COLE CUSTER – 2017 Dover II Race Report

Cole Custer Finishes Eighth at Dover

Haas Automation Driver Earns Third-Straight Top-10

Date: Sep. 30, 2017
Event: Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 (Round 28 of 33)
Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/120 laps)
Start/Finish: 6th/8th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Playoff Point Standings: 4th (2,093 points, 14 points out of first)

Race Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

      • Cole Custer started sixth, finished eighth. Earned three stage points.
      • In the opening laps of the stage, Custer piloted his Haas Automation Mustang in and around the top-five, but noted loose-handling conditions.
      • At the conclusion of Stage 1, Custer pitted for four fresh tires, fuel, chassis adjustments and air pressure adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):     

      • Started sixth, finished seventh. Earned four stage points.
      • Custer ran as high as fourth place in the second stage.
      • Throughout the stage, the balance of Custer’s Haas Automation Mustang shifted to the tight side as the stage wore on.
      • Custer pitted for four more tires, fuel and adjustments at the conclusion of Stage 2.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 120-200):          

      • Started seventh, finished eighth.
      • On the initial restart of the final stage, Custer was caught in traffic and fell to the 12th position.
      • He continued to note tight-handling conditions, but re-entered the top-10 halfway through the stage.
      • Custer continued to move his Haas Automation Mustang up through the field to, gaining a few more spot by the time the checkered flag waved in order to earn his 15th top-10 of the season.

Notes:              

      • The Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 was Custer’s 33rd NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his seventh at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
      • Custer earned his 15th top-10 of the 2017 season, his 17th top-10 in 33 XFINITY Series starts and his third at Dover.
      • Custer earned a total of seven combined stage points.
      • Five cautions slowed the race for 28 laps.
      • Ryan Blaney won the Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 to score his sixth career XFINITY Series victory, second of the season and first at Dover. His margin of victory over second-place Justin Allgaier was 4.852 seconds.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a solid Haas Automation Mustang. We definitely didn’t have the best car but we made it better all day. The last restart didn’t play out for us; it was tough to pass. We got held up in the wrong lane there. We didn’t make any mistakes and got the points that we needed. It was a good day and we’ll head to Charlotte with confidence.”

 Next Up:          

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Drive For The Cure 300 on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Dover II Race Advance

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is heading to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for this Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 looking to survive the Round of 16 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Harvick entered the 2017 playoffs as the sixth seed, but a solid third-place performance at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, which featured runner-up finishes in the first and second stages for an additional 18 points, moved the No. 4 team up to third in the standings, 41 points above the cutoff position of 13th with two races remaining in the Round of 16.

However, a 36th-place finish last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon dropped the No. 4 team to 10th in the standings with only a 25-point buffer to the final transfer position into the Round of 12.

Harvick has been in a challenging position at this point in the season before and came out on top.

In October 2015, Harvick arrived at Dover ranked 15th in points and trailing Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 23 points for the final transfer position into the Round of 12. A solid finish at the Monster Mile wouldn’t do – he needed a win to advance. With everything on the line, he delivered the most dominant race of his NASCAR Cup Series career. He started 15th after rain cancelled qualifying Friday afternoon, but he quickly raced his way to the front and led 355 of 400 laps to beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish line by 2.639 seconds.

According to NASCAR Stats and Information, he registered a 149.7 driver rating out of a possible 150.0, narrowly missing his fourth perfect driver rating in a Cup Series race. He previously registered perfect 150.0 driver ratings at Phoenix International Raceway on three occasions – November 2006 and 2014, and March 2015.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion has been fast at Dover since joining SHR at the beginning of 2014, scoring one win, one pole and two top-five finishes. What is more impressive is that he has led 810 of 2,811 laps in seven races there – 28.8 percent of the total laps raced since the beginning of 2014.

However, luck has not always been on the side of the No. 4 team at Dover.

