Month: September 2017

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is heading to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for this Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 looking for a repeat of his 2016 performance at New Hampshire – which culminated with a visit to victory lane.
Harvick entered the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as the sixth seed, but a solid third-place performance at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, which featured two 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 13th position with two races remaining in the Round of 16.

After a 20th-place finish at Chicagoland in 2016, Harvick and team came to New Hampshire needing a win to guarantee they would advance to the Round of 12. Harvick and the No. 4 team delivered with some late-race heroics after starting 19th and rallying on a restart with only six laps remaining to seal the victory by .442 of a second over runner-up Matt Kenseth.
It was the second trip to victory lane in the Cup Series for Harvick at New Hampshire. He scored his first Cup Series win there in September 2006, when he started from the pole position and dominated the race by leading 196 of 300 laps and finishing .777 of a second ahead of his current team owner Tony Stewart.

Harvick isn’t alone in his success at New Hampshire. His crew chief Rodney Childers also scored an unlikely victory while running a limited schedule with driver Brian Vickers in 2013. Vickers only ran nine races in the No. 55 car in 2013, but Childers and team guided him to victory lane in the July race, when the team started 13th, led 16 of 302 laps and scored the victory by .582 of a second over runner-up Kyle Busch.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion has five top-five finishes in his last six starts at the “Magic Mile” and has led 387 of the 1,806 laps contested over that span – more than 21.4 percent.
Harvick finished fifth in his most recent visit to New Hampshire in July 2017.
His lone New Hampshire finish outside the top-five over his last six starts came in September 2015. He started second and led a race-high 216 laps but ran out of fuel in the closing laps and finished 21st. The result forced Harvick and the No. 4 team to head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway needing a win to advance to the playoffs’ Round of 12. They delivered a dominating performance at Dover by leading 355 of 400 laps to secure the win and advance.
Harvick’s plan of attack this weekend at New Hampshire is to attempt to qualify up front Friday to secure the track position needed to win Sunday, run a clean race, and maximize his chance to head to Dover with his place in the Round of 12 secured.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How do you break down the playoff race schedule?
“I’ve been fortunate to be on the side of going into the first week and thinking you’re going to win the championship and I’ve learned that’s how you think every year. But the one thing about it that I have learned is you better think about it one week at a time and not break down anything until you get there because you might be broke down before you even make it to the end. So it’s a one-week-at-a-time battle, and the most important thing to do at this particular time of the season is control yourself from a mental capacity and try to keep yourself prepared going into each week because you don’t know what you’re going to have to approach next week until you get done with this week. Even if you’re running good or you’re running bad, it’s a one-week-at-a-time-and-survive mentality until you go as far as you can.”

Why do you think Loudon has been so difficult for a lot of playoff drivers the last couple years?
“I don’t think Loudon is really any different than any other racetrack. It’s just circumstances that can crop up at really any racetrack throughout the playoffs. Any track can be a problem and I don’t think Loudon is any different than the rest of them. If you’re having a bad day, you know it can result in a bad day. You just have to overcome that and try to get yourself out of the hole.”

Event:               VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (Round 27 of 33)
Date:                 Sept. 23, 2017
Location:          Kentucky Speedway in Sparta
Layout:             1.5-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest 

• The VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta will be the first race of 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. 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 the point standings. At Homestead, the top-finishing driver among the four finalists wins the title.
• Custer will begin the 2017 XFINITY Series Playoffs from the eighth seed with 2,005 points, just 20 points behind leader William Byron. 
• Last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, Custer piloted his Haas Automation Ford Mustang to his best overall XFINITY Series performance after leading the field four times for 41 laps – ahead of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon. Custer also earned 17 stage points and was the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular in Stages 1 and 2.
• In Custer’s first XFINITY Series race at Kentucky a year ago, he ran in and around the top-10 until he was struck by a lapped car while exiting his pit stall, ultimately ending his day on lap 138 of the 200-lap race. 
• In 10 XFINITY Series starts and nine NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at 1.5-mile tracks, Custer has three top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. Custer has earned three top-10s this season at 1.5-mile tracks – Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (fifth), Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (seventh), Atlanta Motor Speedway (10^th) and Chicagoland (seventh).
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 60 points behind leader William Byron and 16 points behind second-place Daniel Hemric. Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season, three of which have come at 1.5-mile tracks – fifth at Texas, seventh at Charlotte and 11^th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Custer’s best finish in the 26 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned in the 11^th race of the year June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 15^th top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his career-best finish in 31 career XFINITY Series starts.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 26 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned twice – April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Custer has 18 top-10 starts and eight top-five starts this season.
• Custer has been the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular in four races this season – Charlotte, Dover, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Texas.
• Custer has earned four top-five finishes, 13 top-10s and has led 70 laps thus far in the 2017 XFINITY Series season.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

This is the first round of the playoffs. How do you feel and what is the game plan? 

