Kevin Harvick is staying busy

CONCORD — Kevin Harvick will be one of the drivers facing double duty during speedweeks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Harvick, who was tabbed to drive Dale Earnhardt’s car after Earnhardt died in a crash in the Daytona 500, plans to compete in the Carquest 300 on Saturday and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.

This is nothing new for Harvick. He has been pulling double duty most of the season and will continue to do it.

He is attempting to run 69 of the 70 Winston Cup and Busch Grand National races this year.

On occasions, he will be travelling quite a bit to complete his schedule. At times, Winston Cup and Busch races will be held at different tracks. However, Cup and Busch races are not held on the same day.

At the start of the season, Harvick planned to run all of the Busch races.

His schedule was increased greatly when he was picked to fill the seat for Earnhardt.

“It is not wearing on me yet,” said Harvick, who competed in his 21st race of the season recently atRichmond, Va.

“I’m sure I will begin to feel tired about the middle of July,” he allowed. “I’ve got to race in nine races in four weeks. Right now, everything is going real good. Hopefully, it will continue that way.”

Harvick finished second in the Richmond race after leading late in the event.

• Dale Jarrett seeks old winning way

CONCORD — Dale Jarrett, 1999 Winston Cup champion, will be hoping to snap a streak of bad luck and regain his winning ways in the Coca-Cola 600.

Jarrett got off to a sparkling start this season but has encountered bad breaks in the last three Winston Cup races.

After winning the Hannahs 500 at Texas and the Virginia 500 at Martinsville, Jarrett has not been able to finish in the top 15 in the past three races. During that time, his grip on first place in the Winston Cup championship chase has dropped to 14 points over Jeff Gordon.

Jarrett’s handling problems began in the Talladega 500 when he finished 18th — two laps down. Then in the NAPA 500 in California, Jarrett had an unusual experience. The gas can got stuck in the car during a pit stop and he had to return to the pits to get it out. He lost valuable time and finished 24th.

Then he ran out of gas in he Pontiac race at Richmond and finished 15th.

“It has been one of the times of a year you hope you don’t come across, but you do,” said Jarrett. “We are looking forward to The Winston and the 600 at Charlotte. We have run well there and we are looking for something good.”

Jarrett’s strong start did net him the opening quarter Driver of the Year honors, which he also took last season. The selection was made by a national panel of motorsports media and ESPN viewers.

Jarrett outdistanced Indy Racing League’s Sam Hornish, Jr., for the honor. He received 113 votes and Hornish got 85.

“Any time you receive recogntion like this, especially when all forms of motorsports are invovled, it’s certainly a tremendous honor,”said Jarrett.