In June 2014, Harvick started eighth, led 24 laps, but finished 17th as the first car one lap down after he had a valve stem issue during a pit stop that caused a tire to go down on the following restart.

He won the pole at Dover in September 2014, when he turned a lap of 22.095 seconds at162.933 mph in the second round of qualifying. On race day, he stayed at the front of the field for 223 laps but had to settle for a 13th-place finish after another valve stem issue led to a flat tire following a pit stop and caused him to fall a lap down to the leaders.

Harvick started from the pole after qualifying was rained out in May 2016. He led 117 laps early in the race before he was caught in an 18-car accident and finished one lap down in 15th.

In October 2016, the No. 4 team started sixth before an issue with the trackbar resulted in the team spending 43 laps making repairs, and a 37th-place result was all he could muster.

While Harvick is not in a must-win situation at Dover, he will race aggressively and try to score stage wins and a trip to victory lane to shift momentum in a positive direction heading into the Round of 12.

 

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

You are not in a must-win situation, but you still need to survive Dover to advance.

“Yeah, we’re not in a must-win situation, which is great, but I’ve been to Dover in that situation before. For whatever reason, the first round has always thrown us some kind of curveball the last couple of years. In the last two years, I think we’ve finished 38th and 20th at Chicago and then we went to Loudon and had to win last year before going to Dover, where we broke a trackbar. The first round has been a real doozie for us the last few years.”

How do you approach your game plan for the Dover weekend?

“I think we want to race aggressively and do all the things that we’ve done all year. We aren’t one of the two guys tied zero points behind, and one guy one point behind and a couple guys trying to race hard to get a win to advance. We aren’t in a comfortable position, but having 25 points as a cushion is better than some of the other guys, for sure. I think you want to go up there and race as hard as you can and obviously race smart. But, I’ve been there and everybody races into the first turn and it wrecks 15 cars, so you never know. I think, for us, we’ve been in this position before and you go out and do the same things that you’ve done every week to get your car as good as you can in practice, make good decisions and get the best finish out of the weekend that you can.”

Is there a different level of pressure this year since the playoffs have changed a little this year?

“No. I think, as you look at when the Chase started and now what has evolved into the playoffs, in 2014 the pressure changed. That pressure is not like the pressure you used to have in the Chase. The playoff pressure is so much different than having 10 weeks, because now you have three weeks to make it happen. It’s just like last week, we had an accident and put ourselves behind, but that ramps the pressure up to make sure you go out the third week where it’s really all about survive and advance. That’s really what the mentality is. If you’re not winning, or you are not running well – it doesn’t matter. Whatever the round is this time – it’s the Round of 16 – just survive the Round of 16, get it back to the reset and start the next three weeks again. The pressure is much more intense than it was over 10 weeks because it’s all happening every week. You know you have a very short window to make it happen in those three weeks. It is definitely a different pressure and I think being able to have lived it in the past with things happening, having your back against the wall and winning a championship – we’ve been through a lot of these situations and hopefully we can handle them again.”

What is your mindset heading into Dover? Do you feel that a mistake or a wreck in one race can sink your season?

“It’s just more tense this time of year. Take us, for example. We went to Chicago and scored good stage points in both stages and you have a solid finish. Then you go to New Hampshire and the car is a little bit off, score one point in the first stage and then wreck in the second stage. Luckily, we had a little bit of a buffer there from the regular-season points and we have an OK cushion. That lets you breathe a little easier than being one out or zero.”