“I think it’s finding a balance of not being too aggressive and not putting yourself in a bad position in the points due to a wreck or an unfavorable finish. Also, everyone is going to be racing hard and you can’t finish 15^th every race. It’s finding the balance of how hard you want to race and what times you want to push it and what times you don’t. I don’t think there are any tracks in the playoffs that I don’t really look forward to. It’s really hard to believe how far this Haas Automation team has come this year. The guys in the shop have worked extremely hard all year to get us where we are now and we just need to execute.”

After running your best overall race of the 2017 season at Chicagoland, do you feel that the team has built some momentum heading into the playoffs?  

“I think we have a lot of momentum after last week. We had a really fast Haas Automation Ford Mustang all weekend and we were able to race well, too. That was probably the most fun I’ve had in a stock car running up front with the Cup guys. As a team, we all learned a good amount last week, so I think we can have a strong weekend at Kentucky. Our mile-and-a-half program has been great this year and we had a decent run at Kentucky earlier this year. I’m looking forward to a consistent run this weekend.” 

Explain racing around Kentucky. 

“It’s a different place because it’s almost like Texas Motor Speedway, but with opposite corners. Turns one and two are pretty fast where you’re almost wide open on the throttle. Turns three and four, you have to use the brake and have to turn the center pretty good. It’s just two different ends that you have to deal with at Kentucky, but it’s an awesome track to go to.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are your thoughts about heading to Kentucky this weekend after a solid run at Chicagoland? 

“You’re always excited to get back to the track after having a good run. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum up to get the playoffs started on a good note. We’re bringing back (Chassis No.) 970, which is one of our oldest cars that we seem to run really well with every time we race it.”

A first-year XFINITY Series team makes it to the playoffs. Was this to be expected from the Haas Automation team?

“We expected to make the playoffs. Now, we need to execute everything right for the next six weeks. If we are fortunate enough to make it to the final round, there will be a lot of excitement headed to Homestead.”

Does your strategy change from the regular season?

“We won’t change anything we’ve been doing all year. Usually, when you change your normal routine, mistakes happen. We have a strong team and a good driver. As long as nothing happens beyond our control, we should end up with a good finish to the season.”

As Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) prepare for Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, nearly 1,400 miles away in Central Florida, personnel from the team’s sponsor Code 3 Associates are wrapping up efforts to assist in the wake of Hurricane Irma.

Based in Longmont, Colorado, Code 3 Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that specializes in technical animal rescue and recovery operations in disaster areas. Late last month, its team deployed to Southeast Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and the organization’s Animal Search and Rescue (ASAR) and Big Animal Rescue Truck (BART) teams then went to Central Florida to provide assistance following the destruction caused by Hurricane Irma.

The ASAR team members are all trained and certified to human rescue standards in swift water and rope rescue, and BART is an 82-foot tractor trailer that carries a three-quarter-ton, crew-cab pickup truck, several boats and motors, rescue gear and the team members’ personal protective and operational equipment. Equipped with the necessary training and tools, Code 3 Associates personnel have been on the front lines working in conjunction with state and federal rescue teams to assist domestic and farm animals impacted by the events in Texas and Florida.

In support of the Code 3 Associates team’s dedication to saving animals, SHR and the Tony Stewart Foundation have joined forces to raise awareness for all that the Code 3 Associates team is doing to help animals impacted by these recent natural disasters, and to raise funds to help the organization’s efforts. This weekend, Patrick’s No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion will feature decals on the rear deck lid and television panel encouraging fans to visit TonyStewartFoundation.org and make a tax-deductible donation to the Tony Stewart Foundation. One hundred percent of the donations will transfer to a grant that will be given to Code 3 Associates to support its efforts in Texas and Florida.

“It’s fairly well known that I’m a huge animal lover,” Patrick said. “Some might even say that I like animals more than people, at times, so it’s been incredibly sad to see all the animals left behind in the wake of the recent hurricanes. I’m truly proud to represent a group like Code 3 Associates that’s doing such great things to help out in those communities, and I hope we can help shed some light on the work they’re doing.”

In addition to supporting Code 3 Associates’ efforts this weekend, Patrick and the No. 10 team head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway ready for a repeat performance of the solid run they had at the track in July. In that race, Patrick started 30th but cracked the top-15 by the end of Stage 2 and went on to finish 13th, an effort that marked Patrick’s career-best NASCAR Cup Series finish in nine starts at the track.

In two Xfinity Series events at New Hampshire, Patrick’s top finish was 14^th in July 2012. In addition to her stock car experience at the track, Patrick competed in the 2011 IndyCar Series event at New Hampshire and earned a sixth-place finish.

