DANIEL SUÁREZ – 2019 Dover I Race Advance

Daniel Suárez and the No. 41 Haas Automation team head to Dover (Del.) International Speedway this Sunday for the 11th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Suárez will return to the traditional red-and-black Haas Automation livery for his fifth career Cup Series start at the high-banked, concrete mile oval.

Before heading to Dover this weekend, Suárez managed a 12th-place finish in last week’s event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Early in the race, Suárez’s teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were involved in an accident, but Suárez was able to avoid the accidents, some narrowly, to earn his second-best finish at the 2.66-mile superspeedway with a solid day in the Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Mustang.

Dover is one of only two tracks on the Cup Series schedule where Suárez has earned top-10 finishes in each of his starts there – the other being Watkins Glen, where he has a pair of top-fives in two outings. In four starts at Dover, Suárez has one top-five finish and four top-10s with an average finishing position of 6.8. He has three top-10 starting spots there with an average starting position to 8.5.

In addition to his Cup Series starts at Dover, he has six Xfinity Series starts with one win in October 2016, two top-fives and five top-10s, along with 144 laps led. The Mexico native also has two Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts, both resulting in second-place finishes. Finally, he has two starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, one in 2013 when he finished sixth, and one in 2014, when he finished 22nd after an accident ended his day prematurely.

“Dover is probably my favorite track and it’s probably my best track, too,” Suárez said. “I’m not really sure why it’s so good for me, but it’s a lot of fun. With the new package, it should be crazy fast, so it’s going to be a lot of fun, I hope. I always have it marked on my list of tracks that I think we have a really good shot to win at. Kevin and Clint were both so good there last year and my crew chief Billy Scott and the 41 team were really good there last year, too.”

Going to Dover with SHR should bode well for Suárez’s success. Behind Aric Almirola, Bowyer and Harvick, SHR led 592 of the 804 laps raced there last year. Harvick captured the win and Bowyer the runner-up finish in the May race.

At tracks a mile in length or less this season, Suárez has accumulated top-10 finishes at each, with the exception of Phoenix, where he had a mechanical issue, and Richmond, where a pit-road speeding penalty led to an 18th-place finish.

This time last year, Suárez was 21st in the point standings, but he’s 12th with 266 points heading into this weekend’s event. All four SHR entries are in the top-12 in the championship, from where the top 16 drivers after the 26 regular-season races will earn a spot in the Cup Series playoffs.

Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner Gene Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets. This weekend marks the seventh time Suárez has piloted the Haas Automation scheme.

Ford has 26 all-time Cup Series victories at Dover. The manufacturer has captured three victories so far this year and the solid start to the season has earned Ford five spots in the top-10 in points. SHR has three wins as an organization at the Delaware track with Harvick earning two and co-owner Tony Stewart one.

 

DANIEL SUÁREZ, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

How do you feel things have progressed in your first year at SHR?

“It’s going better than I expected, honestly. Everything has been really smooth and we have really good people and the results are coming, and I’m very happy with that. I feel like we are moving in the right direction and I have really great teammates. We are seeing a different team now than what we were seeing a month and a half ago, and I feel like a month and a half from now we’ll be even better. We have strong cars wherever we go now and it’s only getting better.”

You’re still looking for your first playoff appearance and, if you had your preference, would you like a win early in the season so you’re locked in and good to go? Or, if you’re running up front and you have the points to get in, you’re able to qualify for the playoffs that way?

“I would say to be competitive and run up front all the time. The win will come. I know that. We just have to be competitive and up front. I don’t want to get a lucky win and be lucky in the playoffs and then just put my arms down a little bit. I want to be competitive, up front and be racing hard, and if we can do that, the win will come.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2019 Dover I Race Advance

Clint Bowyer feels like the Dover (Del.) International Speedway’s Monster Mile got the better of him in last year’s two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.

The No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang driver led 40 laps and came so close to victory in May before finishing second to Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Kevin Harvick. He looked ready to again battle for victory in September before late-race bad luck ended his day just a few laps short of the checkered flag.