COLE CUSTER – 2017 Dover II Race Advance

Event:               Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 (Round 28 of 33)
Date:                 Sept. 30, 2017
Location:          Dover (Del.) International Speedway
Layout:             Concrete, mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

  • The Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 will be the second of seven races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. It will also mark Cole Custer’s 33rd career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his second XFINITY Series start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. 
  • Custer is tied with Justin Allgaier for first place in the XFINITY Series Playoffs with 2,057 points, two points ahead of second-place Elliot Sadler. 
  • In Custer’s seven overall starts at Dover, three are in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, two are in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and one is in the XFINITY Series. Custer’s best overall finish at Dover is fourth, earned in this year’s XFINITY Series race June 3. It tied his career-best XFINITY Series finish and was his 16th top-10 and sixth top-five in 32 XFINITY Series starts. 
  • In the 2015 Truck Series race at Dover, Custer led 67 laps and ran in and around the top-five until lap 138 when a fueling issue pushed him off the lead lap and into the 13th position, where he would ultimately finish the race. 
  • In 32 XFINITY Series starts, 42 Camping World Truck Series starts and 29 K&N Pro Series starts since 2015, Custer has five wins, six poles, 14 top-five finishes, 25 top-10s and 919 laps led at tracks that are a mile in length or shorter.
  • Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 27 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned three times – April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Sept. 23 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. Custer has 19 top-10 starts and nine top-five starts this season.
  • Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 52 points behind leader William Byron and 12 points behind second-place Daniel Hemric. Custer has earned seven Rookie of the Race awards this season, including at Dover earlier this season.
  • Last weekend at Kentucky Speedway, Custer won Stages 1-2 for his first career XFINITY Series stage wins. He led the field for 49 laps and earned two playoff points on his way to a fifth-place finish.
  • Custer has earned 15 top-10s, five top-fives and has led 119 laps so far in the 2017 season.
  • Custer will pilot chassis No. 1090 in the second race of the playoffs. Chassis No. 1090 holds the new flange-fit composite body that was used at Richmond (Va.) Raceway two weeks ago where Custer ran in and around the top-10 for the majority of the race.
  • The playoffs are divided into three rounds, with the first two rounds consisting of three races apiece and the final, single-race round being the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Four drivers are eliminated after each round to ultimately establish four finalists to decide the championship at Homestead. Drivers automatically qualify for the next round with a win in the current playoff round, with the remaining spots determined by point standings. At Homestead, the top-finishing driver among the four finalists wins the title.

 

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

 

Your best finish of your 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series career came at Dover earlier this season. Why do you run so well there?  

“I’ve always been a fan of the concrete tracks. There’s a lot of speed and a lot of banking. Dover is somewhere I’ve always run well at, but I’ve never really gotten the finishes I would’ve liked. It seems like we’ve always been in the fight for a win there. I’m looking forward to getting back there in our Haas Automation Ford Mustang and logging another solid finish.” 

Is there a level of confidence heading to tracks for the second time this season? 

“Yes. Coming back to a place for the second time at Kentucky, we found so many things that I’ve liked and that our team has found speed in with our team running week to week. It’s just incorporating those things that I’ve found to like. From practice to race, I think we just kind of fine tune what we have. We’re confident heading back to Dover with the notes we have, especially after our performance last weekend at Kentucky. We finished fourth earlier in the year, so hopefully we can do that again, or better.” 

Describe a qualifying lap at Dover.

“You come in shaking. It’s pretty crazy. You’re getting all that you can out of it and you’re just on edge the whole time. It’s so fast for such a small place.”

Is there any major difference in the feel of the flange-fit composite body?

Not that I can tell. I had no issues with it at Richmond, so I’m looking forward to running it again at Dover.”

 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

 

Last weekend the Haas Automation Ford team earned two playoff points after Custer won Stages 1-2. Are stage wins the goal in the playoffs?

“Stage wins have been on our radar all season. We’ve been improving each week and now have the speed it takes to contend for them. Those two points will be nice in the next round, but the 20 extra points we gained for this round gave us a little cushion to help get through the next two races.” 

What car are you bringing to the second round of the playoffs this weekend at Dover? 

