Nextel Communications, Inc.

Former type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: NXTL
Industry	Wireless Communications
Fate	merged with Sprint Nextel Corporation
Predecessor(s)	FleetCall
Successor(s)	Nextel Communications, Inc. (subsidiary of Sprint Nextel)
Founded	1987 (1987) as FleetCall
Founder(s)	Brian McAuley Morgan E. O'Brien
Defunct	August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12)
Headquarters	Reston, Virginia, United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Morgan O'Brien, Chairman (1987-1995), Vice-Chairman (1995-2005)
Revenue	US$ 13,368 million (2004)
Operating income	US$ 3,283 million (2004)
Net income	US$ 3,000 million (2004)
Total assets	US$ 22,744 million (2004)
Total equity	US$ 9,408 million (2004)
Employees	19,000 (2005)
Parent	Sprint Nextel Corporation
Website	nextel.com
References: [1][2]

Nextel Communications, Inc., is a subisidiary of Sprint Nextel Corporation that traces its roots to the 1987 foundation of FleetCall by Morgan O'Brien and Brian McAuley. FleetCall changed its name to Nextel Communications, Inc. in 1993. Nextel provided digital, wireless communications services, originally focusing on fleet and dispatch customers, but later marketed to all potential wireless customers. Nextel's network operated in the 800MHz Specialized Mobile Radio band and used iDEN technology developed by Motorola. Nextel's iDen network offered a then unique push-to-talk "walkie-talkie" feature in addition to direct dialed voice calls. Nextel was one of the first providers in the United States to offer a national digital cellular coverage footprint.

Prior to merging with Sprint Corporation in 2005, Nextel Communications, Inc. was a publicly traded company. Shares traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NXTL. Nextel was headquartered in Reston, Virginia, United States.^[2]

At the time of its 2005 merger with Sprint Communications, Nextel had over twenty million subscribers in the United States, and served 198 of the top 200 markets. Nextel Communications, Inc. offered post paid services under the Nextel brand and prepaid services under the Boost Mobile brand.

On 30th May 2012,Sprint Nextel said that it would shut down the Nextel network as early as June 2013.^[3] Sprint will deploy CDMA equipment on the 800 MHz spectrum formerly used by the iDEN network. Sprint will continue to offer pre-paid services under the Boost Mobile brand and will continue to offer push-to-talk services using CDMA equipment.

History[link]

Morgan O'Brien, a telecommunication lawyer, and Brian McAuley, an investment banker founded FleetCall in 1987. FleetCall changed its name to Nextel Communications in 1993. In 1995, wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw became a significant investor in the company. Other early investors include Mark Warner, now a United States Senator from Virginia, and Jack Markell, the current Governor of Delaware.

The founders choose the name "FleetCall" because the company's network used the 800MHz Specialized Mobile Radio frequencies designated by the Federal Communications Commission for use in fleet dispatch. The core of the business model was to buy these fleet dispatch frequencies from existing operators at a substantial discount when compared to the cost for equivalent bandwidth available via auction from the Federal Communications Commission. These "non-cellular" frequencies were made usable for a consumer and business wireless voice telephone service with the iDEN technology developed by Motorola, which some observers at the time said would not be practical. Initially, FleetCall did not want to include the push to talk feature in their phones, but the FCC required it as the initial frequencies were licensed for dispatch use. Later, Nextel would use the push-to-talk feature as a key marketing advantage.

Innovations and technologies[link]

Nextel affected the cellular phone market in several ways. It was the first company to successfully provide unlimited calling plans to a large customer base. Nextel was the first company to implement a nationwide push-to-talk system similar to a walkie-talkie, marketed as DirectConnect. Unlike other cellular networks, the Nextel network operated in the Specialized Mobile Radio band, and Nextel was one of the first providers in the United States to offer a national digital cellular coverage footprint. The company was the first in the United States to integrate global positioning system features into their phones and to complete their 2G network upgrade.

Nextel was also an industry leader in customer lifecycle management. They invested significantly in analytics capability, which allowed them to surpass their competitors in handling customer concerns effectively. The company also developed capabilities allowing it to assess and review customer relationship values objectively and to project and respond to customer loyalty. As a result of these efforts, and what was reported to be a strong focus on customer satisfaction across the organization, Nextel was known for industry leading customer retention rates, average revenue per user, and customer lifetime value.

iDEN[link]

Nextel had long worked closely with a single vendor, Motorola, on both equipment and standards.^{[citation needed]} The close relationship had yielded the Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) protocol, which uses a time division multiple access technology. Some of the special features the company utilized included its push-to-talk feature, which simulated the half-duplex operation of a two-way radio. Nextel was one of the few carriers to have adopted iDEN around the world, although the technology has gained traction through NII Holdings in Latin America. As well, iDEN is utilized in the Southeast United States by SouthernLINC Wireless and in Canada by Telus under the Mike Mobile brand.

Push to talk[link]

Nextel gained a significant marketing and technological advantage through its push-to-talk technology^{[clarification needed]}. In 2003, Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS each launched push-to-talk features, with Cingular following in 2005; none have gained significant traction. Nextel and Verizon had entered a legal battle in June 2003 over Verizon's advertising for their push-to-talk feature. The companies reached a settlement in early 2004. Initial advertising for Verizon's service was heavy, but it became almost nonexistent fairly quickly that may have been due to poor reviews of the service.

