NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick was in Richmond yesterday for a tour of the Richmond Coca-Cola bottling facility and a visit with the local media to discuss the upcoming May 2-3 NASCAR doubleheader weekend at Richmond International Raceway.  Harvick, who is currently third in driver points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, received a tour of the bottling facility and learned about how various Coca-Cola products are bottled from beginning to end.

Harvick, who is a member of the Coca-Cola family of NASCAR drivers, also inspected bottles and cans of Coca-Cola Classic and loaded a full palate of Coke Zero onto a delivery truck.  The tour chronicled the bottling of Coca-Cola products from beginning to end, as well as the reverse osmosis process of Dasani water.  The tour concluded with a demonstration of how bottles, cans and caps are all recycled on site at the Richmond facility.

Following the tour, Harvick visited with media members to discuss the Saturday, May 3, Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, an event at America’s Premier Short Track that he looks forward to every year.

“Richmond is one of my favorite racetracks,” said Harvick, who has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and four NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Richmond International Raceway.  “Richmond’s been very good to me in both the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series.  This is one of the dates on the calendar we look forward to.  The drivers all like racing here because it’s the short track racing that we grew up on but we still have that speed.  The fans are great because this place is always full.  We’re excited to come here and look forward to coming back here in a few weeks on May 2 and 3.”

“We came to help promote the Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.  You can go buy tickets at rir.com.,” said Harvick. Reffering to the Coca-Coal bottling facility, Harvick said, “This is probably one of the most sanitary and organized facilities I’ve ever been to in my life.  When you drink a bottle of Coke Zero or Dasani water, you don’t have to worry because you’re in good hands with these people.  We took pictures all day and we’re going to take them back to my race shop and show them how the floor is supposed to look.”

After departing the Coca-Cola facility and boarding a plane at Richmond International Airport, Harvick caught a flight to Philadelphia to visit with fans at the Philadelphia Flyers game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.  While in the City of Brotherly Love, Harvick participated in a meet-and-great with fans, signed autographs, participated in media interviews and had a jersey swap with Flyers center Jeff Carter.  The Philadelphia front linesman claims Harvick as one of his favorite sports figures.

“I've never really been a hockey fan because I didn't have anyone to root for,” said Harvick.  “Meeting Jeff [Carter] and seeing how big a NASCAR fan he is and how his teammates follow the races, I now have someone to cheer for.  The Flyers fans were great and had some really good questions. One even wanted to know how to get a job at Kevin Harvick Inc.”

Tickets are on sale now for the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, May 3.  Tickets start at $80.  The weekend begins on Friday, May 2, with the NASCAR Nationwide Series 250 race, which Harvick also plans to run.  Advance tickets for Friday night are $45 (reserved) and $35 (general admission).  Children 12 and under are admitted free in general admission sections with a ticketed adult on Friday night only.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 866-455-7223 or clicking here.