While those races might have been the cause for frustration last year, they created optimism this week as Bowyer and the rest of the Cup Series competes at Dover on Sunday in the 11th race of the 2019 season. Bowyer owns three top-five finishes and 14 top-10s in 26 starts at Dover and hopes for that first win this weekend.

“Ever since I’ve been at SHR, we’ve seemed to have some really good cars at Dover,” Bowyer said. “We’ve been so close to taking home that Miles The Monster (a replica of the track’s 46-foot mascot) trophy. I hope we are just as good this weekend. If we are, then we have as good of chance as anyone. You’ve got to fight this ‘monster’ every lap. I won a couple of Xfinity races there — haven’t won a Cup race — but love this racetrack.”

Bowyer owns two NASCAR Xfinity Series victories at Dover. He led 70 laps and beat Matt Kenseth by .547 of a second on Sept. 23, 2006 to win his third of what would be eight Xfinity Series victories in his career. His most recent Xfinity Series victory also came at Dover, in Sept. 26, 2009, when he led 83 laps and beat Mike Bliss to the checkered flag by 1.319 seconds.

After what he considers a slow start to the 2019 season that saw him drop outside the top-15 in the standings, Bowyer has rallied over the last several races to return to the front of the field. In the four races that preceded last Sunday’s 500-mile race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, only Kyle Busch scored more points than Bowyer. An accident on lap 11 at Talladega relegated Bowyer to a 29th-place finish and dropped him from eighth to 10th in the standings.

“We won’t let what happened at Talladega slow us down,” said Bowyer, who went on to also explain why there was a slow start to the 2018 season. “We’ve run well recently, but we’ve got to start closing these things out.

“Everybody works hard in the offseason and puts in the due diligence and works hard to make sure we hit the ground running, and sometimes that doesn’t work. Last year with the Stewart-Haas cars, we rolled through the West-Coast swing and came out with confidence and didn’t really need to work on much. We had a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses we needed to polish up but we really were strong early and got that points base established early, and we rode that wave on through the summer months.

“This year, we missed. We weren’t exactly where we wanted to be or where we thought we would be or where the plan was through the West-Coast swing. Once you get back with a group like we have, a group of racers in the trenches at Stewart-Haas Racing, you knew it wouldn’t take long to get to the punch and get our cars right. Meeting after meeting and talk after talk, the people, it all comes back to the people working tirelessly to get our cars turned around and I think the results the last month really proved it. We knocked on the door pretty hard and Kevin has been running well and Aric (Almirola) and Daniel (Suarez) have been running well. Our cars are good. It is exciting times right now. That first group of tracks is behind us and we have learned what we need to learn and put it to good use.”

Bowyer and all of SHR continue to bring the Mobil 1 advantage to the track each weekend and Bowyer will carry the longtime SHR partner’s colors Sunday at Dover. Mobil 1 isn’t just the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR organization with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track.

In its 17th 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.

“They are more than just a partner,” Bowyer said. “They are every bit a part of our success as anything else on the competition side. Mobil 1 gives SHR a competition advantage with its technology and lubricants.”

He hopes to show that Sunday at the Monster Mile.

 

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

 

What are your thoughts on Dover?

“Dover is always a cool track that I think every driver looks forward to because it’s a driver’s track. You’ve got to man up, get on top of that wheel and make things happen. There are just so many things going on there on that concrete surface and high banks. It’s a lot of fun. If you win there, you’ve earned it.”

Does attitude matter at Dover?

“This is a challenging racetrack, a very competitive racetrack, one of the most competitive and challenging tracks I think we go to. The balance of your car is just so important, balancing those front tires to the rear. You’ve got to enjoy places like this. If you don’t, it’s a long day.”

ARIC ALMIROLA – 2019 Dover I Race Advance

Aric Almirola’s 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season has been a rollercoaster, starting with six consecutive top-10 finishes, then getting knocked out by a lap-two accident not of his doing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, then pit stop and lug nut issues that plagued the Smithfield Ford team at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. But, after surviving last Sunday’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway to bring home another top-10, Almirola looks forward to racing at a track less than half Talladega’s size knowing that his team brought a dominant car there last fall.

Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) started last fall’s Dover race 11th and gradually made their way to the lead by the final stage. Almirola led a total of 64 laps, but made contact with the wall racing aggressively in the closing laps, ultimately finishing 13th. It was the first time the 35-year-old led a lap at the concrete mile oval in the NASCAR Cup Series and, although the finish wasn’t what he wanted, he completed one of his best races at a track one mile in length or shorter, leaving him with confidence heading into this Sunday’s Gander RV 400.

“I love going to Dover because it’s one of those place you go 170 mph but you feel like you’re going 300 mph,” Almirola said. “We found speed there last year and, coming off a top-10 after a string of bad races, I’m really looking forward to getting back there knowing we can compete for a win.”

While Dover looks and feels fast to Almirola, the new rules package with increased horsepower could make the high-banked oval even faster and more challenging.

“Dover is one of the places I think that we will really, really notice the minimum speed being much faster than what we had with last year’s rule package,” he said. “The straightaway speed I don’t think will be much different but, because of all the downforce on the cars that we have now with this rules package, I think the minimum speed and the mid-corner speed will be so high. It is going to be incredibly fast. I personally think it will be similar to what I used to experience when I would go there and truck race, where qualifying is crazy and you are pretty close to wide open, and then in the race there is just not a lot of off-throttle time. It makes it exciting to run and make laps around there by yourself, but it presents challenges to race.”

In his 13 starts at Dover, Almirola has earned three top-10 finishes, two top-fives and has led a total of 64 laps. His average finish is 11.7 with an average start of 13.2 in 18 total Cup Series races.

Almirola has four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Dover and finished inside the top-15 each time. He has two starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Dover, capturing his second NASCAR national series win by driving into victory lane there in May 2010. His only other Dover start in the Truck Series resulted in a 12th-place finish.

Dover marks the eighth weekend the iconic black and white Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Mustang. Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, which is based approximately five hours northeast of SHR headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its eighth season with Almirola and its second 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.

Almirola sits 11th in the driver standings, tied with teammate Clint Bowyer with 288 points, 142 out of first.

 

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

 

Will the increased horsepower at Dover make it difficult to manage tires? 

“I don’t know. I think it could be an issue – there is certainly the potential for that. You are going to be going faster across the middle of the corner and will have more load on the tires because of the downforce and the speed being higher. I think there is potential for that, but I believe Goodyear did a tire test there earlier this year and they had wheel force transducer cars on the track there collecting data. I think that there is potential if they are not prepared for it.”

How do you stay motivated as a driver? 

“It’s all self-driven. I’ll go and rewatch the old race footage of the racetrack that we’re going to. I’ll look at my driver data and compare it to my teammates. I write notes every single weekend, throughout the weekend. I’ll log it into my laptop and, after the race is over, I’ll go in and write a race report about how the race went, what happened in the race, how I thought the track changed, how the line changed and my driving style changed to adapt to the changing track conditions. I go in and write very detailed reports after practices and the race, and then I’ll study that leading into the next event at the track.”

DANIEL SUÁREZ – 2019 Talladega I Race Report

Event: GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/55 laps/78 laps)
Start/Finish: 16th/12th (Running, completed 188 of 188 laps)
Point Standing: 12th (266 points, 164 out of first)

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Dillon of Germain Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Daniel Suárez started Stage 1 from the 16th position and ended the stage fifth to earn six bonus points.
● Suárez came down pit road from the fourth spot during the caution on lap 13 for fuel only and restarted second on lap 16.
● Crew chief Billy Scott made the call to stretch fuel mileage to avoid making a second pit stop during the stage. Suárez was able to save fuel and ended the stage in fifth.
● At the end of Stage 1, Suárez was forced to pit while pit road was closed to prevent from running out of fuel on the backstretch.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-110):