The push-to-talk feature, with which Nextel has gained popularity, was made interoperable with the QChat technology on the Sprint network in 2008. Sprint had originally launched its own push-to-talk service, known as ReadyLink, which is based on SIP. Due to the difference in technology, users of the ReadyLink service were never able to make or receive push-to-talk calls with users of the iDEN technology. By 2009, Sprint began phasing out QChat to again focus on marketing iDEN devices.

Nextel also offers a feature on some of their phones, marketed as DirectTalk. The technology uses the 900 MHz ISM band and provides ten FHSS channels for off network push to talk communications between individual phones that are not necessarily in range of wireless towers.

WiDEN[link]

In 2003, prior to its merger with Sprint, Nextel had announced plans for its next generation 3G network. It was reportedly to use an extension to iDEN called WiDEN, developed by Motorola. Nextel upgraded their network to support the WiDEN packet data protocol, increasing data speeds up to 90 kbit/s. The Motorola i850, i860, i870, and i880 were the only phones to support WiDEN without modification. In October 2005, in order to free up network capacity for cellular calls due to rebanding, Sprint removed the ability to connect to the WiDEN service from all Nextel towers.

Merger with Sprint[link]

Introduced after the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel, this brand mark combines the yellow/black Nextel color scheme with the "Sprint" word mark and "pin drop" logo.

Following the completion of the Sprint Nextel merger in late 2005, future plans for Nextel included migrating iDEN customers to CDMA at some point in the years after the acquisition was completed.^[4] Initially, there was much speculation that current Nextel subscribers would be required to replace their existing handsets due to incompatibility between the standards used on the separate Nextel and Sprint networks. Sprint initially marketed hybrid devices that operated on both Nextel and Sprint networks, but has since discontinued selling the phones. Sprint also marketed, for a time, Sprint devices utilizing QChat for compatibility with the Nextel push-to-talk network, which was also being phased out by 2009.

At one time, phones on the Nextel network were manufactured by Motorola and Research In Motion. However this changed over time, with Sanyo and Samsung phones becoming available.

Radio interference[link]

Nextel towers in the United States have caused radio interference with commercial and public safety trunked and conventional 800 MHz two-way radio systems. To resolve the problems, Nextel and the Federal Communications Commission developed a plan, approved by the FCC in August 2004, to relocate Nextel systems elsewhere in the 800 MHz band in order to reduce the potential for interference.^[5]

Before rebanding, Public Safety, Business/Industrial, SMR and ESMR's both operate in the 851-861 MHz range. ESMR has exclusive use of the 861-866 MHz range, and Public Safety has exclusive use of the 866-869 MHz range.

During rebanding the following will occur:

- All licensees with channels between 866-869 MHz (NPSPAC) must relocate to equivalent channels between 851-854.

- All licensees other than ESMRs with channels between 851-854 MHz must relocate to equivalent channels between 854-862.

- Nextel and other ESMR operators must relinquish all channels below 862 MHz. The FCC has required Nextel to vacate all its channels in the band from 854-854.5 nationwide as soon as possible to provide additional spectrum for Public Safety needs.

- Public Safety has exclusive access to all vacated Nextel channels for 3 years, after which they are open to all eligible users.

After rebanding, Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure will have exclusive use of 851-854 MHz. ESMR systems (primarily Nextel) will have exclusive use of 862-869 MHz range, and public safety, business/industrial users, and low-power SMR's will share the 854-862 MHz spectrum. 860-861 MHz is designated as an "Expansion Band", and 861-862 MHz is designated as a "Guard Band". No licensees other than ESMR are required to relocate to channels above 860 MHz.

The use of contiguous spectrum allows for simple filters to be installed to protect public safety radio systems from interference, which is currently impossible under the existing mixed allocations in the 800 MHz band.

Nextel (Sprint) is paying for much of the cost of this reconfiguration, but in compensation for lost 800 MHz spectrum, the company is receiving spectrum in the 2 GHz band at 1910-1915/1990-1995 MHz. This spectrum is near the existing Sprint PCS allocations and can be used to expand the number of channels available for that service, without needing to bid for additional capacity in a spectrum auction.^[6][7][8]

Major sponsorships[link]

In 2003, Nextel and NASCAR announced a sponsorship agreement to re-name NASCAR's top racing series the Nextel Cup beginning in 2004. In 2008, the series was renamed the NASCAR Sprint Cup due to Sprint Nextel's plan to phase out the Nextel brand name by 2010. Nextel was also a major sponsor of the now defunct ChampCar team PacWest Racing, which was owned by Craig McCaw's brother Bruce.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nextel website (Archive)
• Official Sprint website
• Yahoo! - Nextel Communications, Inc. Company Profile

v t e Sprint Nextel Corporation Corporate Directors: Dan Hesse  · Keith J. Bane  · Gordon M. Bethune  · Frank M. Drendel  · James H. Hance, Jr.  · V. Janet Hill  · Irvine O. Hockaday, Jr.  · William E. Kennard  · Linda Koch Lorimer  · Stephanie M. Shern  · William H. Swanson Brands: Assurance Wireless  · Boost Mobile  · Sprint PCS  · Virgin Mobile USA Defunct brands: Common Cents Mobile  · Helio  · Nextel Related topics: Embarq  · NII Holdings Annual Revenue: $34.7 billion USD ( FY 2005)  · Employees: 62,000  · Stock Symbol: NYSE: S  · Website: sprint.com

