Month: July 2018

KEVIN HARVICK – 2018 New Hampshire Race Advance

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is preparing to make his only trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this year as the team is set for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwood Resort Casino 301.

The realigned Cup Series schedule for 2018 dropped one of the traditional two Cup Series races run each year at the mile oval since 1997. New Hampshire’s typical second race date was in September during the first round of the NASCAR playoffs but was moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another racetrack owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., to open this year’s NASCAR playoffs.

The change is significant for Harvick as it marks the first time in his Cup Series career dating back to 2001 that he’ll only make one trip to Loudon.

The Bakersfield, California native has two Cup Series wins at New Hampshire, both coming during the September race weekend which was given to Las Vegas. His first came in September 2006, when he started from the pole, dominated the race by leading 196 of 300 laps and beat runner-up Tony Stewart to the finish line by .777 of a second.

His most recent Cup Series win at New Hampshire enabled the No. 4 team advance to the second round of the playoffs in 2016 after a 20th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet and just before a 37th-place finish at Dover.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion had mixed results at New Hampshire in 2017. In July, he scored a top-five finish but, in September, he was caught in an eight-car accident on lap 150 and finished 36th.

Harvick and the No. 4 Busch Beer team are looking to continue their hot streak during which they have scored two wins, two poles, eight top-five finishes and led 512 laps in the last 10 races.

Also important for Harvick this weekend and the six races that follow is the accumulation of playoff points that are so critical at this point in the season. Thus, even more pressure to start up front and, ultimately, to try and win the Busch Pole award. Harvick’s 27 playoff points heading to New Hampshire rank him second to Kyle Busch, who leads the series with 30. Martin Truex Jr. also worked to close the gap to Busch last Saturday at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, when he scored both stage wins and the race win lift his playoff point total to 25, just two behind Harvick.

The “Big Three” of Harvick, Busch and Truex has accounted for 14 of the 19 race wins in 2018 and 65 percent of the total playoff points accumulated – 82 of 126 playoff points available through 19 races.

The best way to score maximum playoff points in a race is to start up front, earn stage points and win races. Harvick and the No. 4 team can accomplish all of those goals with a win this weekend in the team’s only visit to the Granite State in 2018.

 

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion:

 

What makes the fans in Loudon so intense and so loyal?

“I’ve had a little bit different of an experience and I’ll go outside of Loudon a little bit. I was fortunate to go up and experience the Oxford 250 in Oxford, Maine and that’s really where you see those grassroots fans. I went up there in 2007 and, to this day, I still see a lot of those competitors and people who come by and say hello at Loudon. It’s just fun to be able to have met those people. We were fortunate – looking back on it now, it was fortunate – but we might not have thought it was fortunate at the time, but to sit around in the rain for two days and talk to the folks, see where they were from and find out what they’re about was a pretty cool experience. It’s a great region for us in terms of fans and competitors, and really a big racing community.”

What does it take to be successful at Loudon?

“I’d say the most important thing at Loudon is track position, just because it’s hard to pass. You want to be up front and on the right strategy no matter what you do. If the caution flag falls in the wrong spot and you lose track position, it usually becomes a longer day than it could have been.”

COLE CUSTER – 2018 New Hampshire NXS Race Advance

Event:               Lakes Region 200 (Round 18 of 33)
Date:                 July 21, 2018
Location:          New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon
Layout:             1.058-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

 