● The No. 41 driver started Stage 2 in 19th at the rear of the field due to his pit-road infraction and completed it in 24th.
● The Coca-Cola driver made his only pit stop of the stage on lap 91 for fuel and four tires and returned to the track.
● The conclusion of the stage was run under green, and Suárez ended it in 24th.
● During the stage break the Mexico native visited pit road for fuel and four tires.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 111-188):

● Suárez began the final stage 21st and concluded it in 12th.
● The caution came out on lap 131, and the Ford driver was in the 21st position when he made his way down pit road for fuel and four tires. He came back to pit road to top off with fuel and restarted in 24th on lap 136.
● By lap 146 Suárez had worked his way up to the second position, then he came down pit road to make a scheduled green-flag pit stop for fuel only on lap 154.
● The 27-year-old returned to the track and continued to jockey for positions when the final caution came out on lap 183. He pitted for fuel and four fresh tires for a sprint to the end in the No. 41 Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Mustang.
● Suárez escaped an accident on the final lap to finish 12th.

Notes:

● Suárez finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points.
● Chase Elliott won the GEICO 500 to score his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega. His margin of victory over second-place Alex Bowman was .035 of a second.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● Only 21 of the 40 drivers in the GEICO 500 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch remains the championship leader after Talladega with a 15-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Daniel Suárez, Driver of the No. 41 Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a very fast Orange Vanilla Coca-Cola Mustang today, but at the end we just didn’t have enough time to get in the lane that was moving the best. I was trying the top groove with a few laps to go, but it wasn’t going anywhere. With the new package we’re still trying to figure out how the car reacts in different lanes and those types of things. Overall, we escaped all of the accidents and the guys on the No. 41 Mustang are doing a good job and we keep improving.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Gander RV 400 on Sunday, May 5 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

ARIC ALMIROLA – 2019 Talladega I Race Report

Event: GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/55 laps/78 laps)
Start/Finish: 2nd/9th (Running, completed 188 of 188 laps)
Point standings: 11th (288 points, 142 out of first)

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Dillon of Germain Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Started second, finished 26th.
● Aric Almirola drove the Smithfield Ford Mustang to the lead on the opening lap.
● On lap 10, Almirola raced inside the top-five and narrowly missed a wreck that collected his teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.
● He took the lead back on lap 16 but was challenged by the No. 22 car in the outside lane. He gained complete control of the lead again by lap 34.
● Almirola pitted the No. 10 Ford on lap 46 for fuel only. While exiting pit road he was handed a speeding penalty, ultimately putting him down a lap.
● He pitted for four fresh tires and fuel when the stage concluded and earned a spot back on the lead lap.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-110):

● Started 18th and finished 11th.
● Almirola raced back to second place by lap 67.
● He pitted the No. 10 Smithfield Ford for fuel only under green on lap 89 and was scored inside the top-five.
● On lap 102, Almirola found an open spot between eight Chevrolets to stay inside the top-five.
● Without a push from behind he was unable to keep the pace and finished Stage 2 just outside the top-10.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 111-188):

● Started 12th and finished ninth.
● Almirola raced in and around the top-10 until a lap-131 caution. He pitted for fuel only while others took tires and gained eight spots to restart third.
● He pitted under green on lap 155 and came off pit road in sixth place.
● Almirola battled the Smithfield Ford Mustang back to second on lap 170 but, with no help from behind, fell to 16th place.
● On lap 182 the caution was called with Almirola scored 10th. He pitted for four fresh tires and fuel to restart 13th.
● When the green-flag waved he rallied back up to the top-five and, with cars wrecking behind him and no caution called, he held the Smithfield Ford inside the top-10 before he crossed the finish line.