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Portuguese Wikipedia. (July 2011) Don't speak Portuguese? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|pt|Maria Gadú}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Maria Gadú
Maria Gadú performing at Credicard Hall.
Background information
Birth name	Mayra Corrêa Aygadoux
Also known as	Maria Gadú
Born	(1986-12-04) December 4, 1986 (age 25) São Paulo, SP  Brazil
Genres	MPB, pop, samba, bossa nova, rock, blues[1]
Instruments	Vocals, guitar[1]
Website	www.mariagadu.com.br

Maria Gadú (born Mayra Corrêa Aygadoux December 4, 1986; São Paulo, Brazil), is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She has been nominated twice for a Latin Grammy Award. She released her first album in 2009, self-titled Maria Gadú.^[2] Her single "Shimbalaie" became a number one hit in Italy during summer 2011, staying atop the FIMI chart for five straight weeks.

Biography[link]

She started playing music as a child, after having learned the basics of reading musical notation, seven years later she began to record songs on cassette tapes. Her real musical training begins at the age of thirteen, when she began to give concerts in the bars of Sao Paulo, playing music by Adoniran Barbosa, Marisa Monte and Chico Buarque. In 2008 she moved to Rio de Janeiro and began playing in bars, and she atracted the attention of famous musicians such as Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, João Donato among others. Maria Gadu gained renown playing "Ne me quitte pas" by Jacques Brel for Jayme Monjardim, who was in preproduction of the television series Maysa - Quando Fala o Coração (Maysa, when the heart communicates). Maysa Matarazzo, singer and mother of the director, had been very successful in the 1950s and 1960s singing this song, among others. Gadú's version was soon included in the soundtrack of the series that would premiere in January 2009. Gadú also had a small acting part in the series. As 2009 began, Maria Gadú prepared her first album with Rio Slap.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

This article about a Brazilian singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article on a Brazilian musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009)

Kevin Michael Harvick
Born	(1975-12-08) December 8, 1975 (age 36) Bakersfield, California, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Achievements	1998 NASCAR Winston West Series Champion 2001, 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Champion 2002 IROC Champion 2003 Brickyard 400 Winner 2007 Daytona 500 Winner 2007 Sprint All-Star Race XXIII Winner 2009, 2010 Budweiser Shootout Winner
Awards	1995 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Rookie of the Year 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Most Popular Driver 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
406 race(s) run over 12 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 29 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	3rd
Best finish	3rd – 2010, 2011
First race	2001 Dura Lube 400 (Rockingham)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 (Atlanta)
Last win	2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 18 180 5
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
282 race(s) run over 14 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 33 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	99
Best finish	1st – 2001, 2006
First race	1999 Kmart 200 (Rockingham)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	2000 Carquest Auto Parts 250 (Gateway)
Last win	2010 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Wins Top tens Poles 37 205 24
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
119 race(s) run over 16 year(s)
Truck no., team	No. 2 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	82nd
Best finish	12th – 1999
First race	1995 Spears Manufacturing 200 (Mesa Marin)
Last race	2012 Lucas Oil 200 (Dover)
First win	2002 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix)
Last win	2012 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 14 61 4
Statistics current as of June 1, 2012.

Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American NASCAR driver. He drives the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Harvick, until 2011, also owned a race team, Kevin Harvick Incorporated, that ran in the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series.

Early life[link]

Harvick began kart racing after his parents Mike and JoNell bought him a go-kart as a kindergarten graduation gift in 1980. For the next 10 years, Harvick became a highly successful driver on the go-kart circuit. He earned seven national championships and two Grand National championships. In 1992, he started racing late models part-time in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series and he competed there while still in high school. Harvick's father built him his first car to compete in the lower NASCAR Series by using the money he earned to run his own garage, Harvick Motorsports. When Harvick could not race, such as in the winter, he competed on his high school wrestling team at North High School in Bakersfield, California. He won a section title in his weight class his senior year. He then graduated and became a full-time driver and earned the honor of Rookie of the Year in 1995.

NASCAR career[link]

Early career[link]

Harvick made his Camping World Truck Series (was Craftsman Truck Series) debut in 1995 at Mesa Marin Raceway, in his hometown of Bakersfield, where he started and finished 27th in his family-owned #72. He drove four races in the #72 the next season, his best finish was 11th at Mesa Marin. In 1997, he signed to drive the #75 for Spears Motorsports mid-season, posting two eight-place finishes. He ran a full schedule the next season, posting 3 top-fives and finishing 17th in points. Harvick also moved up to the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series in 1997, and in 1998 Harvick won five races on his way to the Winston West Series championship while driving for spears He received his real first national exposure during the winter of 1997/1998 on ESPN2's coverage of the NASCAR Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park. In 1999, he drove the #98 Porter Cable Ford for Liberty Racing, finishing 12th in points with six top-fives.

