Month: September 2018

The No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with Aric Almirola behind the wheel heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the final race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Almirola and his three SHR teammates have all clinched spots in the 16-driver Cup Series playoff field that will vie for the championship over the final 10 weeks of the season, culminating Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.

This is the second time in Almirola’s Cup Series career that he has the chance to vie for the championship. The 34-year-old previously contended for the championship in 2014. This season also marks the first time crew chief John Klausmeier enters the playoffs in his role as the leader of a team. Currently, Klausmeier is the only first-year crew chief in the running for this year’s ultimate prize. Even though it’s the University of Maryland, Baltimore County graduate’s freshman year as a crew chief, he’s experienced when it comes to playoff pressure from his engineering tenure with SHR driver Kurt Busch.

SHR has enjoyed its most successful season as a four-car contingent in 2018. SHR so far is the only four-car team to have all of its entries qualified for the playoffs. “It’s hard, and to have an organization like this that can put all four cars into the playoffs, it speaks a lot about the teams and the drivers,” Almirola said. “But really, it tells you a lot about the people who show up at the shop every day. That’s where I feel like a large chunk of the success comes from because, without those people showing up at the shop 6 a.m. every day to build fast cars, we can’t do our job at the racetrack.”

Almirola heads to Indy with six Cup Series starts at the iconic speedway. He has a best finish of 13^th, which he earned last year at the 2.5-mile, rectangular track. The Ford driver also has one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Indy, having piloted the No. 98 Ford Mustang to a 14^th-place finish in 2015 while driving for Biagi-DenBeste Racing.

The clock is ticking on the summer season, and the opportunity to submit your “Hero of the Grill” for the No. 10 Ford Fusion has now closed. Smithfield’s “Hero of the Grill” contest was launched earlier this year by Almirola and five-time world-champion barbecue pitmaster Tuffy Stone. Fans had the chance to nominate their favorite grill hero by visiting SmithfieldGetGrilling.com. One “Hero of the Grill” nominee will win $5,000. Plus, up to 10,000 nominees will have the chance to see their name featured on Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in September.

Fans can still enter for their chance to win Smithfield’s Smoke Machine Mustang designed by team co-owner Tony Stewart with the help of drifting champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. They helped create a one-of-a-kind Ford Mustang RTR Spec 3 that will be given away to one lucky fan. Fans can register for their chance to win the suped-up Mustang and a trip to November’s Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead by visiting SmithfieldRacing.com, or by texting SMOKE to 82257.

Indy marks the 23^rd points-paying event during which the Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Fusion. Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, which is based approximately five hours northeast of SHR headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its seventh season with Almirola and its first with SHR. Founded in 1936, Smithfield is a leading provider of high-quality pork products, with a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts.

In 25 Cup Series starts this year, Almirola has earned an average start of 18.0 and an average finish of 14.0, with one top-five finish and 10 top-10s. He’s also led 115 laps this season, already a career best. Almirola rounds out the four-driver SHR contingent at 12^th in the point standings. The season’s consistency on the track allowed Almirola to clinch his playoff spot after last weekend’s race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

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

You’ve clinched your spot in the playoff going into Indy. How does that feel? 

“It feels like a relief. Coming to SHR that was my goal. I obviously want to win races, too, but the main goal was to be competitive and be consistent and, if we had both of those things, we would be able to make the playoffs. That was our ultimate goal, to make the playoffs. Now, to be able to accomplish that and still have a race to go is good. It gives us an opportunity to go into Indy with a different mindset and different attitude. We can kind of be relaxed and have a little fun.”

This is Johnny Klausmeier’s first year as a crew chief and he’s in the playoffs. What does that say about the No. 10 team as whole, and is it a cool feeling to accomplish this goal, given your history?  