“We are bringing the same car we ran at Richmond, chassis No. 1090. We had a lot of good speed out of that Haas Automation Mustang, but didn’t get the finish we wanted. This will be the second race for this car with the new composite body. I think NASCAR did a really good job with the design and working with the teams to make the composite bodies a success”

Danica Patrick Debuts No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Fusion, Driving More Good Days for Breast Cancer Awareness

  • Danica Patrick is debuting the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Fusion race car in this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Apache Warrior 400, then again Oct. 8 in the Bank of America 500 to mark Breast Cancer Awareness month
  • One of the most successful women in the history of racing, Patrick’s involvement in the cause stems from her personal experience supporting friends who have dealt with the disease, as well as her recognition that warriors battling breast cancer deserve More Good Days – an initiative made possible through Ford Warriors in Pink
  • Now 23 years strong, Ford Warriors in Pink continues to drive awareness and action in the fight against breast cancer – so far dedicating more than $133 million to the cause.

 

Danica Patrick is driving the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Fusion race car this weekend in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Apache Warrior 400 at Dover International Speedway. The debut of the special Warriors in Pink livery for Sunday’s race comes just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness month, and marks Ford’s decades-long commitment to raising awareness and funds in the fight against the disease. Patrick will take to the track again with the Warriors in Pink Fusion Oct. 8 for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Patrick’s No. 10 race car displays the warrior symbol to honor the powerful, courageous women and men engaged in the fight against breast cancer. Symbols are a key part of the inspirational message Ford Warriors in Pink represents – serving to uplift those who exhibit strength and courage in the face of their greatest battle.

“The Ford Warriors in Pink race car really looks great,” said Patrick, one of the most successful women in the history of motorsports now driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. “Cancer impacts all of us. I bet there are very few people out there who don’t know someone impacted by breast cancer. My friend had a double mastectomy as a preemptive strike because she actually tested positive for the breast cancer gene. She went through everything and hopefully avoided it, but it hit close to home.

“If we all work together, we can help make a difference,” Patrick added. “Whether it’s starting a conversation or inspiring donations, every little bit helps. That’s why I’m proud to drive the Warriors in Pink Fusion to help raise awareness for the cause.”

 

Driving More Good Days

As a preview to marking Breast Cancer Awareness month, Patrick helped kick things off with Ford Warriors in Pink by surprising patients with racing lessons at Chicagoland Speedway Sept. 20. These special events being held across the country are designed to help tap into a newfound fearlessness patients and survivors tend to experience by giving them free access to engage in new thrills and challenges.

To empower people to take action and support their loved ones, Ford Warriors in Pink launched its More Good Days initiative in 2015. Since then, the program has delivered more than 80,000 More Good Days experiences across the country – ranging from rides to treatment centers to special patient surprises including racing lessons and more.

“Each year, we ask ourselves what more we can do,” said Tracy Magee, Ford Warriors in Pink brand manager. “Through strategic collaborations and engaging experiences, we hope to continue to raise awareness and encourage friends, families and loved ones to help in simple but meaningful ways.”

Ford Warriors in Pink has been unrelenting for 23 years working to help breast cancer patients and their families. To date, Ford has dedicated more than $133 million to research, education and patient resources.

To join Danica Patrick and Ford Warriors in Pink in the fight against breast cancer, please visit FordCares.com to access free tips, tools and resources that make it easy to give breast cancer patients More Good Days.

 

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Dover II Race Advance

Kurt Busch is 15th in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points. There is one race remaining before the playoff field is cut from 16 drivers to 12 and Busch is 17 points behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillion, who are tied for 12th.

Worried? No.

Because Busch is all in for Dover.

That’s the attitude of Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). That is also that attitude of Tony Gibson and his veteran crew.

It’s been done before – a driver on the verge of being eliminated scores a victory that propels him to the next round of the playoffs.

Busch doesn’t need to look that far as his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick has done it twice. In 2014, Harvick was in eighth place and all but eliminated but scored a huge victory at Phoenix International Raceway. Harvick locked himself into the final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway and went on to win the championship.

It happened again in 2015 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway where, again, Harvick was on the verge of elimination but led 355 of 400 laps to score a victory to advance to the next round.