1999–2000: NASCAR Busch Series[link]

On October 23, 1999, Harvick made his first NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) start in the Kmart 200 at the Rockingham Speedway in the #2 Invica Chevrolet. He would start 24th and finish 42nd due to engine failure. The race would be his only start in 1999. In 2000, Harvick would sign with Richard Childress Racing to drive the #2 AC Delco Chevrolet for his first full Busch Series season. Despite failing to qualify the second race of the season at Rockingham, Harvick would go on to win the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year with 3 wins, 8 top-five finishes and 16 top-tens as well as garnering a third place points finish.

2001: Replacing a Legend[link]

For 2001, Childress planned to run Harvick in the #2 Chevy in the Busch Series full-time again, while developing him into the Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) with up to seven races in the #30 AOL Chevy. He planned to race Harvick for a full schedule in 2002. Childress' plans changed when Dale Earnhardt was killed during the 2001 Daytona 500 and tapped Harvick to be Earnhardt's replacement. For Harvick's first two races the car ran an inverted color scheme, the number changed from 3 to 29, and the pit crew wore generic uniforms. In the third race of the season, the car was painted white and red, while Harvick wore a white-and-red uniform. His pit crew continued to wear the traditional GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms.

On March 11, 2001 at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, only three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick won his first career Winston Cup victory in just his third start by narrowly edging Jeff Gordon at Atlanta Motor Speedway, reinvigorating not only his team, the fans, but NASCAR as well. He won the race by only six one-thousandths of a second (.006), proving to be one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history since the introduction of electronic scoring in 1993. After the win, Harvick performed a tire-smoking burnout on the front stretch. Remembering Dale Earnhardt, with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window, he ran the track backwards as a show of honor and respect.^[1] He recorded his second Cup win of his career at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. At the end of the season, he finished with 2 victories, 6 top-fives, and 16 top-tens. Harvick was awarded with the NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award, and secured a ninth-place finish in the 2001 points standings. He also won the Busch Series championship, becoming the first driver to win the Busch Series championship while also driving full-time in the Winston Cup Series with a top-ten finish. Harvick would end the season winning 6 pole positions, and driving in 70 races: 35 Cup Series, The Winston, 33 Busch races, and 1 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (at Richmond International Raceway) for Rick Carelli.

2002–2006: The GM Goodwrench Era[link]

In 2002, Kevin Harvick would spend the season concentrating on running the Cup Series and would only start four races in the Busch Series. He would only have 1 top-ten in those four starts. Harvick began the 2002 season with a fine for a post race incident with Greg Biffle at Bristol Motor Speedway. Later, he was suspended for rough driving following a Truck race at Martinsville, Virginia. Harvick scored his first career Winston Cup pole position; this coming at the Daytona International Speedway. Later in the season, he scored his third Winston Cup Victory, finishing first at the Chicagoland Speedway. He finished 21st in the 2002 points standings with 1 win, 5 top-fives, and 8 top-tens. Harvick became the 2002 IROC Champion in his first season in the Series, winning at the California Speedway. In Trucks, Harvick began fielding his own #6 truck, driving himself in five races and winning at Phoenix.

In the 2003 season, Harvick teamed with now former crew chief Todd Berrier in the Cup Series, whom he had won the Busch championship with in 2001. Together, they won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in August. Harvick and his team jumped from 21st in the final 2002 points standings, to fifth in the 2003 standings, coming within 252 points of first place Matt Kenseth. In the Busch Series, Harvick was teamed with Johnny Sauter, driving the #21 Hershey's-sponsored PayDay car. The two would combine for 3 wins, 16 top-fives and 24 top-tens, with Harvick posting all 3 wins. They would give Childress the NASCAR Busch Series owner's championship that season, with the driver's championship going to Brian Vickers. It would be the first time that the championship would be split between two teams. Harvick drove in 19 of the 34 races, and Sauter drove in the other 15. Harvick also scored 8 pole positions and finished 16th in the driver's standings.

While winless in the 2004 season, Harvick placed third in the most popular driver voting. He had fourteen top-ten finishes and finished fourteenth in points. In 2004, Harvick was again paired with another driver in the Busch Series, rookie Clint Bowyer. They combined for 1 win, 13 top-fives and 20 top-tens in the #21 Hershey's-sponsored car, with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups being promoted. Harvick drove the #29 ESGR/Coast Guard Busch car in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the Ford 300, which he would claim his second win of the season. He finished 20th in the driver's standings. The #21 car finished fourth in the owner's standings.

In the 2005 season, Harvick's only Cup win came at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, despite starting towards the rear of the field. He won without the assistance of Crew Chief Todd Berrier, who was serving a four-week suspension for a rules violation. The following year, he continued driving the #29 car for Childress in the Sprint Cup Series. With General Motors' financial situation, GM Goodwrench cut back sponsorship, and was joined as primary sponsor for one-third (1/3) of the schedule by Hershey's, with various brands (primarily Reese's) on the car. In the Busch Series, Harvick was paired with Brandon Miller. Harvick and Miller combined for 3 wins, 15 top-fives and 19 top-tens to give the #21 its second fourth-place finish in the owner's standings. Harvick would also drive the #29 Reese's Chocolate Lovers Cup car to Victory Lane in the first "sweep" of his career on Monday, April 4, 2005 in the Rain-Delayed Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway to go along with the Food City 500 win the day before, to give him a record fourth Busch Series win at the track (tying with Morgan Shepherd). Harvick finished 18th in the driver's standings.

