Driver Scott Speed will join the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team this weekend as the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads north to Canada. Speed will pilot the Rheem Chevrolet Impala at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the third and final road-course event of the season. The California native has 13 starts in the series with one pole (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2009) and eight top-10 finishes. This will be his first Nationwide Series start since the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2009.
FIRST TIME: Speed will sport yellow rookie stripes on the back on the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet this weekend marking the driver’s first Nationwide Series start at the 15-turn road course. Speed has two starts in Formula One at Montreal with a best finish of 10th in 2006.
KHI AT MONTREAL: KHI has made a total of five starts at the Montreal, Canada track since the inaugural event in 2007 with three top-five finishes. Max Papis earned the highest-finishing spot for the organization in 2010 with a second-place finish.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 33 Rheem team will utilize chassis No. 077 for this weekend’s race in Montreal. This chassis is new to competition this season, but it was previously prepared as the back-up car for this season’s road-course events at Road America and Watkins Glen International.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Paul Menard returned to the driver’s seat of the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet Impala for the Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen International. Menard put the KHI Chevrolet in the seventh position to start the road-course event. The driver remained in the top 10 throughout the race to bring home a sixth-place finish.
COMMENTS FROM THE DRIVER: SCOTT SPEED
“I am super excited to get back to Montreal. It has always been one of my favorite cities in the world. It is going to be very interesting to run on a track in a stock car where I’ve run in a Formula One car, I look forward to it though. We are going there with one goal, and that is to win for KHI and Rheem. I’m thankful for this opportunity and I hope to make them proud.”
About Rheem:
Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta. In its 86th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Raypak, Ruud and Rheem, have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water-heating supplier to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), Kevin Harvick, Inc. (KHI) and is a primary sponsor of RCR’s No. 29 Sprint Cup Series car and KHI’s No. 33 Nationwide Series car and Camping World Truck Series No. 2 truck. Harvick was named Nationwide Series “Driver of the Decade” in 2010.