While Patrick and the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion team will be driven to improve upon their performance Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, they hope fans will be driven to donate to the Tony Stewart Foundation in support of Code 3 Associates and the organization’s efforts in Texas and Florida.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is the key to being successful at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“I feel like with any short track it’s always really important to turn. I think focusing on that has probably been one of the biggest things that has helped me on short tracks – just getting the car to rotate in the center. But, if you can’t put the power down, then you definitely won’t be fast. It’s a fine line, but you need to find it.”

What part of New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been the hardest part for you to figure out?

“I’d have to say it’s probably the bumps into (turn) three and getting those under control with having balance in the rest of the corner. Also, it seems like, even more so this year than most years, being loose in is an issue, but that is honestly very common at Loudon. You can’t get tricked into thinking you’ve got to fix it because then it wrecks the center, and you need to turn the center.” 

What are you looking forward to as you return to New Hampshire this weekend?

“I love the area. I do. I love the track, too, because I love short-track racing. When I come to Loudon, I love the lobster. I go to this place that does this amazing, humongous – like way-too-much-food – stuffed lobster dish. And I love the lakes. I’m reminded every time on Saturday, when I drive into the local town, that there’s a farmer’s market, or what looks like one during the day, so I’ve got to try and catch that this year. The summers in the north are so beautiful. I grew up near Chicago, so I really appreciate that. I just enjoy the area, but the racing is great because, again, it’s short-track racing. It’s a little bit interesting because of the different banking throughout the track from lane one to lane two that makes for good racing.”

How challenging is New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“It’s flat and tough to get around, sometimes. You just have to make sure you get through the corners OK and are able to get on the gas quickly on the straightaways. It’s tough but, if you have a good car, you can pass and move up through the field. But it can be challenging if it’s not working in your favor.”

The New England Patriots were down 28-3 in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Patriots won 34-28 in overtime.

The Boston Red Sox were down three games to zero to the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. They made history by winning four in a row and went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

So, it’s not how you start in the playoffs, it’s how you finish.

And that’s what Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is thinking as he looks toward this week’s ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Busch was in the top-10 for much of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois but, on lap 190, he felt a vibration and was forced to pit under green on lap 200. Unfortunately for Busch, he was caught speeding on pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

That meant Busch finished a disappointing 19^th in the race, two laps down, and now finds himself in 13^th place with two races remaining until the playoff field is trimmed to 12 drivers.

Fear not for Busch, however. He’s had much success at New Hampshire.

The 39-year-old has three wins, two second-place finishes, seven top-threes, eight top-fives, 14 top-10s and has led a total of 541 laps in his 33 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.

Busch’s three NASCAR Cup Series wins at New Hampshire ties him for the most among active drivers, joining Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin.

And while every win is cherished, those first two New Hampshire triumphs carry significant importance.

Busch swept the NASCAR Cup Series races at New Hampshire in 2004. He overcame a 32^nd-place qualifying effort in the July race to lead twice for 110 laps en route to his first Cup Series win at the track. His second victory came that September, when he led three times for a race-high 155 laps. Busch went on to win the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

When Busch won at New Hampshire in September 2004, he became the first driver to win a race in NASCAR’s playoffs. The victory placed Busch in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for first place in the championship standings. Busch also became one of only two drivers to have swept the slate of NASCAR Cup Series races at New Hampshire. The other is Johnson, who swept the pair of Cup Series races in 2003.

Busch’s most recent victory at New Hampshire came in July 2008, when he won the rain-shortened Cup Series race. He only led 10 laps, but they were the final 10 of the 284 contested.

With the opening round of the NASCAR playoffs one-third complete, Busch is hoping he can find some New England luck and skill to advance to round two.

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

Your record at New Hampshire is pretty stout. Why is that?

“It’s a track that has been pretty good to me since I started racing in the top series of this sport. I raced there for the first time in the Truck Series and won that race. Then, it’s a track where I have three wins in the Cup cars and, when you’re able to go to a track where you’ve had that kind of success, it just gives you confidence. Because of the wins and everything, it’s a place we go to where I feel like I especially know what it takes from the car and the driver to be successful.” 

Are the challenges at New Hampshire the same as always, or does the track change over the years?

“It seems like it has changed a little bit toward the end of the race with a lot of aggressive restarts. That is when you gain positions, or it’s easy to lose positions. Everybody is out there elbows out, pushing hard, and you hope to not have trouble.” 

What do you need your car to do really well at New Hampshire to have a chance to win? 

“It’s got to be able to cut in the center of the corner, cut underneath guys, look to get to that bottom lane and drive up off the corner and get side-by-side with guys. That way you have position on corner exit.”