“I think Johnny has done a tremendous job getting his feet under him as a crew chief, and getting the team rallied around him and bringing fast cars to the track every weekend. I know a large part of that is obviously the SHR organization as a whole. Everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing has a done great job with all four teams. Right now, we are the only team in the garage that has all of its cars in the playoffs. That’s a big statement and I think that speaks volumes about the organization. For what Johnny and myself have been able to accomplish being new working together – Johnny in his first year as a crew chief – he’s adapted really quickly and he’s really good. And that’s what has me so excited about not only going into the playoffs together, but about our future working together. He’s young and new, and I’m young and our whole team is young, and we’re built to grow and I feel like we’ve had a lot of good results already. I don’t even feel like we’re close to our max potential. I think there’s so much room for us to grow and get better and, if we’ve already achieved these results so early, I think the potential is there to be great.”

How is your playoff approach different this time than when you first made it in 2014?

“It’s definitely different this time. Last time we were in the playoffs, I think we were 20^th in points and we won Daytona in July, which got us in. We weren’t a weekly threat, or a contender on a regular basis. So going into it was kind of like, ‘Well, the worst that we can do is finish last.’ We went in with really no pressure at all and to just have fun. We actually ran pretty well and we managed to raise the level of execution and speed in the cars. Making the playoffs brings out the best in everybody. This year I think is different because it seems like every single track we go to we can be a threat to win, we can be a threat to run in the top-five. I feel like, going into the playoffs, it really is about digging deep and getting the most out of everything, getting the most out of the cars, getting the most out of every practice and every lap on the track, every qualifying round, getting the most out of the guys on pit road and getting the most out of the racecar that I can. I think there is more pressure now going into the playoffs with this team than what I had in 2014 because we can go win races. We’ve shown we have the speed and capability to run up front. If I do my part and the team does its part, there should be no reason we can’t transfer through some of these rounds and potentially put ourselves in the position to race for the championship.”

All four SHR cars have secured playoff spots and there’s a good chance SHR will be the only four-car operation this season to have done that. What does that say about SHR?

“I think it speaks volumes about how great of an organization this place is. It’s a tall task to get into the playoffs on its own. I’m speaking from experience with being in the Cup Series seven years and this only being my second appearance. It’s challenging. It’s not easy, it’s challenging. When you look at the teams that miss the playoffs, you know it’s hard. You look at the No. 48 and they’re having an off year. We’re going into the last race of the regular season and they haven’t clinched, yet. It looks like they’ll probably be OK, but crazier stuff has happened. The ability of everyone at the shop to show up and put their best effort into the cars is amazing. It certainly makes our job difficult if we show up to the track searching for speed. All of the mechanics, engineers, and the aero department, the chassis and fab shops, the people at Roush Yates engines, put in an incredible amount of effort. There are so many people who put their heart and soul into building fast racecars. Then, Johnny and I get to go out and reap the benefits. It’s a team sport and I think SHR having all four cars in the playoffs certainly shows how we work as one big team.”

NASCAR came to Indianapolis 24 years ago for the inaugural Brickyard 400. It was an iconic event that a young Jeff Gordon won on a hot, early August Saturday.

Indianapolis and NASCAR have put on 24 races at the famous 2.5-mile track, but no race before this one has been as important. Sunday’s Brickyard 400 is the final race before the playoffs start for NASCAR, and only 16 drivers will be eligible to compete for the championship. So in addition to winning one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year, drivers also want to put themselves into the playoffs or gather as many points as possible before the playoffs start.

Wrestlemania III was conducted in the Pontiac Silverdome outside of Detroit in March of 1987 in front of a reported 93,173 people. The tagline for the event was Bigger, Better, Badder. While Hulk Hogan will not be body-slamming Andre the Giant on Sunday in Indianapolis, the description Bigger, Better, Badder could be used.

Bigger describes the 2.5-mile, rectangular oval, which is second only to the 2.66-mile oval of Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Indy is tied with Daytona and Pocono at 2.5 miles, and the speeds at Indy are fast entering turns one and three. Last year, Kyle Busch put his car on the pole at a speed of 187.301 mph.

Better describes the intense playoff atmosphere that will be at Indianapolis in 2018. Thankfully, Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing, has locked himself into the playoffs via his win on Aug. 18 at Bristol Motor Speedway. But Busch would love to score another win, especially at Indy, to improve his position in the playoffs. For those drivers hovering around 16^th, it will be a battle to get into the playoffs.