Notes:

● Almirola earned his seventh top-10 of the season and his seventh top-10 in 19 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Talladega.
● This was Almirola’s sixth straight top-10 at Talladega.
● Almirola led three times for 27 laps to increase his laps-led total at Talladega to 43.
● Chase Elliott won the GEICO 500 to score his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega. The race ended under caution.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● Only 21 of the 40 drivers in the GEICO 500 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch remains the championship leader after Talladega with a 15-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

“We had a really good Smithfield Ford Mustang. I thought we had a car capable of winning but had just a few mistakes on my part and then a few things didn’t go my way. I worked my way back up the first two or three times and got shuffled out. I had to fight really hard just to get back up into the top-10. I am really proud of all of our guys. I thought we had a car capable of winning, and circumstances and some things didn’t go our way. The Fords were really fast. The only thing I am happy about is that we finally stopped the bleeding. We had a really crappy couple of weeks with Bristol and Richmond. We fell from fifth to 11th in points. We stopped the bleeding there, got another top-10 and are back on track going to a great racetrack for us in Dover.”

Next Up: 

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Gander RV 400 on Sunday, May 5 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

CLINT BOWYER – 2019 Talladega I Race Report

Event: GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/55 laps/78 laps)
Start/Finish: 3rd/29th (Running, completed 182 of 188 laps)
Point Standing: 10th (288 points, 142 out of first)

Race Winner:      Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner:  Ty Dillon of Germain Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner:  Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

Clint Bowyer started third and finished 34th.
Bowyer raced in the top-three in the opening laps.
● Bowyer’s car suffered severe damage in a lap-10 accident when two cars in front of him collided and caused a chain-reaction wreck.
● The No. 14 pit crew made significant repairs during multiple stops under caution to return Bowyer to the track on the lead lap.
● Bowyer kept minimum speed until bodywork cut his right-front tire, requiring him to return to pit lane for repairs.
● Bowyer lost four laps while repairs were made, and he returned to the track in 34th.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-110):

Bowyer started 34th and finished 33rd.
Bowyer predicted that if they could keep the car on the track it would gain 10 spots before the end of the race, given the chance of another accident.
● The field put Bowyer a fifth lap down under green, and he finished the stage in 33rd.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 111-188):

Bowyer started 33rd and finished 29th.
Bowyer stayed at the back of the field, avoiding involvement in another accident.
● Bowyer’s prediction fell just a bit short, but two late-race accidents allowed him to move up to 29th.

Notes:

●  Chase Elliott won the GEICO 500 to score his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega.
●  There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
●  Only 17 of the 40 drivers in the GEICO 500 finished on the lead lap.
●  Kyle Busch remains the championship leader after Talladega with a 15-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford Mustang:

“We started great and our Toco Warranty Ford was pretty racy, but I started to see what was about to happen and tried to get out of that pack. I should have just pulled onto the apron and just stopped, but I couldn’t, and they wrecked and took us out. It’s pretty sad. I’d like to have seen how we could have raced today.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Gander RV 400 on Sunday, May 5 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

KEVIN HARVICK – 2019 Talladega I Race Report

Event: GEICO 500(Round 10 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Format: 188 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/55 laps/78 laps)
Start/Finish: 19th/38th (Accident, completed 11/188 laps)
Point Standing: 4th with 350 points, 80 out of first

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Ty Dillon of Germain Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

Kevin Harvick started 19th and was collected in a lap-10 multicar accident. He finished a disappointing 38th in the No. 4 Busch Beer Flannel Ford Mustang.

Notes:

● Chase Elliott won the GEICO 500 to score his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Talladega. The race ended under caution.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● Only 21 of the 40 drivers in the GEICO 500 finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Busch remains the championship leader after Talladega with a 15-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Flannel Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“You know, I went to the back to start and thought that was going to happen several times throughout the day. I got myself back there and it looked pretty tame, so I decided to go back to the front and drove back up there fairly easy. I don’t know what happened. They all wrecked and I slowed down, and somebody hit me in the door and I hit the wall.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Gander RV 400 on Sunday, May 5 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.​

COLE CUSTER – 2019 NXS Talladega Race Report

Date: April 27, 2019
Race Name: MoneyLion 300 (Race 9 of 33)
Venue: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Race Winner: Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Results: Chase Briscoe: 4th  | Cole Custer: 32nd
Point Standings:
– Cole Custer: 4th with 338 points; trails points leader by 75 points
– Chase Briscoe: 7th with 295 points; trails points leader by 118 points

