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SHR Post-Race Report: Indianapolis Road Course

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Inaugural Verizon 200 at the Brickyard
Date: Aug. 15, 2021
Event: Inaugural Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (Round 24 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.439-mile, 14-turn road course)
Format: 82 laps, broken into three stages (15 laps/20 laps/47 laps)
Note: Race extended 13 laps past its scheduled 82-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 25th, Finished 14th / Running, completed 95 of 95 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 18th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 95 of 95 laps)
● Cole Custer(Started 10th, Finished 25th / Running, completed 94 of 95 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 2nd, Finished 26th / Running, completed 94 of 95 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (9th with 733 points, 220 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (22nd with 424 points, 529 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (23rd with 416 points, 537 out of first)
● Cole Custer(28th with 368 points, 585 out of first)

SHR Notes:
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie for the 20th time this season.
● Briscoe finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points.
● Briscoe led once for 12 laps.

Race Notes:
● AJ Allmendinger won the inaugural Verizon 200 at the Brickyard to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his first of the season. His margin over second-place Ryan Blaney was .929 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 25 laps.
● Only 24 of the 40 drivers in the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Indianapolis with a 22-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin.

Indianapolis Quotes

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“There at the (final) restart, everybody is trying to outbrake each other getting into (turn) one, and we all kind of missed it to a certain extent. I was getting run wide and had nowhere else to go. I knew I was going to go through the grass. It was just a matter of do you go through it slow or gas it wide open and hope you get through it. I don’t know if there would have been a penalty if I had gone through it slow, but that was my only chance to win the race at that point. I went for that and stayed on (Denny Hamlin) tight and knew the 16 (AJ Allmendinger) was right behind me. He was on newer tires.

“A lot of guys were getting lazy through that turn and would just swing it out wide and leave the bottom wide open. So I was kind of all over him (Hamlin) in the esses, and when I went to go underneath him, I just clipped him in the right rear. He was already trying to get back to the left, so it just turned him right around. It is unfortunate for them. They were probably going to win the race if the 16 didn’t get to him. For us, we got a penalty, and I don’t even know where we (would have) finished. It is frustrating to be that close. You can taste it and imagine what it would be like, and then it gets taken away. I have a lot to be proud of. I feel like I showed that I belong here and I will get another chance next year.”

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We had a really good day in terms of execution and sticking to our plan. Unfortunately, that changed toward the end and we were involved in a wreck during overtime. Our Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang was a top-five car but luck wasn’t on our side, so we’ll head to Michigan and give it another shot.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Not the day we wanted for our Mobil 1 Ford team, but we certainly made the most of it. We got caught up there with nowhere to go and took on a lot of damage. The guys worked hard all day to keep us on the lead lap. We never gave up all day with a torn-up racecar to get ourselves a top-20. On to Michigan.”

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, Aug. 22, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage on NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-SHR-