      • The Lakes Region 200 will be Cole Custer’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
      • While the Lakes Regions 200 will be Custer’s first Xfinity Series start at New Hampshire, it will be his sixth overall start at the 1.058-mile oval. In addition to his Xfinity Series start there, Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and one NASCAR K&N Pro Series start at New Hampshire. In his five starts at New Hampshire, he has two wins, two poles, four top-10s and has led 208 laps.
      • In Custer’s first start at New Hampshire in 2013, he captured his fourth career K&N Pro Series win from the pole after leading 60 laps.
      • In 2014, Custer made his first Truck Series start at New Hampshire. It proved memorable as he won the pole and then the race for his first career Truck Series victory. At 16 years, 7 months and 28 days, Custer became the youngest race winner in NASCAR national series history.
      • Last weekend at Kentucky Motor Speedway in Sparta, Custer earned his and Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste’s fourth-career pole award. He held the lead for the first 14 laps and piloted the Haas Automation Ford Mustang to his seventh top-five of the season.
      • Custer’s best finish in the 17 Xfinity Series races this season is second on May 26 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
      • He has earned four poles, seven top-five finishes, 13 top-10s, and has led 128 laps this season.
      • Custer has one win, four poles, 15 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and has led 430 laps in 55 career Xfinity Series starts.
      • He is third in the Xfinity Series driver standings with 605 points, three behind leader Elliott Sadler.
      • Custer has qualified inside the top-five at six of the last seven races this season. He has earned 12 top-five starts and 13 top-10 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
      • Thursday, Custer will make an appearance at the Lowell (Mass.) Spinners Minor league baseball game to throw out the first pitch, sign autographs and partake in a Q&A session with fans. The Lowell Spinners are a Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
      • Among the last 10 races, Custer has earned the most pole awards (3), the most championship points (357), and has the highest average finish (7.5).

     

    Cole Custer, Driver Q&A


  • Describe the feeling you had after winning your second race at New Hampshire, where you became the youngest winner in national series history.  


    “It was so special because it was a special place for our team with a lot of crew guys from the Northeast. We came there with a fast truck and we were fast in the K&N car the year before that. It was just phenomenal to get my first win there and it kind of solidified my (presence) in that series. It was definitely a day to remember. It probably put my name out there a bit more and gave me more confidence going forward.”

    What does it take to run a successful lap around New Hampshire?

    “You just have to try to max out your entry speed and roll through the center to get a decent exit. It’s tough when your car isn’t perfect. Our cars have almost been perfect all season. We should have a solid run.”

    Are you more confident at tracks that are a mile in length or shorter?

    “I think we’ve had really good cars in the past at short tracks and I think it’s more natural to me than a mile-and-a-half. It’s probably like that for most guys. We just grew up running short tracks and didn’t have to deal with aero as much. We took a lot of good notes from New Hampshire last year that we’ll build on.”

    You’re throwing the first pitch at the Lowell Spinners game Thursday. When was the last time you threw a baseball?

    “It’s probably been five years since I’ve thrown a baseball, so I’m hoping it’s something you don’t forget how to do – like riding a bike. I’m definitely not going to promise a strike. I’m going to focus on just not skipping it across the plate.”

     

    Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A


  • Talk about the car you’re bringing to New Hampshire. 

    “We are bringing Chassis No. 1044 to New Hampshire. We last ran it at Dover this year and had to start from the rear after we had to fix the jack bolt from scraping the ground in qualifying. Cole managed to race it back into the top-10, but it was tough to make up that ground at a track like Dover. Hopefully, we’ll have a good qualifying run and not have to battle back through the field. I think it’s a good car – it just hasn’t seen its full potential, yet.”

KURT BUSCH – 2018 New Hampshire Race Advance

If one remembers the Boston Breakers, then that smart person has one solid memory. And we’re not talking about the women’s soccer team that played as the Boston Breakers from 2007 to 2017.

The Boston Breakers were formed in 1983 during the inaugural season of the United States Football League (USFL). They played at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University and were coached by Notre Dame alum Dick Coury. Despite going 11-7 in 1983, they missed the playoffs and left town for New Orleans in 1984 and then eventually to Portland, Oregon in 1985.

The USFL ended after the 1985 season and now the Breakers are just a memory.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was living in Las Vegas during the USFL years and was quite young when the Breakers were in Boston.

But he has always enjoyed going back to New England and he’ll make his 35th trip to Loudon, New Hampshire for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resorts Casino 301.

Busch 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 34 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.

Busch’s three NASCAR Cup Series wins at New Hampshire is tied for most among active drivers with Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

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

Busch swept the Cup Series races at New Hampshire in 2004, becoming only the second driver to accomplish that feat – Johnson being the other, having swept the 2003 events. Busch overcame a 32nd-place qualifying effort in the July race to lead twice for 110 laps en route to his first Cup Series win at the track. In September, he led three times for a race-high 155 laps en route to victory lane.

