Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for this weekend’s event at the fast, 2-mile oval. Almirola enters this weekend with momentum coming off of his seventh-place finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

Michigan is the second time this season that Almirola has driven the No. 10 Ford Fusion with the Mobil 1 livery. The 34-year-old piloted the Mobil 1 Ford earlier this year at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and garnered a 14^th-place finish. Mobil 1 plays an integral role in SHR’s success. Mobil 1’s lubricant technology helps to reduce frictional loss in its Ford engines to maximize fuel mileage, increase horsepower and turn more rpm, providing an advantage over its competitors. Mobil 1 also helps reduce friction in suspension components, providing maximum tire grip as well as helping to reduce steering compliance to give its teams an edge behind the wheel.

Recently, Almirola visited Mobil 1’s Paulsboro, New Jersey facility for the first time with several SHR attendees. “We visited their New Jersey office and had our minds blown – information overload,” Almirola said. “To see how much detail they go into, all of the way down to microscopic detail, is amazing. To know that they put a lot of that technology and development into our racecars before it even sees a passenger car is amazing. It’s really neat to be the proving grounds because we operate under such extreme conditions and require and demand so much from our cars. It was fun to learn so much about Mobil 1.”

Not only does Mobil 1 help improve the on-track efficiency of SHR, but the on-track testing helps lead to new lubricant technology developments such as Mobil 1 Annual Protection, which allows drivers to travel up to 20,000 miles, or one full year between oil changes.

Almirola has 11 starts at Michigan with a best finish of 12^th earned in August of last year. He’s led three laps at the track nestled in Michigan’s Irish Hills region, and he has an average starting position of 21.6 and an average finishing position of 20.2. Almirola and the No. 10 team completed a one-day Goodyear tire test at Michigan in April.

Just as Mobil 1 is vital to the success of SHR and its multicar operation, so is Ford. This weekend’s event is in Ford’s backyard, with the speedway located just over an hour west of its Dearborn, Michigan headquarters.

In its 16^th consecutive season as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR,” Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of teams throughout NASCAR’s top three series. Almirola has earned three Mobil 1 Performance Awards this season, with his most recent coming after last weekend’s race at Pocono.

Almirola has two starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan. He won in June 2010 after leading seven laps for his second Truck Series win that season. Additionally, the Tampa native made three starts in the Xfinity Series at Michigan with a best finish of eighth in June 2015 while piloting the No. 98 DenBeste Water Solutions Ford.

Ford has earned seven wins so far this season with Almirola’s SHR teammates earning a majority of the victories for the blue oval – Kevin Harvick with five and Clint Bowyer with one. Harvick also captured the non-points-paying All-Star Race win at Charlotte. Ford has 36 all-time series wins at Michigan, second only to its 37 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for the manufacturer.

ARIC ALMIROLA, Driver of the No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How is Mobil 1’s relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing? 

“Mobil 1 is an integral part of Stewart-Haas Racing and the success we have on the racetrack. They do so much to add value beyond just their name being on the racecars. It’s truly a partnership and everyone at SHR is grateful to have them as part of our team. They put a ton of time and resources into doing their part to making the cars go fast on the track.”

What do you think has made the difference for Stewart-Haas Racing this year? Why have you guys been so dominant?

“I honestly don’t know. I haven’t been there for its entire 10 years of existence. I’m new to the organization but, seeing the way they go about things and their approach and, really, how all 380 employees totally bought in, the commitment to excellence is very obvious when walking through the shop floor and talking to everybody. I think that’s been the most rewarding and eye-opening for me – knowing that all of the employees are focused on winning each week.”

Life comes at you fast. Especially at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visits the wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways of the 2-mile, D-shaped oval in the state’s scenic Irish Hills region this weekend for the 15th race of the 2018 season. Last year’s Michigan races provided the fastest two qualifying laps of the 2017 season with each pole winner’s speeds exceeding 202 mph.

It’s a far cry from the 206.558 mph track record set by Jeff Gordon in August 2014, but it’s still fast.

Just ask the drivers.

“Michigan will surely get your attention,” said No. 14 Haas Automation VF-1 for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Clint Bowyer, who qualified third and 11th at Michigan in 2017. “You better have everything right at Michigan. That’s engine, aero, handling and everything else. You are going so fast there that anything slightly off will show up.”

Bowyer arrives at Michigan after a good run but disappointing result at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway last weekend. Bowyer finished fourth and third in the race’s first two stages and appeared destined for a top-five finish. But a missed shift with five laps remaining in the race left him “sick to my stomach” with a 20th-place finish.

