Ricky Carmichael could run entire Truck series schedule for Kevin Harvick Inc.
CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series newcomer Ricky Carmichael may wind up running more races this season than originally scheduled.
Carmichael, a 15-time American Motorcyclist Association champion, could run the entire 25-race schedule after being originally slated to make just 14 starts, Kevin Harvick Inc. co-owner Kevin Harvick said Friday. The team is looking to find additional sponsorship for Carmichael to run all of the remaining races.
“He’s kind of sent us in a tailspin to be honest with you, because he’s done so well,” Harvick said during a stop at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to promote the Sprint All-Star Race. “We’re kind of backpedaling. We’ve got [the next race at] Martinsville situated for him to race.
“We’ll race three [KHI] trucks there at Martinsville. We’re struggling to keep up with him from a sponsorship side because we didn’t really expect him to do everything that he’s done.”
In three races this season, Carmichael has finishes of 24th (Daytona), eighth (Auto Club Speedway in California) and 21st (Atlanta). His worst qualifying effort has been a 15th at Atlanta. Carmichael is also 14th in the series standings.
At Daytona and Atlanta, Carmichael was running well before being involved in accidents not of his own making.
“I mean, obviously Daytona he ran in the top five until he got in somebody else’s mess,” Harvick said. “He did really well at Atlanta; I thought that would be probably the hardest thing that he had to learn, and we wanted to get that over with. He did well there and just got dumped and then got the truck tore up.
“But from his standpoint, he’s done a great job qualifying, he’s adapted to the trucks well and it’s really remarkable how fast he has taken on to everything, so we’re doing all we can from a sales side of it to try to fund the races that we didn’t have funded for him to just go ahead and complete the whole year.”
Carmichael’s former motocross sponsor, Monster Energy drink, is backing the Clearwater, Fla., native in the majority of the races.
“Right now I mean we’re looking to fill the gaps,” Harvick said. “He had 14 scheduled, and then we ran Atlanta, and everything looks good for Martinsville so we’re up to 16 already, so we’ve got nine to fill, and if we can find that funding we’ll fill it.”
