Kevin Harvick Inc.'s O'Reilly 200 Race Preview For All Three Entries

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Truck program will have three entries, in Wednesday night's O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

They'll have points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. who will be in the No. 33 Georgia Boots Chevrolet, then J.R. Fitzpatrick will be in the No. 4 Equipment Express Chevrolet, and Ryan Newman rounds out the group as he is driving the No. 2 Pringles Chevrolet. 

Let me start with Horn, then I'll work my way through both Fitzpatrick and Newman.

I'll break it all down, how they'll run and what to expect from the powerhouse team.

The three keys to running well at BMS, since the resurfacing are: how well you handle in the upper grooves, being able to pass and your spotter as a driver will be your biggest asset.

It's no longer just how well you handle on the bottom.

1) Hornaday is the only two-time winner in Trucks at Bristol, he did it back to back, from the pole on the old configuration.

While since the surface makeover at BMS, Horn hasn't fared the best, but with the streak of momentum he's riding that could all change Wednesday night.

He will fare well with the above mentioned keys, and his Rick Ren led pit crew will be an asset for him along with his good friend and Spotter Rick Carelli.

Horn will be racing chassis No. 33—it's the same truck he won with at ORP—and he should have a really good truck at Bristol.

Believe Horn will qualify top three, run up front most of the night, but he won't dominate the race and it's come down to another hard fought win for him.

Expect him to be challenged for the win, but being the king of the short tracks in Trucks, believe he'll get his sixth straight win.

2) Fitzpatrick returns to drive, in his fourth start for the team, and will be in four more races this season for KHI.

He should fare better on "The World's Fastest Half Mile," can rely on his experience in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series to help him and sure he played the video games of the track to gain experience.

Sure he'll spend some time during practice learning from both Horn and Newman, both asking questions and following them around the track.

He'll also spend sometime talking with Kevin Harvick, asking questions and getting pointers from the boss.

Fitzpatrick is a tremendously talented rookie—even though his results don't really show it—but it's tough to run part-time and learn.

Believe he'll do well with the keys to the race I mentioned earlier in the article and he just can't beat himself.

He'll be racing chassis No. 32, and it's last outing was at ORP. That was when Ricky Carmichael was running fifth, had contact with 11 laps to go and ultimately finished 19th.

He just needs a good clean run, log laps, stay out of trouble, and try for a top-15 or better finish. It would be something to build on for him.

3) Newman will be making his third career start in the Truck series start, his first at Bristol and he'll be driving using Happy's part-time team.

He'll also be attempting the Bristol Grand Slam, competing in NASCAR's top three divisions, the Whelen Modified Series race, all in the same track and in the same week.

Newman will be reunited with crew chief Ernie Cope, the pair recorded a win last season, at Atlanta and will have Happy's No. 33 Nationwide pit crew servicing the truck.

He should fare well with the keys to the race, that I mentioned earlier in the article.

He will be racing chassis No. 16 at Bristol—it's the same one he drove in 2008 when he won at Atlanta.

Expect Newman to have a decent truck, qualify well, and have a top five truck. 

This is strictly my opinion. Team orders may unofficially be in place were he'll try like heck, even radio to Cope how he has nothing left for Horn, but don't expect to see any passes like at Atlanta between the two.

It should definitely be another great night for Kevin Harvick Inc., celebrating another win by their driver Ron Hornaday Jr.

It's just awesome to see owners Kevin and Delana Harvick, so dedicated to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and it's exciting to see them making history with Hornaday.