Busch’s September 2004 win at New Hampshire also was historic in that he became the first driver to win a race in NASCAR’s playoffs, which debuted that year. The victory placed Busch in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for first place in the championship standings and he went on to win the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

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

Heading back to New England, Busch is hoping to score victory number four at New Hampshire and that will “break” him into the NASCAR playoffs.

 

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation 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 from year to year?

“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.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Monster Energy/Haas Automation Racing Advance – Foxwoods Resort Casino 301                                                    Page Two

 

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

 

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.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2018 New Hampshire Race Advance

Clint Bowyer grew up in rural Kansas but, when he walks into the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this weekend, he’ll feel like he’s arrived at  his second home. That’s because few places have shown Bowyer hospitality like the “Magic Mile’” has over his 14-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Two of Bowyer’s 10 career triumphs and one of his two poles have come on the flat track, including his first Cup Series victory in 2007.

Bowyer calls the New Hampshire track “a big Martinsville.” That’s an affectionate term considering Bowyer led 215 laps and won the race when the Cup Series last raced at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March.

“I love New Hampshire,” he said. “That place just fits my driving style. We don’t get up to that part of the country a lot, so it’s good to see the race fans there. They have so many tracks and they love their racing, from Modified to Late Models, to our stuff. The support races they put on at New Hampshire are some of the best of the year. Man, do they like to party there!”

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

During the September 2007 race weekend, Bowyer earned his second career pole 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.

It was Bowyer’s turn to run out of gas with two laps remaining in the September 2011 race at New Hampshire, giving the victory to, coincidentally, Stewart.

“We still laugh about running out of gas and giving each other the victories,” Bowyer said. “Whether its fuel mileage or those late restarts where everyone starts beating and banging, it seems like there is always an interesting finish there.”

Bowyer has made quite the impression on New Hampshire, 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.

“There aren’t many states where I’ve gotten to do burnouts with the governor,” Bowyer said with a laugh.

Bowyer hopes history will repeat itself this weekend when the Cup Series visits New Hampshire for Sunday’s Foxwood Resorts Casino 301 and he adds to his 516 laps led and chalks up a third victory there.

He arrives in New Hampshire after a 12th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

The 2018 season has been a year of resurgence for Bowyer and the No.14 team led by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. The combination has posted two victories, six top-fives and 10 top-10s while climbing to sixth in the Cup Series point standings.

There’s no better place to add to those numbers than New Hampshire.

 

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

 

What is the most important thing to get right at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“It’s the middle of the corner. If you want to win, you have to roll the middle of the corner and that’s so tricky. About the time you get that thing rolling really well, you are too loose in or too loose off. There’s no perfect balance there and you have to be able to find a happy medium. You have to roll the middle without getting out of the gas on exit.”

Are you a different person when you sit in that car, tighten those belts, strap that helmet on and put your gloves on – are you a different Clint Bowyer?

“I think so. Well, I think I’m different in people’s eyes from what they see on the camera. Everybody has personality, but then everybody has their driving personality behind the wheel.”

Do you ever remember laughing or smiling or enjoying a moment behind the wheel?

“I can honestly tell you I haven’t until I got out of the car, or thought back on the situation, or whatever the case may be. That’s when I kind of got to chuckling or something. You might laugh under caution or something like that, but never when you’re racing. It’s total focus. You’re focused on hitting your lines, you’re focused on what you need to do to be faster. Do I need to trail throttle more? Do I need to wait on it longer? How can I make this car faster? Literally. That’s your job and you’re there to win and you want that more than anything. I guess that’s the competitiveness I’ve had since I was a little kid.”