Badder describes Indianapolis in general. They’ve been racing cars there since 1909, and many of the great drivers in history have competed at the grand old racetrack. Busch is one of the few who has driven in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

In 2014 Busch stepped out from his stock-car norms and into the world of IndyCar, competing in the 98^th Indianapolis 500 for Andretti Autosport. The first-time IndyCar driver looked like a veteran on the historic track, starting 12^th and finishing sixth to claim rookie-of-the-year honors. To add another degree of difficulty to the day, Busch did what only three other drivers had done before – perform The Double by racing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway that evening.

More than 10 years before doing The Double, Busch secured a championship at Indianapolis. It was 2003 and Busch was selected to compete in the 12-driver International Race of Champions (IROC) for the first time in his career. IROC ran for 30 years and pitted race-winning and championship-winning drivers from all different motorsport disciplines in the same racecars to determine a best-of-the-best victor in a four-race series that began in February at Daytona and culminated in August at Indianapolis. Busch finished second at Daytona and then won the series’ next race at Talladega. He went on to finish third in July at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, and arrived at Indianapolis locked in a title battle with eventual five-time IROC champion Mark Martin. Busch finished fourth in the IROC finale while Martin finished fifth, giving Busch an 11-point edge over Martin and the IROC championship.

Busch is looking for his first ever win at Indianapolis, and he hopes it will be Bigger, Better, Badder than any victory he has ever had.

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

What do you think about Indianapolis being the cutoff race for the NASCAR playoffs?

“I was a little bummed out that Indianapolis got moved into the playoff cutoff race. It’s such a marquee event that it can stand alone by itself, and it didn’t need any kind of extra push in my mind to be a cutoff race or any extra part of the tough part of our season. From here on out these are all big marquee races – these final 12. I was maybe hoping or wishing that Talladega was going to be the cutoff race. That way it wasn’t part of the playoffs, and maybe move Indianapolis into the playoffs, but lots of things can happen. We saw a crazy race a couple years back with so many restarts at the end and people staying out on old tires, people coming in on fresh tires, and Indy is a tough place to pass, but at the end everybody is in aggressive mode, moving people, shoving people out of the way, so you just don’t know how many yellows are going to be at the end or if it’s going to be a long green run. Indy is definitely a tough challenge to have as a cutoff race, but, again, it’s such a marquee event that you kind of want it to stand alone.”

You’ve had success at Indianapolis, but not in NASCAR. What makes the track so difficult?

“Indianapolis has been tough on me over the years. I don’t know what it is about it. The diamond-cut surface, the way that the asphalt is very fresh when we first get there and then how it glazes over and gets slick at the end – I’ve struggled with that over the years. Just got to pace ourselves and find the right combination on our Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford that will give us the grip once the track gets rubbered in.”

What makes Indy such an iconic venue? 

“Indy is Indy. It’s the coolest racetrack that we get to race on, other than Daytona. The history, the prestige, the value of Indianapolis – it is defined by the number of decades they have produced races there and the atmosphere. It’s very electric at Indianapolis. For me to actually get to run the Indy 500 in the month of May is a little different than when we race there in September because of the fact it is their backyard, it is their stage. Those Indiana natives love their track. What makes Indy special is the people.” 

You competed in the Indianapolis 500 once. Any chance you’ll do it again? 

“Possibly. I really enjoyed my time there. It was a great challenge personally, and just the overall experience of going 230 mph in an open cockpit car was fun. The fun meter was pegged. The achievement of finishing sixth overall was exciting. But then there’s that 1,100 miles. I didn’t quite finish the Coke 600 that night due to an engine failure. That’s what would draw me back in – to try to get all 1,100 miles in.” 

How hard is it to drive a stock car at Indianapolis?  

“You’re asking the wrong guy about driving a stock car at Indy. I’ve struggled. I finished fifth my first time there, and I’ve never been able to back that up. Then I go there for the first time in an Indy car and I finish sixth. I’m not really sure. The stock cars are tough in traffic. They always end up on the tight side. And you have to find that right restart lineup lane. Usually, the cars that win there, they’re the dominant type. They lead laps. They’re up front all day. I haven’t quite found that right combination yet, but another Brickyard 400 means another opportunity.”