That’s what Busch is hoping for going into Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 at Dover.

Busch has conquered Dover once in his career – in October 2011. He pulled away from Jimmie Johnson on a pair of late-race restarts to earn his 24th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Busch also owns nine top-10 finishes in 34 starts at the concrete oval known as the “Monster Mile,” where he’ll look to earn both his second career Dover victory and second of 2017 Sunday.

The hill is steep but Busch knows it can be climbed. Which is why they are “all-in” at Dover.

 

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

Are you “all-in” for Dover? 

“It’s all-in. We’ll go there with everything we’ve got, like we have been. We’ve got to find the setup that will make that car cut, that will make it go through the center of the corner, and carry that speed on exit and give it our best.” 

What is it about Dover that makes it such a challenging racetrack, and what do you have to do to be successful there? 

“The tough thing about Dover is things happen so quickly. At any moment, at any time, somebody can spin in front of you or you can lose control off the corners and you are going to wreck. There is no real forgiveness about Dover. That is what makes it tough. To be good there, you have to be good on corner exit. The track really rubbers in so you can see the concrete change to black as the weekend progresses. On corner exit, you get really tight or really loose. The time I won there, I could almost hold it wide open on corner exit. That is what you’ve got to have.” 

Do you feel it has earned its nickname?

 “It’s called the Monster Mile for a reason – the track can chew up cars and spit them out. It’s because of those tough transitions into the corners with the high banking and even the high-banked straightaways. It’s tough to do that sharp of a turn on a mile racetrack. It’s like you literally jump down into the corner and then jump back up out of the corner onto the straightaway, and so those points of the track are the toughest part – the transition from straightaway to corner. It’s a fun track to drive.” 

How physically demanding of a racetrack is Dover? 

“You’re just on edge there and, the speed that you have to carry on corner exit, you’re right there at the wall every corner exit and you do it 800 times with 400 laps and two corner exits. That makes it tough. This race will wear you out, for sure, and you have to pace yourself.” 

What’s it like heading off into turn one at Dover? Do you focus more on corner entry or exit there?  

“The drop into turn one is definitely tough. It’s one of the biggest ones we encounter on the circuit. You have to have the car nice and soft when it lands, but then the suspension has to be rigid enough to not allow the car to hit too hard. It’s a nice balance that you have to find at Dover to be successful. Most importantly, though, it is getting that corner exit when the track rubbers in because you can’t get on the tight side.”

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Dover II Race Advance

Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway for Sunday’s Apache Warrior 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in search of another top-10 finish at the track.

When the series visited the concrete mile oval in June, Patrick was scored as low as 31st early in the race. On three occasions, Patrick went a lap down to the leader, but the team persevered and was able to get back on the lead lap each time due to taking the wave around, earning the free pass and catching a break as the caution flag waved in the midst of green-flag pit stops.

She lined up in the 15th position as the race went into overtime and, despite sustaining damage on the white-flag lap, Patrick was able to take the checkered flag in the 10th position. The effort marked Patrick’s career-best NASCAR Cup Series result at the track and the team’s best finish of the 2017 season.

While Patrick has made 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover, she also has NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East experience at the track. In three Xfinity Series starts at the track, Patrick’s top-result was a 16th-place finish earned in September 2012. When Patrick competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dover in 2010, she earned a sixth-place finish.

As Patrick returns to Dover, she knows that while a top-10 finish is the team’s goal, it won’t necessarily be easy to obtain at the track nicknamed the “Monster Mile.”

“Dover is fun,” Patrick said. “It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it – how demanding it can be. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks.”

Patrick and the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion team enter Dover on the heels of back-to-back 18th-place finishes at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The results marked the first top-20 finishes for the team since Patrick earned a 15th-place result in July at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

After scoring five top-15 runs this summer and a top-10 at Dover, Patrick and the No. 10 team are ready to get back into contention for another top-10 finish at the “Monster Mile.”