The stage points earned Sunday, coupled with trouble encountered by competitors in the race, moved Bowyer from eighth to sixth in the standings. The No. 14 owns a victory, three top-five finishes and seven top-10s in 2018. His average start is 17.7 and average finish is 18.7 at Michigan.

Bowyer showed speed at Michigan in 2017. In June, he started third and ran as high as second early in the race. He finished sixth in both Stage 1 and Stage 2. He restarted the race seventh with 15 laps remaining but visited pit lane after right-side contact with the wall. The damage relegated Bowyer to 26th. In July he finished 23rd after enduring two speeding penalties and contact with another car with 50 laps remaining in the race.

Bowyer’s average finish of 11.4 in 2018 is the second best of his career. In 2012 he averaged a 10.9 finish. His 2018 numbers would be even better were it not for accidents caused by other drivers at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City that saw Bowyer’s good runs end early.

SHR drivers own one points-paying victory at Michigan – Kurt Busch in June 2015 – and 10 top-fives and 18 top-10s in 54 starts. The organization arrives at Michigan as strong as ever. In 2018 SHR cars have won six points-paying Cup Series races – five for Kevin Harvick and one for Bowyer – and the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race, and have earned three poles and led 1,427 of the season’s 4,462 laps. An SHR Ford has led approximately one-third of all laps in 2018.

SHR drivers are high in the standings, as well. Harvick is second, Bowyer sixth, Busch seventh and Aric Almirola 11th.

“Life is good right now at SHR,” Bowyer said. “Our Fords are fast and we hope to keep making them faster. It being Michigan, I know Ford will have a lot of folks at the track this weekend. We are going to meet a lot of them on Sunday and tell them how much we appreciate their support and hard work. I’d really like them to come get their picture with us in victory lane.”

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation VF-1 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is the key to victory at Michigan?

“She’s a fast, fast racetrack. It always gets your attention. You have to have grip and a ton of horsepower. If you have both of those, you will be just fine. As the track ages, it will keep getting better and better. Right now, it seems the middle groove is where you want to be.”

What is the key to your 2018 success? 

“A fast hot rod goes a long way in this sport. We’ve been running up front, we have to stay there and get a little bit better. Improvement is always what you want. You want to just keep improving and getting better. That is really all you can ask for. I am pretty proud of us getting better. Hopefully we will keep improving as we go on.

The summer stretch of races has begun on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit. The speedweeks at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway are through and the series is now venturing across the northern part of the country.

Last week’s stop was at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, and this week it moves to historic Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has three wins at Michigan, which puts him in a tie with Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson for most among active drivers. And just like he’s done at Pocono, his three wins have come with three different teams.

He scored his first win at Michigan in June 2003 driving for Roush Fenway Racing, then backed it up with a victory in August 2007 with Team Penske. His last Michigan win came in a rain-shorted race with SHR in June 2015.

Busch also qualified on the pole at the 2-mile oval in June 2010 and 2011, and he’s scored five top-five finishes there.

He’ll be looking to take Ford back to victory lane at Michigan, which is about an hour from the Detroit area, where Ford is based. The blue oval has a long history at Michigan, winning nearly half the races since the track opened in 1969. Of the 97 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Michigan, Ford and its Mercury brand have combined for 47 wins – 35 by Ford and 12 by Mercury.

Busch is credited with one of those triumphs – June 2003, when he snatched the lead from Jeff Gordon with 24 laps to go to claim his seventh career Cup Series win.

The Las Vegas native has five top-12 finishes, including a win, in his last six Michigan starts. He’s hoping to score another victory as the dog days of summer get underway.

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

You won the June 2003 Michigan race for Ford almost 100 years after the company was formed. Can you talk about what you remember from that experience?

“It was really neat. In my office at my house, I have a letter form Edsel Ford congratulating our team on the race win. And it’s something I framed and put in a similar format to a letter that my grandfather got from Henry Ford when he was a Ford employee. And it was really neat to have that moment and the lineage of our family of letters from the Ford family.”

What does it take to be fast at Michigan?

“Michigan is a tough place because of the way the cars have a certain grip level on fresh tires versus old tires. What I mean by that is, when you put on fresh tires, your tires are cold and they don’t grab the asphalt as well. A lot of guys try to stay out at Michigan with the hot tires on and they get better restarts. Restarts at Michigan are already pretty wild with how wide the track is and how many lanes there are for options. It comes down to just trying to put yourself in the best position with the best-percentage chance according to whether you’re on fresh tires, or by staying out, as you try to make up spots on restarts.”

What’s been the key to your success at Michigan? 

“The biggest thing about Michigan is respecting the speed. It’s a very fast racetrack.”

What do you feel like is the toughest part of Michigan? 