Kevin Harvick awaiting Happy Hour prior to his win at Phoenix

In 2006, Harvick decided to run both of NASCAR's top two series full-time. He won his first Busch Series race of the 2006 season. He followed the win with a weekend sweep of the Busch Series and Sprint Cup races at Phoenix International Raceway. Later in the season, Harvick won the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International.

On September 9, 2006, Harvick, only needing to finish 40th or better to clinch a spot in the chase, did better by slipping by Kyle Busch in turn four going into the final lap and holding onto the lead to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway. This was his third win of the season, and his second "sweep" of the season, having won the Emerson Radio 250 the night before. This allowed Harvick, along with teammate, Jeff Burton, their First berth, and First for Richard Childress Racing, in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. On September 17, 2006, Starting from the Pole, Harvick won the first race of the chase at New Hampshire International Speedway, in the Sylvania 300. He dominated the race and by winning, was able to take the lead in the point standings for the first time in his career.

Harvick (#21) during his 2006 Busch championship season

Harvick would have a substandard Chase run, falling to sixth in the point standings, until finishing third in Texas and following that up with another dominating performance in the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 12, 2006, winning the race, and moving into 3rd place in the point standings. At the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick would finish fifth in the race and slip to fourth in the final standings to eventual 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. In the Busch Series, Harvick would be scheduled to run all 35 races, with three different cars (#21, #33, #29) and two different teams, Richard Childress Racing and his own team, Kevin Harvick Incorporated. Harvick had 9 wins, 23 top-fives and 32 top-tens. He clinched the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series championship on October 13, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Dollar General 300. It was the earliest clinch of the championship ever in the Busch Series, locking up the title with four races to go. He ended the season with a record 824-point margin in the final standings.

2007–2010: The Shell/Pennzoil era[link]

In 2007, his Cup team again split primary sponsors, with Hershey's being joined by new primary sponsor Shell Oil Company and their Pennzoil brand.^[2] On Sunday, February 18, 2007 in the season-opening Daytona 500, Harvick claimed his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in a restrictor plate race with a dramatic final lap pass over Mark Martin by .020 seconds in a green-white-checkered finish, the closest margin at the 500 since electronic scoring started in 1993. The race was on the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor at Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt. He would become only the fourth NASCAR driver to sweep both the Nationwide and Cup races in the opening weekend at Daytona (along with Bobby Allison (1988), Darrell Waltrip (1989), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004)). Harvick also tied Benny Parsons for the fewest number of laps led by a Daytona 500 winner, who did it in 1975 (the year Harvick was born) with four laps. He started 34th (lowest ever by a winner at the track), and became the first Nationwide Series champion to win the Daytona 500 the following year. With the win, Harvick also became the sixth of seven drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 joining Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, and Jamie McMurray.^[3][4] Four days after Harvick won the Daytona 500 in his inaugural race with Shell-Pennzoil as a primary sponsor, Harvick's team owner, Richard Childress, was asked by NASCAR to downsize the Shell logo on his fire suit and to have Harvick wear a more prominent Pennzoil logo, in an effort to play down any perceived competition with Sunoco. Sunoco asked NASCAR to talk with Richard Childress after Harvick won both the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series races wearing a prominent Shell logo on his fire suit.^[5] For the rest of the season, Harvick won the Sprint All-Star Race and finished tenth in points.

In 2007, Harvick started the Nationwide Series season by winning the Orbitz 300 at Daytona, claiming his first win in a restrictor plate race, as well as the first win for new sponsor AutoZone in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition. He also took the Checkers at New Hampshire International Speedway, winning the Camping World 200 presented by RVs.com. He also won the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Harvick would end his partial Nationwide Series season fourth in points.

2008 Sprint Cup car

Harvick went winless in 2008, but he was still able to post a fourth-place in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The fourth-place finish in the 2008 standings tied 2006 for his highest points position at the end of the season. Harvick also went the entire season without a single DNF for the second straight year. In the Nationwide Series, he ran twenty-two races for his own team with sponsorship from Camping World, Rheem, and RoadLoans. He did not win a race in this series either. His lone win came in a Truck race at Phoenix.

2009 Sprint Cup car following a crash

Harvick started the 2009 season by winning the Budweiser Shootout with a last-lap pass on Jamie McMurray, reminiscent of his win in the 2007 Daytona 500. He also launched a new social networking site, Fan Central, for his fans.^[6] A few days later Harvick damaged his primary car for the 2009 Daytona 500. The team decided to switch to the car he drove in the shootout. Harvick went on to finish second in the second shortest Daytona 500 in NASCAR history.

At the Auto Club Speedway in California, Harvick blew his engine and it forced him to not finish the race, which resulted in his first DNF in 82 starts. Harvick won the first 2009 Nationwide Series race at Bristol, his first win in his own car. In addition, he won the Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. During the season, Gil Martin became the new crew chief for Harvick as Childress decided to switch all team members of the #07 and #29 except the drivers and spotters, thus giving Casey Mears Harvick's crew chief Todd Berrier.^[7] In the first five races following the switch, Harvick finished with an average of 25.4, finishing 34th, 11th, 41st, 17th, and 24th respectively. A short time later, reports surfaced stating that Harvick had asked a release of his contract at the end of the 2009 season to secure a ride at Stewart Haas Racing for the 2010 season with intentions of bringing Shell-Pennzoil sponsorship with him. When asked about the request, Childress stated that Harvick and Shell-Pennzoil will stay with RCR in 2010.^[8] Harvick did not comment publicly on the subject of where he would be driving in 2010. The first race after the story broke, Kevin finished 6th at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His best race came at the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Harvick had the best car in a long run and led for most of the race, but was denied victory after a late race caution from which later eventual race winner Kasey Kahne took advantage of when he went past Harvick on the restart; he finished 2nd.