Cole Custer / Jacob Companies Ford Mustang Recap:
– Custer started 12th and dropped to 26th to avoid a possible wreck in Stage 1, where he would finish in the stage.
– The No. 00 Ford started 14th and finished 12th in Stage 2.
– Custer started fifth before a yellow would come out with 47 laps remaining.
– The No. 00 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang would pit twice during the yellow to top off with fuel before going back green.
– Custer restarted seventh before another caution flag would come out on lap 85.
– The No. 00 did not pit and would restart fourth where he would run most of the final stage.
– Custer would be involved in an incident on lap 95, knocking him out of the race with a 32nd-place finish.

Next Up: Allied Steel Buildings 200 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, on May 4th at 1:30 p.m. EDT broadcast by Fox Sports 1.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang:

“We had a really good car all day which was great because I’ve always seemed to lack a little speed on these bigger tracks. I thought we had put ourselves in a good position to miss the wrecks, but it just didn’t work out that way. We will go on to Dover next week to try and get the No. 00 into victory lane.”

CHASE BRISCOE – 2019 NXS Talladega Race Report

Date: April 27, 2019
Race Name: MoneyLion 300 (Race 9 of 33)
Venue: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Race Winner: Tyler Reddick of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Results: Chase Briscoe: 4th  | Cole Custer: 32nd
Point Standings:
– Cole Custer: 4th with 338 points; trails points leader by 75 points
– Chase Briscoe: 7th with 295 points; trails points leader by 118 points

Chase Briscoe / Nutri Chomps Ford Mustang Recap:
– Briscoe started ninth and finished 14th in Stage 1. He pitted for tires and fuel at the conclusion of the stage.
– The Nutri Chomps Ford started Stage 2 in 13th and finished fourth, earning Briscoe seven valuable stage points.
– The No. 98 Ford started sixth in the final stage after pitting for two tires and fuel. He was shuffled back to 22nd with 39 laps to go.
– Briscoe charged back up to second before a caution flag flew with 27 laps remaining.
– The No. 98 took the lead on the ensuing restart before another caution flew with 11 laps to go.
– Caution waved once again with six laps remaining and Briscoe running in fourth. He would ultimately finish there.
– Briscoe scored his seventh consecutive top-10 of the 2019 season. 

Next Up: Allied Steel Buildings 200 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, on May 4th at 1:30 p.m. EDT broadcast by Fox Sports 1.

 Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Nutri Chomps Ford Mustang:                                                    

“Today was really a lot of fun. For awhile, I thought it was going to be like Daytona, but I started making some moves and got some guys to go with us. There at the end we were making some pretty crazy moves and I’m not sure how we didn’t wreck, but it was a blast. Hopefully it was as fun for the fans as it was from the seat.”

DANIEL SUÁREZ – 2019 Talladega I Race Advance

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns after a weekend off for the season’s 10th race. Competitors next head to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where Daniel Suárez will pilot the No. 41 Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).

After enjoying the off weekend in his home country of Mexico, Suárez heads to the Alabama track for this year’s first event at the 2.66-mile oval. In last year’s fall race at Talladega, the four-car SHR contingent dominated the 188-lap event. For almost the entire race, the four SHR Fords were nose to tail and led a combined 155 laps before then-SHR freshman driver Aric Almirola went on to earn the victory. All three of Suárez’s SHR teammates have earned Cup Series victories at Talladega. Almirola and Kevin Harvick each have one victory, and Clint Bowyer has two.

“At Daytona (this year’s season opener), I think I had the best superspeedway car I’ve ever had, so that makes me excited for Talladega,” Suárez said. “It’s always good to have great communication with your teammates, especially at a track like Talladega. You have to work with your teammates. You can’t win the race by yourself. I feel very good working with Kevin, Clint and Aric this weekend at Talladega. We always have plans as teammates, you just hope you’re able to execute them. It’s the biggest oval racetrack that we go to all year, and it’s a lot of fun not only on the track, but also in the infield.”