Event:               Lilly Diabetes 250 (Round 25 of 33)
Date:                 Sept. 8, 2018
Location:          Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Layout:             2.5-mile rectangle

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• In Custer’s three career starts at tracks where the high-downforce aero package was utilized, he has earned one pole, three top-five finishes and led 23 laps. He finished fifth Indianapolis Motor Speedway a year ago, fifth in June at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, and third in June at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
• Custer’s average starting position of 6.5 and four pole awards leads all Xfinity Series regulars. He has earned 17 top-five starts and 22 top-10 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
• Custer’s 20 top-10 finishes is tied with Elliott Sadler for most among Xfinity Series regulars.
• Custer also has earned four poles, 10 top-five finishes, and has led 237 laps in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
• Custer’s second-place finishes May 26 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and Saturday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway are his best in 24 races this season.
• Custer is third in the Xfinity Series driver standings with 871 points, 17 behind series leader Justin Allgaier.
• Custer is competing for his ninth consecutive top-10 and third consecutive top-five this weekend.
• In his 2017 Xfinity Series start at Indianapolis – resulting in his first top-five utilizing the high-downforce aero package – Custer raced in and around the top-five throughout the race.
• Last weekend at Darlington, Custer raced in and around the top-five and battled for the lead before tying his season-best finish of second place.
• The Lilly Diabetes 250 is the last of three races this season that the Xfinity Series will run a high-downforce aero package. This package was debuted last season at Indianapolis.
• There are only two races left until the Xfinity Series playoffs begin Sept. 21 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The winner of the regular-season championship will earn an additional 15 playoff points – equivalent to winning three races.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

The team has earned a top-five in all three starts with the new high-downforce package. To what do you attribute this success?

“Our team has worked extremely hard day in and day out and adapted well to the high-downforce package. Just like our 2017 Xfinity Series debut, we started from scratch and could have won a championship. I think there’s no reason why we can’t compete for a win in Indy and close the points gap.”

How good does it feel heading to a track where you had success last year knowing that you’re trailing the championship leader by only 17 points?

“With the speed we’ve had at Indy and the high-downforce package, it gives us a lot of confidence in gaining some points for the regular-season championship. When you look at the stats, you can’t help but have full confidence in your team and yourself heading into the weekend.”

Your average starting position is 6.5, which leads all Xfinity Series regulars. Talk about how hard the team works to bring you a fast Haas Automation Ford Mustang every weekend.

“We’ve had fast cars all year and everyone’s worked extremely hard to get us there. I’m confident in saying that we have the best team out there. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and things will go our way.” 

Jeff  Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

The team has produced some of the Xfinity program’s best combined results with the high-downforce package. To what can you attribute that success?

“I think the attention to detail that every one of the guys working on the No. 00 Haas Automation team puts into our cars is what has created that success. We have a group that is willing to work hard to win. You don’t walk around and hear complaining because everyone knows that, in order to become champions, we have to outwork the other guys on the field. We get a new challenge and hit it hard and Cole has always done a great job adapting to new environments.”

You’re trailing the championship leader by 17 points. Do you focus on chipping away or going all out for the win regardless of the outcome?

“I will always try to put us in the best position to get a win over getting points. If a win doesn’t seem like it is in the cards for the weekend, then we pay closer attention to points during the race. We fully expect to have a car to compete for a win every weekend. We have almost all year.”

It’s good that Clint Bowyer knows and appreciates his racing history, because he’s going to live it this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series holds its regular-season finale Sunday.

Bowyer will drive the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Fusion co-owned by Gene Haas and the Hoosier-state’s favorite son, Tony Stewart, in the 25th annual Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard. Bowyer knows wearing a Mobil 1 Racing suit while driving the three-time champion Stewart’s entry, which carries the No. 14 made famous by four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt at the Brickyard, is a lot to live up to and an honor.