Harvick started 2010 the same way he did in 2009 by winning the Budweiser Shootout with a pass in the penultimate lap in a green-white-checkered situation seconds before an incident behind them, resulting then in a caution that automatically ended the race. Harvick placed 2nd in his Gatorade Duel by inches to Jimmie Johnson. He led the most laps in the Daytona 500, but ended up finishing 7th. He followed up his 7th at Daytona with a 2nd at Fontana, California's Auto Club Speedway again to Jimmie Johnson; after the race, Harvick told media members that the #48 team (Jimmie Johnson) "had a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass". Following the race, Harvick followed up with another 2nd place finish to Johnson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as well as a Nationwide Series win. He won the Aaron's 499 in a crazy Lap 200 (third green-white-checker finish situation) pass of Jamie McMurray that was the 88th lead change of the race, setting a new NASCAR record. It was speculated by McMurray's team owner Felix Sabates that Harvick was below the yellow line when he made the pass, but this was denied by NASCAR at track. On July 3, Harvick captured his second win of the year by winning the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. On August 15, Harvick captured his third win of the year by winning the Carfax 400 at Michigan. His win at Michigan locked him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the fourth time. He finished the regular season first place in points, but started the Chase in third after the points were adjusted. During the 10-race Chase, Harvick scored 5 top-fives and 9 top-tens. Despite scoring an average finish of 5.8 (best in the 2010 Chase and third best all-time in the Chase), Harvick finished third overall, 41 points behind 2010 Champion Jimmie Johnson. It was still the best overall finish of his career in the Sprint Cup standings.

Harvick also won his first career Pole in the Camping World Truck Series at Gateway International Raceway in his own #2 Chevrolet Silverado. This added Harvick to the short list of NASCAR drivers who have won a pole award and a race in each of NASCAR's three major series.

2011–present: The Budweiser era[link]

With the departure of Royal Dutch Shell at the end of 2010 (moves to Penske Racing) announced in the spring, the #29 team was searching for a new sponsor. In August, it was announced that, for 2011, the car's primary sponsor will be with Belgian brewery InBev's Budweiser brand for 20 races.^[9] Adding to Harvick's new sponsorship, on January 25, 2011, Jimmy John's and Richard Childress Racing reached a multi-year agreement to sponsor the #29 Sprint Cup team for 6 races in 2011. On March 27, 2011, Kevin won his 15th career Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway after passing defending series champion, Jimmie Johnson, in the final turn. Harvick took his second consecutive win at Martinsville Speedway, beating Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the final 10 laps. Following on-track incidents both during and immediately after the Showtime 500 (Darlington) with Kyle Busch, Harvick was placed on probation for 4 races (plus the NASCAR All-Star Race) and fined $25,000. Harvick then won the Coca-Cola 600 after Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel in the last turn on Lap 402, finishing off a career accomplishment of winning all three current majors and the Brickyard 400, but is not eligible for a Career Grand Slam because of the Ferko lawsuit that wiped out his chance at the mark only eight drivers have scored since the lawsuit eliminated the fall race at Darlington, which was required for the Career Grand Slam.^[10]. Kevin announced that he will shut down his NASCAR Nationwide/Camping World Truck Series time because he wants some personal time with his wife. In 2012 at Phoenix, Kevin led part of the race, battling rival, Kyle Busch, but Denny Hamlin, Busch's teammate led the rest of the race on the last pit stop. Kevin tried to close on Denny Hamlin, but scored a second place finish after he ran out of gas with two laps to go leaving Hamlin the race winner. He managed to cross the finish line holding off the pack for second place.

Kevin Harvick Foundation[link]

Established in 2010 by Harvick and his wife, DeLana, the mission of the Kevin Harvick Foundation (KHF) is to support programs that enrich the lives of children throughout the United States. The foundation works to not only improve the quality of life, but to help underprivileged youth find and realize their dreams by supporting programs such as the Kevin Harvick Athletic Scholarship Fund at California State University, Bakersfield, a camper cabin at Victory Junction, Baptist Children’s Homes of NC, Boys & Girls Clubs and Kevin’s Krew.

Other racing[link]

American Canadian Tour and ARCA REMAX series[link]

On July 21, 2008, Harvick won $37,300 at the 35th annual Toronto-Dominion Bank 250 presented by New England Dodge Dealers in Oxford, Maine. Harvick defeated tour regulars; Glen Luce and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. The event is traditionally one of New England's major short track races. Since his 1998 West Series championship, he has competed in four races with one win. He also made two starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 1999 for Childress in the #20 Invinca-Shields/Realtree Chevrolet, finishing in the top-five both times.