With this year’s new rules package at Talladega, the Cup Series will utilize a tapered spacer versus the traditional restrictor plate. “It’s going to be totally different with the tapered spacer versus the restrictor plate,” Suárez said. “At Daytona earlier this year, it was very similar to what we are used to seeing because we still had the restrictor plate, but at Talladega this weekend with the new package, it’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out,” he said. “It will be the first time for everyone to experience it but, hopefully, we can be the team that adapts the quickest to get the best result.”

Talladega marks the inaugural time Suárez will drive the No. 41 Mustang with Coca-Cola livery for SHR. For the first time in 10 years, Coca-Cola launched a new flavor with two options, Orange Vanilla and Orange Vanilla Coke Zero Sugar. In addition to Suárez driving the bright orange-and-red Orange Vanilla scheme at Talladega, Coca-Cola will also adorn the No. 41 machine for the May 26 race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Fans will also have the opportunity to enjoy a sweet view from inside Suárez’s cockpit with an in-car camera provided by Coca-Cola for this Sunday’s event. “Coca-Cola has been a supporter of mine for a long time and I enjoy working with them,” he said. “They have the new Orange Vanilla flavor and it’s cool to drive a unique paint scheme this weekend and hopefully we’re spraying a bunch of Coca-Cola in victory lane on Sunday.”

With Talladega Superspeedway earlier this month, Suárez visited the Atlanta United FC Major League Soccer team at its practice facility in Marietta, Georgia. The team’s star forward Josef Martinez swapped jerseys with Suárez, who also received a tour of the facility and interacted with players. “I had a good time at the Atlanta United practice facility with the players,” the SHR driver said. “I played soccer growing up in Mexico and I think I was actually pretty good at it until racing took over. It’s neat to experience other sports and meet the athletes. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t line up so that I can go to their game on Saturday in Atlanta, but I’ll be following along.”

This weekend’s Coca-Cola driver has four Cup Series starts at Talladega with a best result of 10th, as well as 12 laps led. After a refreshing week of vacation, he’s looking to improve on that. He also has three starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega with two top-10 finishes and five laps led. The 27-year-old also earned a 15th-place finish in his one NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series start at the superspeedway.

 

DANIEL SUÁREZ, Driver of the No. 41 Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

How do you feel about the new rules package overall this season?

“It’s interesting because in the straightaway we are going a little bit slower, but in the corners we are going quite a bit faster. The rules changed a good amount to make it better, tighter racing. NASCAR has done a good job with the changes. I would say that in Texas we probably saw one of the best races that we have seen in a while there.”

Where does your love of cars and racing come from?

“My family doesn’t come from racing, but my love for cars comes from working with my dad in his car restoration shop. I remember, since I was a kid, that my mom would send me with my dad to the shop in the morning and then in the afternoon I would come home dirty with grease all over me, and mom was all mad (laughs), but that’s how I got into cars. Then, as I got a little bit older, I was all about making those cars he restored to go faster, putting big engines in them to make them go fast. Eventually, I got invited by some friends to go to a go-kart race and the rest is history.”

You saw the strong SHR Talladega performance from a different vantage point last year when you were with another team. What were you thinking when you saw all four SHR cars running together up front and then essentially becoming their own draft in their own lead pack?

“When you’re in that position, you want to do everything you can to try to separate those drivers, because if you don’t they’re too strong together. My goal was to try to get in the mix, but that’s not easy. You need to have a very fast racecar to be able to do that and not just fast in the straightway, but you need a good-handling racecar, too. Last year, Stewart-Haas was able to do a good job on the superspeedways and in many other racetracks, too. I do remember the Talladega race, which was very impressive. Later on, I got the opportunity to have conversations with Stewart-Haas Racing and all those impressive moments came back to my mind. I said, ‘Man. I hope we can do that again.’”