 

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 Ford Warriors in Pink Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

How tough is Dover to drive?

“It can be a real challenge. It’s quite quick and, when you come off turns two and four, it drops you down like a roller coaster. You just have to have a good setup and make sure everything is working right or it can be a long day. It’s actually a pretty long race, so you have to be prepared. But it’s a fun track and I’m looking forward to it.”

What are your thoughts about Dover?

“I always like going to Dover. The track is pretty fun. I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn’t have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn’t raced at Bristol yet, either. Dover is fun. It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it – how demanding it can be. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks.”

 

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Dover II Race Advance

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, remembers his last trip to Dover (Del.) International Speedway in June. The Emporia, Kansas native hopes Sunday’s 400-mile Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race ends a lot better.

In June, Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford qualified 22nd in the 39-car field but, in Saturday practice, it posted the second-quickest 10-lap average. The next day, the No. 14 took off like a rocket when the green flag waved over the concrete, mile oval. Despite reporting some handling issues, Bowyer climbed to fourth and appeared to be a contender for victory as the race neared the quarter mark.

That’s when the day turned sour.

The crew noticed an oil leak during a lap-97 pit stop that forced Bowyer to the garage and kept him out of action for 16 laps. He returned to the track and managed to regain one of the lost laps, leaving him with a 31st-place finish.

“You never seem to have anything break when you’re having a bad day,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “It only seems like things break when you are running well. That (June Dover race) was disappointing, but you’ve got to be able to get over it. How does a golfer go on after a bad swing? It’s the next shot. You focus on that.”

Bowyer said he also takes the positives out of a bad situation.

“We know how good our car was that weekend and we’re pretty confident we can have one just as good this weekend,” he said. “If we do, then we could have a fun day on Sunday.”

Bowyer has history on his side at Dover, where he’s scored top-10 finishes in half of his 24 careers starts. That also includes two top-five finishes.

He arrives at the Monster Mile after a seventh-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The No. 14 Ford climbed to second with less than 30 laps remaining in the race, but couldn’t notch that victory Bowyer has made a priority in the remaining races this season.

“In this business, success is measured by winning,” he said. “Until we win, we won’t be happy.”

Bowyer has enjoyed more good than bad days in 2017. It’s his first season driving the No. 14 replacing three-time champion Tony Stewart. He’s posted three second- and two-third place finishes as part of his 11 top-10s in 2017.

While he fell one spot short of making the playoffs, Bowyer has been one of the top-performing drivers week in and week out in 2017 Cup Series competition.

The No. 14’s average finish of 14.5 is the ninth best of the full-time teams in 2017 – better than eight of the 16 teams in the playoffs. That’s even more impressive considering it’s Bowyer’s first season at SHR, his first season with second-year crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, and SHR’s first year with new manufacturer Ford.

But it’s earning that victory in one of the final eight races of the season where Bowyer prefers to direct his focus, and that mission starts Sunday in Dover.

The Monster Mile owes him one. 

  

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

What are your thoughts on Dover?

“Dover is always a cool track I think every driver looks forward to because it’s a driver’s track. You’ve got to man up, get on top of that wheel and make things happen. There are just so many things going on there on that concrete surface and high banks. It’s a lot of fun. If you win there, you’ve earned it. It’s a good track for me – we usually run well there. Over the years, we’ve struggled to get the finish we feel like we’ve deserved. Dover is certainly a track where we feel like this team is capable of getting a really solid run and contending for a win.”

Is there more pressure at tracks where you’ve had success?

“I think so – there’s a little bit more pressure. There’s a reason there’s some pressure – it’s because we have performed there and we need to do it again. I feel like we can back that up and I’m fairly confident in that. You don’t take anything for granted, but this is one of those tracks where you kind of just go in and usually things work out.”