Personal life[link]

Harvick lives in Kernersville, North Carolina, where they have three dogs and two cats. The Harvicks also own a vacation home in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. His wife, Delana appeared in NASCAR Thunder 2003 in one of the opening cameo sequences.

Harvick has been on talk shows such as Late Show with David Letterman, Live with Regis and Kelly, Jim Rome is Burning, and The Tony Danza Show as a guest. He was also on the first season of FX's NASCAR Drivers: 360. It took an in-depth look at NASCAR drivers outside the track and the preparation it takes to be a NASCAR driver.^[11] Harvick has also been on MTV Cribs. He is an avid fan of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.^[12][13] He also stated during the ESPN broadcast of the 2011 5-hour Energy 500, while there was a rain delay, that he was a fan of the New York Yankees baseball team.

On Feb. 19, 2011, Harvick's new sponsor, Budweiser hosted "The Roast of Kevin Harvick," which had some of Kevin's opponents and teammates give their thoughts and opinions on the Sprint Cup driver.

On Aug. 10, 2011, Harvick threw out the ceremonial first pitch between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium.

On Jan. 25, 2012, it was announced that the Harvicks were expecting a baby, the first for the couple.

Nicknames[link]

Harvick was nicknamed "Happy Harvick" ironically due to his occasional temper outbursts and in fact his pit sign is a smiley face is a play on this nickname, yet happy attitude and the "Bakersfield Basher" in his early years for his aggressive driving style. Previously he was nicknamed "Big Bird" because his fire suit was yellow when he was sponsored by Shell/Pennzoil.

Because of his last-second passes to win many of his races and his ability to start deep in the field and finish towards the front, he was nicknamed "Mr. Where did he come from?" by NASCAR on Fox announcer Mike Joy. In the 2011 season, commentators began referring to Harvick as "The Closer" for his late-passing wins.

Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics[link]

* Qualifying Rained Out; set by Owner Standings

** 2012 Season in Progress

As of April 21, 2012

See also[link]

• Kevin Harvick Incorporated – A racing team owned by Kevin Harvick and his wife Delana.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kevin Harvick at Racing Reference
• Kevin Harvick Foundation
• Richard Childress Racing's official web site
• Kevin Harvick Video on FoxSports Video Archive

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2011)

Joseph Frank Nemechek III
Born	(1963-09-26) September 26, 1963 (age 48) Lakeland, Florida, United States
Achievements	1989 All-Pro Late Model Series Champion 1992 Busch Series Champion
Awards	1988 USAR Rookie of the Year 1990 Busch Series Rookie of the Year 1992, 1993 Busch Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
597 race(s) run over 20 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 87 (NEMCO Motorsports)
2011 position	65th
Best finish	15th - 2000
First race	1993 Slick 50 300 (New Hampshire)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	1999 Dura Lube/Kmart 300 (New Hampshire)
Last win	2004 Banquet 400 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 62 10
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
370 race(s) run over 23 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 87 (NEMCO Motorsports)
2011 position	14th
Best finish	1st - 1992
First race	1989 AC-Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	1992 Kroger 200 (IRP)
Last win	2004 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 16 124 18
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
7 race(s) run over 4 year(s)
Best finish	53rd – 2006
First race	1996 Parts America 150 (Watkins Glen)
Last race	2006 Ford 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 4 0
Statistics current as of May 26, 2012.

Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is a NASCAR driver and owner of NEMCO Motorsports. He won the 1992 Busch Series championship. He was born in Lakeland, Florida, the older brother of the late John Nemechek, and is nicknamed "Front Row Joe", a nickname given him by former teammate Wally Dallenbach for his tendency in the late 1990s to be a regular contender for a front row starting position.

Early career[link]

Nemechek began racing at the age of thirteen in motocross, and won three hundred career races over the next six years. After winning various awards in different short track series around the country, Nemechek made his Busch Series debut at North Carolina Speedway in 1989, where he started 40th and finishing 33rd after suffering engine failure in his #88 Buick.

Busch Series[link]

Nemechek moved up to the Busch Series in 1990, running the #87 with sponsorship from Master Machine & Tool, posting two top-fives and finishing seventeenth in points, winning Rookie of the Year honors. He had sixteen top-ten finishes and finished sixth in points the following year. In 1992, Nemechek got full-time sponsorship from Texas Pete sauce, and got his first two career wins and defeated Bobby Labonte for the championship by three points. He did not win again in 1993, but he won three poles and finished fifth in points. That season, he made his Cup debut at New Hampshire International Speedway for his NEMCO team, starting 15th before finishing 36th after suffering rocker arm failure. After running two more races in the 87, he ran a pair of races for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, his best finish 23rd at Rockingham.

1994-1999[link]

In 1994, Nemechek joined Larry Hedrick Motorsports to drive the #41 Meineke Discount Mufflers Chevy. Despite missing two races, he had three top-tens and finished 27th. He also started one Busch Series race at Richmond International Raceway. The next season, he moved his 87 team up to the Cup series with sponsorship from Burger King, and posted a fourth-place finish at the MBNA 500 and finished 28th in points. After he dropped to 34th in points, he abandoned his Cup team and signed to drive the #42 Bellsouth car for SABCO Racing. After losing his brother John in an accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway early in the year, Nemechek won the first two pole positions of his career, at California Speedway and Pocono Raceway, respectively. He posted four top-tens and finished a career-best 26th the following year. Midway through 1999, he announced he would not return to the 42 team the following season when he picked up his first career victory at Loudon. He won two more poles at Martinsville and Talladega Superspeedway and finished 30th in points that year.