KEVIN HARVICK – 2018 Kentucky Race Report

Event:               Kentucky 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      3rd/5th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing:  2nd (740 points, 59 out of first) 

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

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Kevin Harvick started third and finished second, earning nine bonus points.
  • Made scheduled, green-flag pit stop on lap 39 for four tires, fuel and a right-rear wedge adjustment.
  • As pit stops cycled through, Harvick returned to third place by lap 68.
  • With five laps to go in Stage 1, Harvick drove his No. 4 Busch Light Ford past Kyle Busch for second.
  • At the conclusion of the stage, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel, with the only adjustment being to tire pressures.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

  • Started fifth and finished fourth, earning seven bonus points.
  • During round of pit stops following Stage 1, some drivers stayed out, some took two tires and some took four tires, jumbling the running order.
  • Harvick climbed to third as caution waved on lap 111.
  • Taking advantage of caution, Harvick pitted on lap 112 for right-side tires and fuel. Entire top-10 took two tires.
  • “You’re not going to pass anybody on two tires,” said Harvick on lap 133 as he raced in fourth place.
  • Upon the end of Stage 2, Harvick pitted for four tires and fuel, with a right-rear wedge adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

  • Started fourth and finished fifth.
  • Caution on lap 208 sent everyone to pit road. Harvick took four tires and fuel, with the only adjustment being to tire pressures.
  • Held track positon on pit road, but dropped to seventh on lap-215 restart.
  • Harvick grabbed sixth-place from Erik Jones on lap 219 and then passed teammate Kurt Busch for fifth place on lap 246.
  • Harvick keyed his microphone with 15 laps to go: “I hit the fence!” Still held on to fifth place through the checkered flag. 

Notes:

  • This was Harvick’s 14th top-five and 15th top-10 finish of 2018.
  • Harvick earned his first top-five in eight career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kentucky.
  • Harvick’s fifth-place drive in the Kentucky 400 marked his sixth straight top-10 finish at Kentucky.
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the Kentucky 400 to score his 19th career Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 1.901 seconds.
  • There were four caution periods for a total of 22 laps.
  • Twenty-one of the 39 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.

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

 “It’s just hard to pass. It’s hard to make anything happen. For us, we got worse the last run and got loose into (turn) three and that really just killed everything, and then I hit the wall with 15 laps to go and that pretty much ended everything we had.”

KURT BUSCH – 2018 Kentucky Race Report

Event:               Kentucky 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      9th/6th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing:  7th (601 points, 198 out of first)

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

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Kurt Busch started ninth, finished 14th.
  • Busch’s No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford was tight through the first half of Stage 1, dropping him to 10th by lap 32.
  • Crew chief Billy Scott opted to keep Busch out during green-flag pit stops, allowing Busch to assume the lead on lap 40.
  • On lap 51, Busch radioed to his crew that his car was, “Feelin’ good.” Team decided to stay out 10 more laps before pitting.
  • Busch gave up the lead on lap 60 to bring the No. 41 machine to the pits for four tires and fuel.
  • At the conclusion of Stage 1, the No. 41 team gambled on pit strategy, taking only right-side tires and fuel to win the race off pit road.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

  • Started second, finished seventh, earning four bonus points.
  • On lap 88, Busch took the lead from fellow Ford driver Joey Logano.
  • After a caution on lap 111, Busch brought his Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford to pit road for four tires and fuel along with a tire pressure adjustment.
  • Restarted 10th on lap 115.
  • Busch climbed to seventh by lap 136 and reported his racecar was “Getting a little freer.”
  • At the end of Stage 2, Busch pitted for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267): 

  • Started ninth and finished sixth.
  • Busch was running in the fifth position by lap 192.
  • Busch took advantage of a caution on lap 208 to pit for fuel and right-side tires only to again win the race off pit road.
  • This strategy gave Busch the lead on lap 210, and he led the next 14 circuits around the 1.5-mile oval.
  • With only two fresh tires, Busch eventually relinquished the lead to those who had taken four new tires, and he ultimately finished sixth in the Kentucky 400.

Notes:

  • This was Busch’s 10th top-10 finish of 2018.
  • Busch earned his fifth top-10 in eight career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kentucky.
  • Busch led three times for 45 laps to increase his laps-led total at Kentucky to 96.
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the Kentucky 400 to score his 19th career Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 1.901 seconds.
  • There were four caution periods for a total of 22 laps.
  • Twenty-one of the 39 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.

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

“I really enjoyed the way Billy Scott (crew chief) called the race because our lap times were really strong on the super-long runs, and that’s why he left me out there in Stage 1. We didn’t get points, but it put us in good position for Stage 2, and then we were ahead of the game to make a call again. It just kept us ahead the whole night. Even though we didn’t have the fastest car, we led a lot of laps tonight and it was fun to have the Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford out front. We probably would’ve ended up seventh and we finished sixth. It was a good battle.”