 

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 New Hampshire II Race Report

Event:               ISM Connect 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Format:             300 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/150 laps)
Start/Finish:       16th/7th (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Point Standing: 18th with 718 points

Race Winner:    Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

  • Clint Bowyer started 16th and finished 19th.
  • Dealt with a Haas Automation Ford that was loose early into the corners and tight off.
  • Pitted at the end of the stage for four fresh tires and fuel. Made a left-rear tire pressure adjustment.

 

  • Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150):
  • Started 16th and finished 11th.
  • Jumped to 13th on restart, but then felt car became tight as laps wore on.
  • “Too tight on the gas,” said Bowyer on lap 107, yet he rose to 11th by the end of the stage.
  • Pitted at the end of the stage for four fresh tires and fuel. Reversed left-rear tire pressure adjustment from previous pit stop.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 151-300):

  • Bowyer started 11th and finished seventh.
  • Cracked top-10 on lap 182.
  • Rose to ninth with pass of Chase Elliott on lap 210.
  • During caution on lap 223, Bowyer pitted for four tires and fuel. “No changes,” he said. “It takes a while to get going, but once it’s going, it’s ok.”
  • Good work by Haas Automation crew allowed Bowyer to maintain ninth place when race restarted on lap 226.
  • Grabbed eighth place from Ryan Blaney on lap 256.
  • Caution on lap 264 allowed Bowyer to pit for four tires and fuel, no changes.
  • Pit crew got Bowyer off pit road in sixth place, a gain of two positions.
  • Bowyer made most of restart and mistakes of others, rising to second place before a lap-269 caution.
  • Restarted in second behind race leader Kyle Busch with 28 laps to go. Fell to third before another caution on lap 274.
  • Final restart came on lap 278. It was a frantic one, with Bowyer dropping to seventh in the waning laps.

Notes:

  • This was Bowyer’s 11th top-10 of 2017 and ninth top-10 in 24 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 32 laps.
  • Twenty of the 39 drivers in the ISM Connect 300 finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Busch won the ISM Connect 300 to score his 41st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his third at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was 2.641 seconds.
  • Martin Truex Jr. leads the championship standings with 2,149 points and holds a 30-point advantage over second-place Kyle Busch.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It really wasn’t a strategy race. We just kept digging and were just off a little bit.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Apache Warrior 400 on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It is the third race of the 10-race playoffs and it starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.

KURT BUSCH – 2017 New Hampshire II Race Report

Event:               ISM Connect 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Format:             300 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/150 laps)
Start/Finish:       7th/37th (Accident, completed 148 of 300 laps)
Point Standing: 15th with 2,027 points

Race Winner:    Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

  • Kurt Busch started seventh and finished 15th.
  • By lap six Busch was 11th and reported the Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion was lacking right-front grip.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150):

  • Busch started 13th and finished 37th.
  • Busch’s first pit stop came on lap 79. He took four tires, fuel and chassis and wedge adjustment.
  • On lap 134 Busch was 17th and reporting that the car was loose in and tight center.
  • Busch’s day was ended on lap 148 when he was involved in a multicar accident on the backstretch. 

Notes:

  • There were six caution periods for a total of 32 laps.
  • Twenty of the 39 drivers in the ISM Connect 300 finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Busch won the ISM Connect 300 to score his 41st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his third at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was 2.641 seconds.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Wow. I mean, I don’t know what to say. It’s tough when you’re running where we were. We were just trying to limp it to the end of Stage 2, and I heard ‘Car spinning off of two’ in my ear. I saw smoke up ahead. A lot of times they’ll come back up, and I tried to leave the high side or the low side and then, boom, as soon as the smoke cleared I’m looking at (Kevin) Harvick’s door, my teammate. We’re both running for the Playoffs, and it’s a shame that the handling is off and we’re both running where we were, but we were still going to fight all the way to the end, but now we don’t have a chance. I cannot understand the bad luck we’re having.”