2000-2005[link]

Nemechek (#01) racing against Kurt Busch at Talladega Superspeedway in 2005

For 2000, Nemechek signed to drive the #33 Oakwood Homes Chevrolet for Andy Petree Racing, winning the pole at Talladega and finishing a career-best fifteenth in points. He missed five races the following year after suffering an elbow injury at a test at Dover in 2001, then went on to win the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 at North Carolina Speedway that November.

After Petree's team began to run into financial problems, Nemechek left for the #26 Ford Taurus fielded by Haas-Carter Motorsports. But after sponsor Kmart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Nemechek left the team.

After replacing Johnny Benson (who was injured in an accident at Richmond) in the #10 Valvoline Pontiac for MB2 Motorsports for a few races, Nemechek was signed by Hendrick Motorsports to drive the #25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet (replacing Jerry Nadeau). He had a solid finish to his 2002 season, finishing second twice in the season's final four races.

In 2003, he won at the Pontiac Excitement 400 as well as posting five other top-ten finishes, but finished 25th in points. It wasn't enough for Nemechek to keep his job at Hendrick, and at the end of the season was released from his contract.

For the 2004, season, Nemechek returned to MB2/MBV Motorsports, taking over the #01 U.S. Army car (driven previously by Jerry Nadeau, who was severely injured in a crash in a test run for the Richmond race Nemechek ended up winning the prior season). He won two poles late in the season. In October, Nemechek won at Kansas Speedway, beating out Ricky Rudd at the finish line. Nemechek also won the Busch Series race at Kansas the day before, making him the first driver to pull the Busch-Cup double win at the track.

In 2005, Nemechek won a pole at Michigan and fell seven points short of matching his career-best points finish.

Nemechek's #01 U.S. Army car

Nemechek's #42 BellSouth race car in 1997

Presently[link]

Joe Nemechek's #78 race car in 2007

The #78 in 2008

The MB2 was rebranded as Ginn Racing following Bobby Ginn's purchase of the team in 2006. He moved to Ginn's #13 with CertainTeed sponsorship after veteran Mark Martin and rookie Regan Smith were tapped to share the #01 car. In July 2007, Nemechek was released due to a lack of sponsorship for the #13, which was subsequently shut down.^[1] He signed with E&M Motorsports and although he failed his first attempt to qualify at Indy, he made his way into the field for the Michigan race weekend driving the #08 Fans On Board Dodge. He spent the rest of the season driving for Furniture Row Racing, and signed a three-year contract with FRR to continue to drive in the #78 and help expand the team. In April 2008, at Talladega, Joe Nemechek grabbed his 10th career pole driving the #78 National Day of Prayer/ Furniture Row car It marked Furniture Row Racing's first ever pole. In October 2008, Nemechek finished 11th at the Talladega race, marking it Furniture Row Racing's best finish to date. In November 2008, Furniture Row Racing announced that they were planning on running a limited schedule in 2009 or perhaps not at all in light of the economic situation. The day after this announcement Nemechek was released from his contract and as a result making hum free to pursue other opportunities for 2009 and beyond. Shortly thereafter, Joe announced that he would be bringing his NEMCO Motorsports team back to full competition in both of NASCAR's top seires, Sprint Cup and Nationwide. He would race the #87 Chevy in Nationwide and the #87 Camry in Cup. Nemechek ran most of the races for both series that season, but occasionally had a younger fill in. In the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway, Nemechek flipped after contact with several other cars. His car had minor damage, and he was able to drive it back to pit road.

Nemechek raced in 30 Cup races during the 2009 season despite very little funding. He finished just three events and did multiple "start and parks" where a driver starts the race, then parks to conserve parts, tires, etc. and to collect the prize money. On two occasions, he gave up his ride to Scott Speed after his fully funded ride failed to qualify for Darlington and Sonoma. He qualified for the 2010 Daytona 500 after missing the race the year before. Nemechek picked up sponsorship from England Stove Works, but was involved in an accident on lap 64. Joe would go on to compete in 30 more Cup races with most being "start and parks." That season was highlighted by the 2010 AMP Energy Juice 500, Nemechek led the first lap after starting fourth. He would run the full distance, finishing 27th.

Joe has brought his #87 cars back for 2011 to once again run both major NASCAR series. Nemechek successfully qualified for the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row, but was once again involved in an early incident, thus failing to finish again. On June 9 at Texas Motor Speedway, along with Jeff Burton he made his 900th NASCAR start in all top three series. In the Nationwide Series, Nemechek scored his first top five since 2005 with a 3rd place finish at the Aaron's 312 after being in position to win with 2 laps to go. In July, Nemechek picked up sponsorship from Extenze and AM FM Energy to run the full race in both series at Daytona International Speedway. He lead laps in both races but was taken out in late accidents. He is the only driver in the go or go home category to make every race so far this season. Nemechek is collecting Nationwide Series points for 2011, and finished 14th in the final standings. He will once again drive the No. 87 in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series in 2012.^[2]

References[link]