ARIC ALMIROLA – 2018 Kentucky Race Report

Event:               Kentucky 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      12th/8th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 11th (534 points, 265 out of first) 

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

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Aric Almirola started Stage 1 in the 12th position at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and completed it in the ninth spot to earn two bonus points.
  • On lap 39 Almirola made a scheduled green-flag pit stop from the ninth spot for fuel, four tires and an air pressure adjustment to help with his loose-handling Smithfield Ford Fusion.
  • After pit stops cycled through, Almirola was in the 10th position and reported on lap 66 that he was still looking for rear grip.
  • In the closing laps of the stage he maneuvered his way into the ninth position.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

  • Before the start of Stage 2 Almirola visited pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. With varying pit strategies, Almirola started Stage 2 in the 14th spot.
  • By lap 108, the Tampa native worked his way up to the 12th position.
  • When the first unscheduled caution of the race came out on lap 109, crew chief John Klausmeier made the call for two right-side tires and fuel. Almirola restarted in the seventh position on lap 114.
  • The remainder of Stage 2 was under the green flag, and Almirola ended the stage 11th in the No. 10 Ford. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

  • Before the start of the last stage, Almirola came down pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He began the final stage in the 11th position.
  • Shortly after the restart as he ran 12th, Almirola reported his No. 10 machine was lacking rear lateral grip.
  • The 34-year-old remained in the 12th spot until the fourth caution of the race came out on lap 207. Almirola once again visited pit road for service and restarted 12th on lap 214.
  • As the laps continued to click off caution-free, Almirola worked his way up to the eighth position, where he ultimately finished.

Notes:

  • This was Almirola’s eighth top-10 finish of 2018.
  • Almirola earned his first top-10 in six career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kentucky.
  • Almirola finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points.
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the Kentucky 400 to score his 19th career Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 1.901 seconds.
  • There were four caution periods for a total of 22 laps.
  • Only 21 of the 39 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a good car tonight. I messed up in qualifying, got greedy and tried to go for the pole and qualified 12th. This place (Kentucky Speedway) is so track-position dependent, and we ran eighth to 12th all night. We just kind of got stuck in that area of track position, and we just never could jump ahead. I’m mad at myself really for not executing qualifying better, because we had a really fast car. We could have run top-five easily.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2018 Kentucky Race Report

Event: Kentucky 400 (Round 19 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta(1.5-mile oval)
Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:        8th/12th (Running, completed 267 of 267)
Point Standing:   6th (629 points, 170 out of first)

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

Stage 1 Recap (Ended at Lap 80):

● Bowyer started eighth and finished sixth to earn five bonus points.
● Held position in early going but told crew his car was loose in and out of the turns and tight in the middle.
● Turned fastest lap on lap 38.
● Pitted at the halfway mark and climbed to sixth before the stage’s end.

Stage 2 Recap (Ended at Lap 160):

● Bowyer started 11th and finished sixth to earn another five bonus points.
● Took two tires on a lap-111 pit stop.
● Crew continued to work to free the car in the center of the turns.

Stage 3 Recap (Ended at Lap 267):

● Bowyer started eighth and finished 12th.
● Avoided a near multicar accident in the opening laps of the stage.
● Dropped to 11th with 50 laps remaining.
● Continued to battle a tight-handling car and finished the race in 12th.

Notes:

● Bowyer finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and sixth in Stage 2 to earn an additional five bonus points.
● Martin Truex Jr. won the Kentucky 400 to score his 19th career Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Blaney was 1.901 seconds.
● There were four caution periods for a total of 22 laps.
● Only 21 of the 39 drivers in the Kentucky 400 finished on the lead lap.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation VF-1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“That was a tough night for us. We worked to get our car to turn better in the middle, but couldn’t get it to where we wanted it. We ran most of the night in the top six so it’s disappointing to finish 12th.”