“The toughest part is turn three. It seems like the cars do this weird, four-wheel, light drift getting down in there. If your car is dialed in – and I’ve won there three times – it feels like turn three is the easiest corner. Turn three to me is the challenge each time I go there.”

Event:             LTi Printing 250 at Michigan
Date:               June 9, 2018
Location:         Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
Layout:             2-mile oval

Kevin Harvick Notes of Interest 

• The No. 98 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste (SHR) makes its seventh appearance of 2018. Chase Briscoe has three starts in the No. 98, Harvick two and Aric Almirola made one.
• FIELDS makes its first appearance as the primary sponsor of the No. 98 Ford with driver Kevin Harvick in 2018. FIELDS appeared on Harvick’s No. 4 K&N Pro Series West Ford at Sonoma and the No. 41 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen in 2017.
• FIELDS has worked with The Kevin Harvick Foundation over the last few years to help create fields at the Boys & Girls Club in Vero Beach, Florida, Greensboro, North Carolina and in Harvick’s hometown of Bakersfield, California. FIELDS is currently working with the Kevin Harvick Foundation on a new project in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• In their first race of the season, Harvick and the No. 98 team scored the win at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Feb. 24, 2018. Harvick started fifth, won both stages, led a race-high 141 of 163 total laps and beat runner-up Joey Logano by 4.183 seconds.
• Harvick is making his third of five scheduled Xfinity Series starts in the No. 98 Ford Mustang for SHR in 2018.
• Harvick has one Xfinity Series win at Michigan (August 2003), four top-five finishes and eight top-10s in his 10 Xfinity Series starts at Michigan.
• This weekend marks Harvick’s first Xfinity Series start at Michigan International Speedway since June 2015, when he started seventh and finished sixth.
• In 343 career Xfinity Series starts, Harvick has 47 wins, 184 top-five finishes, 257 top-10s, 25 poles and 9,639 laps led.
• The team’s spotter, Tim Fedewa, claims Holt, Michigan as his hometown. Holt is approximately 55-miles north of Michigan International Speedway.
• Harvick will be joined in the Michigan field by SHR teammate Cole Custer in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang.

Kevin Harvick, Driver No. 98 FIELDS Ford Mustang

“I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the No. 98 Ford Mustang, and it’s great to have FIELDS supporting us for the weekend. They came on the car for both the Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen and the K&N West race at Sonoma last year, so they got the win at Sonoma, finished sixth at The Glen and now we have them joining us for a third time. Hopefully we can go out there and put up a strong effort, both for the folks at FIELDS and the guys working on the No. 98 Mustang. Richard Boswell and his crew put in a ton of effort and do a great job getting our cars prepared. They don’t race every weekend, but I can tell you they put in a full-time effort, and they’re a fun team to work with.”

Event:               LTi Printing 250 (Round 13 of 33)
Date:                 June 9, 2017
Location:          Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
Layout:             2-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The LTi Printing 250 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn will mark Cole Custer’s second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Michigan.
• In Custer’s first outing at Michigan, he started seventh, led 15 laps and secured a 10^th-place finish.
• Custer started 18^th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan in August 2016 and drove toward the front of the 31-truck field to lead twice for a total of 18 laps. But an accident less than 20 laps from the finish ended his strong run. He finished 22^nd.
• Last weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Custer earned his and Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste’s third Xfinity Series career pole award. He piloted the Haas Automation Mustang at the front of the field for 23 laps and ran inside the top-five for the majority of the race before earning his first top-five at Pocono.
• Custer has earned three poles, three top-five finishes, nine top-10s and has led 100 laps in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
• In the first 12 races this season, Custer has earned four more top-10s, one more top-five, three more poles and has led 86 more laps than the first 12 races run in his rookie 2017 season.
• The LTi Printing 250 is the second of three races this season that the Xfinity Series will run a low-downforce aero package. This package was run last weekend at Pocono.
• Custer is second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver standings, 62 points behind series leader Elliot Sadler.
• Code 3 Associates will be the primary partner onboard Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang at Michigan for the second time this season. Code 3 Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in animal rescue and recovery in disaster areas. Formed in 1985, Colorado-based Code 3 Associates is a national response team that, at the request of local government officials, provides animal rescue and recovery in times of disaster. The organization has evolved from one unpaid volunteer to approximately 75 professional responders and thousands of members around the country, which include animal welfare, law enforcement, fire, EMS and veterinary specialists from the United States and Canada. While its focus is animals and their owners, Code 3 Associates trains its responders to the standards of human rescue, and Code 3 Associates also provides training to conduct thorough investigations into animal welfare issues, all of which is accredited by Colorado State University and the school’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

You’ll be running the same aero package this weekend as you did in Pocono last weekend. How did the car feel and what can we expect at Michigan?  

