It’ message on a daily basis,” said Chelsea Phillips, Director of Value Brands, Anheuser-Busch. “Kevin and the entire No. 4 team have been tremendous partners for Anheuser-Busch since 2011 and we have exciting plans to engage with the NASCAR community both on and off the track nationwide in 2016.”

Harvick has represented Budweiser since 2011, and in 2014 he and Budweiser moved to Stewart-Haas Racing. In their inaugural season with the team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, Harvick made five trips to victory lane and won the 2014 Sprint Cup championship.

The Busch brand, along with its current tagline “Here’s to Earning It,” has a time-honored tradition of rewarding hard-working men and women who “earn it” every day, which aligns perfectly with the NASCAR fan base.

“Busch beer belongs in NASCAR,” said Harvick, a winner of 31 Sprint Cup races, eight of which have come with Stewart-Haas Racing. “The entire Stewart-Haas Racing team and I can’t wait to have the Busch logo on the No. 4 car next season as we work toward another Sprint Cup championship.”

To celebrate their return to the sport, Busch will employ a comprehensive marketing approach to engage with racing enthusiasts and loyal Busch consumers through on-track, experiential, in-market and retail activations during the 2016 NASCAR season. TV spots will also air leading up to the season and during races, recognizing Harvick, his pit crew and fans alike who “earn it” every day so they can enjoy race weekends.

“NASCAR provides the opportunity to further the brand marketing initiative of recognizing outdoor pursuits of our Busch drinkers and celebrate those hard-working individuals behind the scenes that help the No. 4 car perform week-in-and-week-out,” added Phillips.

In conjunction with the NASCAR announcement, and to remain in touch with Busch drinkers, Busch is expanding its social media presence by launching the brand’s first-ever Twitter handle. Starting today, consumers can follow @BuschBeer and use the hashtag #BuschIsBack.

Busch has a rich racing history and some of the highlights of the brand’s involvement in the sport from its beginning include:
Sponsored the Busch Pole Award in 1978, which was presented to the pole winner of each NASCAR Winston Cup Series race
Sponsored Cale Yarborough’s No. 11 car throughout the 1979 and 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup seasons
Introduced the Busch Clash in 1979, held each year at Daytona International Speedway the week prior to the Daytona 500
Served as the title sponsor of NASCAR’s stepping-stone division to Sprint Cup – currently known as the NASCAR XFINITY Series – from 1984 through 2007
Expanded involvement with racing via the Busch All-Star Tour in 1985, a series of dirt track events in the Midwest
“Official Beer of NASCAR” from 1988 through 1997

“Some of my fondest racing career memories to-date involve the Busch brand, including winning the 2001 and 2006 Busch Series championships,” Harvick said. “The brand is historic and I’m looking forward to building the Busch racing legacy with all that we’re able to accomplish in 2016.”

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Oct. 4, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, Del.—By Jove, he’s done it again!

Forced to win at Dover International Speedway to keep his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes alive Sunday, Kevin Harvick did just that, dominating Sunday’s AAA 400 to stave off elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

In a virtual carbon copy of last year’s Chase race at Phoenix, where the 2014 premier series champion had to win to advance to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick led 355 of 400 laps (a career best at any track) in winning for the third time this year and the 31st time in his career.

“I think we’re better than we were last year, just because of the experiences and things that we’ve had,” Harvick said after the race. “I think when we look at everything that’s gone on over the last couple of years, it’s just been a lot of fun.

“So, it’s just that never-quit attitude. That’s what (team co-owner) Tony Stewart said when we went to Homestead last year. He said, ‘Whatever you do, do not quit until they throw that checkered flag.’”

Harvick won the race and secured his first Sprint Cup title by a half-second over Ryan Newman.

But there was one major difference between last year’s must-win race and the one on Sunday. Phoenix is Harvick’s best track. At Dover, on the other hand, he had never won before and had posted just four top-five finishes in 29 previous starts.

As fast as Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was, however, none of the statistics mattered. After a restart with 24 laps left, he pulled away to a 2.639-second victory over Kyle Busch, who likewise secured a berth in the 12-driver Contender Round with his second-place run.

Nor did the stats help Jimmie Johnson, whose shocking ouster from the playoffs took place at the Monster Mile where he holds a record 10 victories. The six-time series champion took his No. 48 Chevrolet to the garage on Lap 106 after a rear axle seal failed.

Johnson lost 36 laps while his team replaced the rear end housing and was credited with a 41st-place finish, leaving him 12 points shy of the Chase cutoff, which came down to a tiebreaker for the 12th and final spot between third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. and fourth-place Jamie McMurray.

Joining Johnson and McMurray on the Chase sidelines were Paul Menard (25th Sunday) and Clint Bowyer, who like Harvick faced a win-or-bust scenario at the one-mile concrete track.

Narrowed to 12, the field for the Contender Round now includes Challenger Round winners Matt Kenseth (Chicago), Denny Hamlin (New Hampshire) and Harvick, as well as Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Newman and Earnhardt.

But on Sunday, Harvick showed his hand as the speed horse in the Chase, just as he was last year. Harvick’s car was fast last week at New Hampshire, but he ran out of fuel while leading with three laps left to create the must-win scenario at Dover.

“Anytime you can go through moments like this and gain some momentum and prove to yourself that you can do things like this, there’s no way you can’t be stronger,” Harvick said. “I’m just so proud of those guys and so proud of our fans and everybody for all their support all week. There it is—stay the course.”

Kyle Busch conceded Harvick’s victory was bad news for everyone else still in the Chase.

“The way he ran today—hell, yeah,” Busch said. “That was a guy that we wanted to knock out. That’s a guy that can win all these races, and you don’t want to have to compete against a guy like that.

“But that’s why they’re as good as they are, and they were last year’s champion, so they’re going to have an opportunity to continue on. We’ll see what happens. There’s still two more rounds to figure out who’s going to make it to Homestead.”

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during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series myAFibRisk.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 20, 2015 in Joliet, Illinois.

For the second straight season, Kevin Harvick has his back up against the wall in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

He wrecked at Chicagoland after continuing to race following a bump from Jimmie Johnson, finishing 42nd. He is now 22 points behind Jeff Gordon on the cutoff line with two races left to get to the Challenger Round.

He likely needs a win to advance.

Last season, Harvick found himself in a similar situation after placing 33rd at Martinsville to open the Eliminator 8. He won one race later at Phoenix in a do-or-die situation to salvage his championship run.

The difference between now and then is that Harvick owns Phoenix (he’s won the last four races there). At New Hampshire and Dover – the sites of the next two Chase events – Harvick has only visited Victory Lane once (fall 2006 at New Hampshire).

Harvick has placed third in the last two races at New Hampshire. Although he only has one win at The Magic Mile, his loop statistics there indicate a strong finish is likely. Harvick’s New Hampshire peripherals include the sixth-best average running position (11.931) and the eight-best driver rating (94.6).