COLE CUSTER – 2018 Kentucky NXS Race Report

Cole Custer Finishes Fifth at Kentucky

Haas Automation Driver Leads 14 Laps in Alsco 300

Date:                 July 13, 2018
Event:               Alsco 300 (Round 17 of 33)
Series:               NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location:          Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/45 laps/110 laps)
Start/Finish:      1st/5th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 3rd with 605 points, three out of first

Race Winner:    Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek of Chip Ganassi Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45):

  • Custer started from the pole and finished second, earning nine bonus points.
  • Led the first 14 laps before being passed by the 2009 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and 92-time race winner, Kyle Busch.
  • Shortly after being passed, Custer radioed to crew chief Jeff Meendering that his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang was getting tight.
  • At the end of the stage, Custer pitted for four tires and fuel, with a slight tire pressure adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90):

  • Custer started third and finished third, earning eight bonus points.
  • Ty Majeski overtook Custer on pit road, but Custer earned the spot back on the restart, passing Majeski off turn two of the 1.5-mile oval.
  • Custer radioed on lap 63 that his Haas Automation Ford was getting tight again.
  • John Hunter Nemechek made the pass for second on lap 72, dropping Custer to third place.
  • At the end of the stage, Custer pitted for four tires and fuel, with another tire pressure adjustment and a right-rear wedge adjustment.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 91-200):

  • Custer started second, finished fifth.
  • Dueled for the lead with Busch at the beginning of stage before settling into second place on the ensuing lap.
  • Stayed out during back-to-back caution periods from laps 101-103 and laps 105-108. Remained in second place for both restarts.
  • Custer said he was loose at the onset of lap-109 restart. Dropped to fourth behind Busch, Christopher Bell and Daniel Hemric.
  • When the caution flag waved again on lap 133, Custer was in fifth-place, having lost fourth to John Hunter Nemechek.
  • “Terrible at the start of the run and loose on entry, especially,” said Custer during this caution period.
  • Custer took advantage of the caution and pitted on lap 134 for four tires and fuel with a left-rear wedge adjustment.
  • Two more cautions for eight laps slowed the final 52 laps, but Custer stayed out each time to hold onto his track position.
  • During the final, lap-167 restart, Custer was shuffled from fourth to sixth, but he rallied back to reclaim fifth from Ryan Reed.
  • In the final three laps, Custer waged a spirited battle against Justin Allgaier for fourth, with the duo running side-by-side on the penultimate lap before Allgaier was finally able pull ahead.

Notes:              

  • Custer’s pole was the fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste.
  • The fifth-place finish was Custer’s seventh top-five of the season and his second at Kentucky.
  • Custer totaled 17 bonus points in the Alsco 300 at Kentucky.
  • Custer was the highest finishing Ford driver.
  • There were seven caution periods totaling 32 laps.
  • Eighteen of the 40 drivers in the Alsco 300 finished on the lead lap.
  • Bell won the Alsco 300 to score his third career Xfinity Series victory, his second of the season and first at Kentucky. His margin of victory over second-place Hemric was .848 of a second. 

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

“It was tough. We had a lot of cautions there and we weren’t very good firing off, so that kind of hurt us. I’m happy that we got our Haas Automation Mustang a lot better throughout the weekend, but we just need to figure out how to get it a little bit better so we can compete for a win. We’re really fast at the end of a run, but we can’t compete at the start of a run, so we’ll go back and figure it out.”

Clint Bowyer’s Darlington Throwback Paint Scheme Honors NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett

No. 14 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford Fusion Celebrates Jarrett’s 1965 Southern 500 Victory

 

Ned Jarrett amassed many special memories during his racing and broadcasting career in NASCAR, but few equal that hot afternoon on Sept. 6, 1965 when the 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee won the Southern 500 Sept. 2 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway by an astounding 14 laps.

It’s appropriate that the No. 14 Ford of Clint Bowyer will celebrate Jarrett’s emphatic victory 53 years later in the 69thrunning of the Southern 500 at the 1.366-mile Darlington oval. The No. 14 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford Fusion from Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will mimic the design Jarrett ran on his race-winning 1965 Ford Galaxie by sporting a royal blue paint scheme with period-specific graphics.