“I feel like, at Michigan, it will be a lot like a superspeedway race. We’ll probably see a lot of pack racing like you do at Daytona or Talladega. It’ll be fun trying to figure out something new. We haven’t had the best luck at superspeedways, though, so I’m hoping to turn that luck around and stay out of trouble.”

Do you think this new aero package produces more energy from the fans?

“I feel like there are some tracks where this package can work well and put on some good racing for the fans. I’m not sure if it’s something you can bring everywhere, though. I think the effort from everyone trying out new ways to engage with our fans is needed. Our fans want to see more action and we want to give it to them – some tracks produce it on their own while some need help. As we’ve shown at Indy and Pocono, our team adapts well to new aero packages. We even got the pole on our first try at Pocono.”

Are you a fan of 2-mile tracks?

“We ran well at Fontana this season, but it’s a bit different because California is so worn out compared to Michigan. I think if we unload a Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang as well as we did at Fontana and stay out of trouble, we’ll be in good shape.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What was your take on the new aero package and what should we expect to see in Michigan?

“I think the package caught several teams off guard, including us on how much tighter the balance of the car was. A car that handled really well could break free from the draft. I don’t think that will be the case at Michigan. Handling shouldn’t be as big of an issue and the drivers shouldn’t have to lift, making for speedway-style pack racing. This race should be really exciting for the fans.”

Kevin Harvick is heading to the Irish Hills of Michigan with Jimmy John’s on the hood of his No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

The driver of the No. 4 Ford has taken the Jimmy John’s motto of “Freaky Fast” to a whole new level in 2018. Starting on Fridays, Harvick has won two Busch Pole awards and started on the front row six times thanks to his qualifying efforts. He has been just as freaky fast on race day, scoring a series-best five points-paying wins and a win in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race.

Harvick has led a series-best 909 laps, which ranks as the fourth-best single-season total of his career – and there are 22 races remaining. He leads the series with 10 top-five finishes and is tied for the series lead with 11 top-10s and 25 playoff points.

Those numbers are likely to continue on the 2-mile Michigan oval, where Harvick and the No. 4 team have been among the best in the series in recent years, scoring top-five finishes in seven of their last 10 starts there and leading the series with 372 points and an average starting position of 7.6.

Harvick scored four consecutive second-place finishes at Michigan from June 2013 through August 2014. He was runner-up to Greg Biffle by 2.989 seconds in June 2013. In August 2013, Harvick finished 1.018 seconds behind Joey Logano. In 2014, he followed Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon across the finish line in the June and August races, respectively. That’s four races, four second-place finishes, to four different drivers.

Harvick scored back-to-back top-five finishes at Michigan in 2016. In June, he started 29^th and raced his way to a fifth-place finish. His next start in August, he started fourth, led 33 laps and finished fifth.

For his career, Harvick has been to victory lane at Michigan in each of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

He scored an Xfinity Series win at Michigan in August 2003, when he led 10 laps and beat Kasey Kahne to the finish line under caution. His NASCAR Cup Series win came in August 2010, when he led 60 laps and outran Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 1.731 seconds. He scored a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in August 2011, when he led 13 laps and finished ahead of Timothy Peters as the race ended under caution.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion would like to add a fresh Cup Series win to his resume Sunday at Michigan. A win would give Harvick a new single-season-best sixth points-paying win and would add to his series-best 25 playoff points as he continues his march toward NASCAR’s 2018 playoffs.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion:

What does it take to have a good finish at Michigan?

“How you finish at Michigan depends on how your day is going. If you’re having a good day, it’s not really hard to tell your guys what you need and everyone is in a good mood. If you’re having a bad day, you can get behind at Michigan really fast. Usually, when you’re hooked up at Michigan, the leaders have clean air and move through traffic pretty well. But, if you’re in the middle of the pack, you find yourself getting behind and going a lap down pretty quickly. You’re going to end up with a green-flag pit stop and a whole bunch of green-flag laps. You just have to be going from the time the green flag drops and keep yourself in position at the end.”

 Do you enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway?

“I think we’ve finished really well there over the last couple of years and scored a lot of second-place finishes and top-fives. I learned a long time ago that sometimes those things happen, so it’s better to be on a top-five streak than a 10^th-place streak. The good thing about the racetrack is that it has definitely aged and the groove has spread out over the last couple of races, so you have a lot more options than you did a few years ago when they repaved it. Every time we go back there, it gets a little more racey. When we go back this time, there should be lots of room to race and you’ll see lots of speed. As we go through the restarts and traffic and different things, we’ll have to see how it all goes, but it should be interesting.”