Playoff Standings (with one races to go before Round of 12):

  1.   Martin Truex Jr. (2,149 points) 1 win
  2.   Kyle Busch (2,119 points) 1 win
  3.   Kyle Larson (2,125 points, -24) +81 points
  4.   Brad Keselowski (2,106 points, -43) +62 points
  5.   Denny Hamlin (2,088 points, -61) +44 points
  6.   Matt Kenseth (2,087 points, -62) +43 points
  7.   Jimmie Johnson (2,076 points, -73) +32 points
  8.   Ryan Blaney (2,070 points, -79) +26 points
  9.   Chase Elliott (2,070 points, -79) +26 points
  10.  Kevin Harvick (2,069 points, -80) +25 points
  11.  Jamie McMurray (2,053 points, -96) +9 points
  12.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2,044 points, -105) +0 points
  13.  Austin Dillon (2,044 points, -105) -0 points
  14.  Ryan Newman (2,043 points, -106) -1 point
  15. Kurt Busch (2,027 points, -122) -17 points
  16.  Kasey Kahne (2,023 points, -126) -22 points

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Apache Warrior 400 on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It is the third race of the 10-race playoffs and starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 New Hampshire II Race Report

Event:               ISM Connect 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1-mile oval)
Format:             300 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/75 laps/150 laps)
Start/Finish:      6th/36th (Running, completed 148 of 300 laps)
Point Standing:             10th with 2,069 points, 25 points ahead of 13th 

Race Winner:    Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

  • Kevin Harvick started sixth, finished 10th and earned one bonus point.
  • He reported he was loose-off and battled rear-grip issues throughout the opening stage.
  • The Mobil 1 Ford remained inside the top-10 before the conclusion of Stage 1.
  • The No. 4 team pitted at the end of the stage for four tires, fuel and air pressure and chassis adjustments. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-150):

  • Started 11th, finished 36th.
  • Harvick continued to battle rear-grip issues throughout Stage 2.
  • On lap 149 Harvick was struck in the left-rear quarter panel on the exit of turn two, sending the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford spinning.
  • With nowhere to go, teammate Kurt Busch made contact with Harvick, ending the day for both. 

Notes:

  • ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire is the second of the 10-race playoffs to determine the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
  • Harvick gained one bonus point by finishing 10th in Stage 1.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 32 laps.
  • Twenty of the 39 drivers in the ISM Connect 300 finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Busch won the ISM Connect 300 to score his 41st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his third at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Kyle Larson was 2.641 seconds.

Playoff Standings: (with one race to go before Round of 12):

  1. Martin Truex Jr. (2,149 points) 1 win
  2. Kyle Busch (2,119 points) 1 win
  3. Kyle Larson (2,125 points, -24) +81 points
  4. Brad Keselowski (2,106 points, -43) +62 points
  5. Denny Hamlin (2,088 points, -61) +44 points
  6. Matt Kenseth (2,087 points, -62) +43 points
  7. Jimmie Johnson (2,076 points, -73) +32 points
  8. Ryan Blaney (2,070 points, -79) +26 points
  9. Chase Elliott (2,070 points, -79) +26 points
  10. Kevin Harvick (2,069 points, -80) +25 points
  11. Jamie McMurray (2,053 points, -96) +9 points
  12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2,044 points, -105) +0 points
  13. Austin Dillon (2,044 points, -105) -0 points
  14. Ryan Newman (2,043 points, -106) -1 point
  15. Kurt Busch (2,027 points, -122) -17 points
  16. Kasey Kahne (2,023 points, -126) -22 points

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I tried to lock it down, and it was too far up across the racetrack. I knew I was probably worse off at that particular point, so once it turned back right and I was in trouble, I should have just tried to keep it left. I couldn’t really tell where I was with all the smoke and everything that was happening. I just got hit from behind and spun out. The cars were locked together, so our Mobil 1 Ford was stuck and we couldn’t get her to back up anymore.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Apache Warrior 400 on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel 90.