“Stewart-Haas Racing and the Carolina Ford Dealers got together and decided to honor someone who’s had such a huge influence in the sport, and we immediately thought of Ned Jarrett,” Bowyer said. “A lot of folks know Ned as a NASCAR champion and a lot of us know him from broadcasting races all those years. He’s had so many roles in our sport and done them all really well.”

Jarrett wheeled his No. 11 Richmond Ford Motor Company Galaxie to a commanding Southern 500 victory over fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker in a race that took nearly 4 hours and 20 minutes and saw only 15 of the 44 entrants still running at the end of the 364-lap race.

“We ran well during the race and led some laps and then things began to turn our way in the last 100 miles or so,” said Jarrett, whose victory was the 12thof his 13-win season in 1965, but first at Darlington. “I had no idea how far ahead we were, but I know the Ford officials that were there came down and camped in my pits, and they knew how much of a lead I had and they tried to get the crew to bring me in. We didn’t have radio communications back then, so they just wrote on the blackboard for me to pit. I knew we didn’t need to pit, but they knew the car was overheating, so I kept going because something told me stronger than the officials of Ford and my own pit crew that I needed to stay out there and keep going.”

Jarrett made it to the end of the 500-mile race and it turned out to be the biggest margin of victory in NASCAR Cup Series history. It marked the 49thof Jarrett’s 50 career wins, and it helped secure his second and final series championship, bookending the title he won in 1961. Jarrett ran 21 races in 1966 before transitioning to a broadcasting career that began on a radio station in Newton, North Carolina, and included tenures at MRN Radio and in television at CBS, ESPN and TNN. In fact, Jarrett was the first widely known television analyst to work for different broadcast networks at the same time. He spent 22 years at CBS and 19 years with ESPN while co-hosting the weekly, one-hour Inside NASCARprogram on TNN.

Darlington and its Labor Day race weekend host “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” where the industry honors the sport’s history. Last year, nearly all the NASCAR Cup Series teams competed with throwback paint schemes in the Southern 500.

“I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to the Southern 500,” said Jarrett, who earned the nickname “Gentleman Ned” for how well he treated fans, crewmembers and competitors. “That weekend is special because you see how far we’ve come as a sport. All the different generations gather there and we celebrate NASCAR.” 

Younger generations likely know Jarrett better as the patriarch of one of NASCAR’s first families. He was born in Newton on Oct. 12, 1932 and grew up working on the family farm and at their sawmill. He and his wife, Martha, still live about six miles from where he grew up. The couple has two sons who are both former NASCAR drivers, Glenn and Dale, and one daughter, Patti J. Makar. They also have six grandchildren and one great grandson. 

Ned and Dale became the second father-son combination to win NASCAR Cup Series championships when Dale earned the 1999 title. Glenn followed his father’s career into racing and broadcasting, and after retiring as a driver in 2008, Dale joined Ned and Glenn as a broadcaster. Patti also worked in racing and married Jimmy Makar, who worked with Dale for three years at Joe Gibbs Racing and was the 2000 championship-winning crew chief for Bobby Labonte. Dale’s son, Jason, scored several ARCA victories and made numerous starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Bowyer is a 10-time NASCAR Cup Series winner and is in his second year driving SHR’s No. 14 Ford Fusion. He replaced three-time series champion Tony Stewart, who retired as a NASCAR driver at the end of the 2016 season. Victories earlier this year at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway earned Bowyer a berth in the NASCAR Playoffs that begins two weeks after the Southern 500.

The Southern 500 can be seen live on NBCSN beginning at 6 p.m. EDT and heard live on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. To experience the Southern 500 and its throwback weekend in person, purchase tickets at www.DarlingtonRaceway.comor by calling 866-459-7223.

 

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The organization fields four entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – the No. 4 Ford Fusion for Kevin Harvick, the No. 10 Ford Fusion for Aric Almirola, the No. 14 Ford Fusion for Clint Bowyer and the No. 41 Ford Fusion for Kurt Busch. The team also competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series by fielding a full-time entry – the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Cole Custer – and one part-time entry – the No. 98 Ford Mustang. Based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Stewart-Haas Racing operates out of a 200,000-square-foot facility with approximately 380 employees. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing, on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng and on Instagram @StewartHaasRacing.