With New Hampshire being a tight and flat mile oval, it has some short-track characteristics in that there’s close racing and sometimes contact is made. If you inadvertently get into someone, do you try to right that wrong so it doesn’t come back to bite you later?

“It depends upon the circumstances but, yes. Usually, you’re trying to keep your eye on the main prize, which is victory lane at the end of the day. If you have a run-in early in the race, that guy is going to be trying to find you or you’re looking over your shoulder. So if you can sort of hit a reset button and right a mistake, you do that, but not at the expense of taking yourself out of position for the win.”

What do you remember about winning the title in 2004?

“Having the plan beforehand and executing it, and it went perfect nine out of the 10 weeks there. The only week that didn’t go smoothly was the engine failure in Atlanta, but a plan was put together months in advance. That’s how you get ahead to be able to bring more energy and more to the track – your preparations are done months in advance, so we looked at things around July 1 on where we were this year and what we really needed to pour into the car, and I would say that our August and September went really well after changing things around in July.”

What do you remember about the final race at Homestead in 2004?

“The biggest things from the final race the year I won the championship was, 60 laps to go, our crew chief Jimmy Fennig said he didn’t want to pit because we couldn’t make it on fuel. We could go about 55 laps on fuel then. I’m looking at the 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). They’re just ahead of me and, if they pit, I’m pitting because it means we’re all going to make it to the end on gas together or we’re all going to run out together. You race the cars around you, not necessarily the race itself. So there’s that added element that you have to adjust to to be a champion in this sport, so that’s the biggest thing that stood out. We ended up making it. There were a couple of extra yellows and that helped us all race our way back up to the top-five together. Johnson finished second. I think Gordon was third and I was fifth and I had just enough points in the bank to be able to win the championship.”

New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon is 1,530 miles from his hometown of Emporia, Kansas, but No. 14 Haas Automation Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Clint Bowyer must feel the 1.058-mile oval has been like a second home during his career.

Two of Bowyer’s eight career victories and one of his two poles have come at the “Magic Mile,” including his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2007.

New Hampshire seems to have enjoyed Bowyer over the years, as well.

Then Gov. Maggie Hassan declared Sept. 5, 2013 “Rockin’ with Clint Day” in New Hampshire. Bowyer took her for a burnout, used a 250-foot crane to dig up a personalized, 7,500-pound rock at a local quarry, and took part in a rock-climbing race.

“It’s always great to go up to New Hampshire,” Bowyer said. “I love the people, I love the fan base. There aren’t many states where I’ve gotten to do burnouts with the governor.”

A look at his record makes it easy to understand why Bowyer likes racing in the Granite State.

At the 2007 September race, Bowyer earned his second career pole on Friday, then led 222 of 300 laps Sunday to win the first Cup Series race of his career. Attrition played no role in the victory as, for the first time in the sport’s modern era, the entire 43-car field finished the race.

Fast-forward to September 2010, when Bowyer started second and led the most laps before fading back. A series of caution periods put him behind now-boss Tony Stewart over the closing laps. With both drivers trying to nurse their sputtering fuel tanks to the finish, Bowyer found himself in position to pounce when Stewart’s tank ran dry a lap from the checkered flag.

Bowyer hopes history will repeat itself this weekend when the Cup Series visits New Hampshire for Sunday’s 300-lap ISM Connect 300. Since missing the playoffs, he’s made winning a goal for the 2017 season.

Sunday’s race could be a turning point.

In the July New Hampshire race, Bowyer and his No. 14 SHR team showed they had the speed to contend for victory. He started 19th but climbed to fifth in the final 100 laps until a slow pit stop, when his car slid through the pit stall, left him with a seventh-place finish.

“I’ve won at New Hampshire twice and I love everything about it,” he said. “The flat, short tracks seem to fit my driving style the best and I have had a lot of success there – so we are pretty confident going in.”

Bowyer arrives at the Magic Mile with some momentum after a 13th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois last weekend. His No. 14 Ford started 11th and ran at the front of the field throughout the 400-mile race.

It’s been a successful season for Bowyer, who replaced three-time champion Stewart in the No. 14 team, led by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, which has scored five top-three finishes. Its 14.8 average finish is the ninth-best of all full-time Cup teams.

If there’s any track where Bowyer is likely to better that average, it’s New Hampshire.

His second home.            

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

What are some of the challenges of New Hampshire?

“New Hampshire can be a tricky little track. You’ve got to be able to roll the middle faster than the other guy, and then you have to put that throttle down. That may sound simple, but those two things are actually pretty difficult. You get the car to where it will really roll the middle, and then it’s pretty free, and now you are too loose up off. You get the car tightened up in the center and now you can’t get off the corner right to pass anybody. It can be a tough thing to juggle.”