“There’s just a lot of pride that goes into driving that Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), Mobil 1 and Rush each time we race,” Bowyer said. “But carrying the No. 14 at Indy ratchets it up a whole other level. Everyone knows what that number means there. I was watching some stuff on A.J. Foyt and I was like, ‘Man, what a bad ass.’ That guy was so cool out of that racecar, and then he got in that thing and drove it just like that grizzly bear he looked like out of the car.”

Bowyer said the Mobil 1 paint scheme fans will see on his Ford at Indy goes beyond a marketing effort. Mobil 1 plays an integral role in SHR’s success. Mobil 1’s lubricant technology helps to reduce frictional loss in his Ford engines to maximize fuel mileage, increase horsepower and turn more rpm, providing an advantage over his 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. 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. 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.

Rush Truck Centers has its own history at SHR. It’s been the primary partner on the No. 14 team since Bowyer arrived at SHR in 2017 and has been with the organization since 2010. The Texas-based company has used Bowyer and the team to appeal to NASCAR fans as one way to recruit the technicians it needs to operate the largest network of commercial truck and bus dealerships in the country, with locations in 22 states. According to Rush Truck Centers, the trucking industry is expected to need 200,000 diesel technicians over the next 10 years to keep up with maintenance demands.

Bowyer said he’ll take any advantage he can get this weekend because Indy is a difficult track for the stock-car crowd, whose cars lack the downforce of their open-wheel counterparts in the IndyCar Series. The rectangular oval track includes two 5/8-mile straightaways and four nearly identical quarter-mile turns connected by short, eighth-mile straightaways. The turns are banked about nine degrees – far flatter than the 30-plus-degree banking at tracks like Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and others that are part of the NASCAR schedule.

“Indy is just so unique,” said Bowyer, who has posted two top-five and three-top 10 finishes in 13 starts at Indianapolis. “You’re going so fast. The corners are so flat. You’ve got to have that baby flat to the floor, all the way around. It’s just a hard, hard track to get around.”

He said the key to racing success there is managing risk behind the steering wheel.

“The challenge is trying to be patient,” Bowyer said. “You just have to be patient. You push it to the edge there. You come off of them corners and you’re like, ‘There’s no way. I’m gonna hit the wall. Whoo.’ By the way, I gotta do that 400 more miles.”

He hopes Indy will erase the bad memories from last weekend’s race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Driving a paint scheme similar to Ned Jarrett’s 1965 race-winning Ford, Bowyer climbed to fifth before dropping to 27th a lap behind the leaders when he had to make an extra stop midway through the race. Bowyer climbed back to 12^th, but a hard crash with 58 laps remaining left him with a 36th-place finish.

Bowyer would like to add a third victory to his 2018 resume at Indianapolis. He also wants to add to the 10 playoff points he already owns. His 10 points are the fourth-most behind “Big Three” drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. Playoff points are crucial for drivers with dreams of making it to the season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway because they are added to each driver’s tally after the point totals are reset at the end of the first three rounds of the playoffs. Drivers earn five playoff points for a victory and one point for a stage win. Additional points are earned based on the regular-season points finish after Indianapolis. The regular-season champion earns 15 points, second place earns 10, third earns eight, fourth earns seven – continuing in descending increments to one point for 10^th place.

Bowyer enters the Indianapolis race eighth in regular-season standings, trailing fourth-place teammate Kurt Busch by 58 points and leading ninth-place driver Ryan Blaney by 22 points.

That’s a lot of incentive for Bowyer at Indy, and he has history on his side.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts on Indianapolis?

“I love going to Indianapolis. The history and tradition behind it is very special. It’s a huge opportunity, and a privilege, to be able to race on it. I understand the significance of Indianapolis. I enjoy not only the city but also the racetrack. Knowing Tony’s thoughts about Indianapolis only makes it more important we do well this weekend.” 

What makes winning at Indianapolis so special?

“Oh, I think it’s the racetrack, man. It’s the history behind it. It’s a hard race. It’s a hard place to get around, as a driver. But it all comes down to the history, the people who have won that race and won at that racetrack before you. That’s why you want to win there so badly.”

What 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 make the cars go fast on the track.”