NASCAR driver Harvick to race in Oxford 250 Daytona 500 champ set for July 20 event

Kevin Harvick, who won the Daytona 500 last year and has finished in the top 10 in points in the last two Nextel Cup seasons, is the latest Cup regular to enter the TD Banknorth Oxford 250.

The 35th annual race will be held on Sunday, July 20.

Nextel Cup points champions Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Terry Labonte have headlined the impressive list of Cup drivers who have entered the race over the past four years.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about Oxford Plains Speedway,” said Harvick in a press release. “From all the stories I heard about last year’s race, I can only imagine what this year’s race has in store. When it is all said and done, I would like to tell people that I not only made the show, but won the race.”

He will be the 10th Daytona 500 winner to run the 250.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native is a two-time Busch Series points champion and has finished in the top 10 in the Nextel Cup points chase in four of his seven years. He was a career-high fourth in 2006 and was 10th last season.

He has 11 wins, 49 top-fives and 101 top-10 finishes in 250 Cup races. He has 32 wins in 192 Busch Series starts and two Craftsman Truck series victories in 92 races.

OPS owner Bill Ryan said he was “delighted” when Harvick contacted him about entering.

“The history of this race is staggering and having Kevin Harvick enter the 2008 event writes another amazing chapter six months ahead of time,” said Ryan in the press release. “With Kevin Harvick, the fans in our region get an opportunity to see a driver who has been a Chase for the Championship contender and someone who has won most of the major races in the sport. But there are so many unique variables involved in a TD Banknorth 250 that it will be fun to see if Kevin can pull it off.”