Month: July 2019

Daniel Suárez and the No. 41 Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International for the second road-course race of the season, Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen. Suárez will pilot the Haas Automation Mustang for his third career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at the Upstate New York venue.

When the Mexico native first came to the United States eight years ago, he ended up just outside of Buffalo, New York. Development series car owner Troy Williams welcomed the young racer into his home as Suárez worked to further his driving career in the United States. “Troy was extremely kind to invite me to his house and to help me learn about the culture here in racing and to learn English,” Suárez said. “Back then, I didn’t speak any English. He said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come to live with me in the U.S. and you can start practicing English?’ I never thought about where he might live in the U.S. when he invited me to live with him. I can’t forget the day I landed in Buffalo and seeing all of the snow. I had never seen anything like that before. I remember shoveling the snow with everyone every day. I lived there for about three months in the middle of winter before going back home to Mexico.”

Watkins Glen is one of the 27-year-old Suárez’s best tracks on the NASCAR circuit. In his two Cup Series starts, he has finishes of third and fourth, respectively, with an average finish of 3.5. He has an average starting position of 13.0, along with 14 laps led. “I love road-course racing a lot and The Glen is one of my favorite racetracks,” the Haas driver said. “It’s a lot of fun, and hopefully we can get a trophy this weekend.”

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series on the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen road course, Suárez has two starts with an average starting position of 9.0 and an average finish of 9.5 with six laps led. Additionally, he has an August 2014 start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. He started fourth but his day ended prematurely after an accident relegated him to a 19th-place finish.

In the last six Cup Series road-course races dating back to 2017, Suárez has an average finish of 12.7, which ranks 10th among all competitors. Suárez’s SHR teammates Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick are first and second in average road-course finishes over their last six starts.

SHR has one victory at Watkins Glen with team co-owner Tony Stewart capturing the victory in August 2009. In total, SHR has six top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 31 starts there. Ford has eight all-time Cup Series wins at Watkins Glen.

Suárez is in his third Cup Series season and his first behind the wheel of the No. 41 Haas Automation Mustang. So far this season, he’s accumulated two top-fives and seven top-10s, along with a total of 105 laps led. He has an average start of 15.3 and an average finish of 15.9 this season.

Suárez is currently 18th in the Cup Series standings to round out the four-driver SHR contingent. If Suárez captures a playoff position, it will be the first of his Cup Series career. Last year, all four SHR entries secured at least one regular-season win and a playoff spot. Harvick secured his playoff spot for this year by capturing the win two weekends ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

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

What was your first experience when you first arrived in Upstate New York?

“When I first moved here to the United States, it was to Buffalo. The team owner I was going to race for, Troy Williams, lived in Buffalo. I moved there in February and it was very cold. I just remember it being so cold and there was a lot of snow. I didn’t last in Buffalo very long – only about three months before I packed my stuff and went back to Mexico. Can you imagine a kid from Mexico going to live in Buffalo in the middle of winter?”

What is your favorite part about Watkins Glen?

“As a racecar driver, I love coming to Watkins Glen. The fans make it so good and with all of the camping they do. The atmosphere is very good and so fun. Let me tell you, it’s a very, very fast track, especially for a road course, which makes it exciting, too.”

Race Name: Zippo 200 at The Glen (Race 20 of 33)
Venue: Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY
Television: 3:00 p.m. EDT on NBC
Point Standings: 
– Cole Custer: 3rd; trails points leader by 97 points
– Chase Briscoe: 7th; trails points leader by 232 points

• This will mark Briscoe’s first Xfinity Series start at the 7-turn, 2.45-mile road course of Watkins Glen.
• Briscoe has one win, eight top-fives and 14 top-10’s through the 2019 season.
• In 60 NASCAR national series starts, Briscoe has four wins, 20 top-fives and 33 top-10’s.
• This will mark Richard Boswell’s third start atop the pit box at WGI with a best finish of fifth coming in 2018.
• Click here for Briscoe’s career stats.
• Click here for photos of Chase.

Ford’s racing program is part of the Ford Performance organization based in Dearborn, Mich. It is responsible for major racing operations globally, including NASCAR, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA World Rally Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars, Formula Drift, and NHRA Funny Car and sportsman drag racing. In addition, the organization also oversees the development of Ford’s racing engines, as well as the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts. For more information regarding Ford racing’s activities, please visit www.fordperformance.com, Ford Performance on Facebook, Ford Performance on Instagram and @FordPerformance on Twitter.

The last time you raced a road course in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (Charlotte Roval) you came awayvictorious. How confident are you heading into Watkins Glen?

“I don’t really consider myself a great road course racer, but for whatever reason I tend to run well at them. This will be my first time racing at Watkins Glen, so it will be a learning curve for sure but I’m up for the challenge and can’t wait to get there. Hopefully we can double down and pick up another win this weekend in our Ford Performance Mustang and get ourselves in an even better position for the playoffs.”

Race Name: Zippo 200 at The Glen (Race 20 of 33)
Venue: Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY
Television: 3:00 p.m. EDT on NBC
Point Standings: 
– Cole Custer: 3rd; trails points leader by 97 points
– Chase Briscoe: 7th; trails points leader by 232 points

• This is Custer’s third Xfinity Series start at WGI with a best finish of sixth coming in 2018.
• Custer has five wins, 11 top-fives and 12 top-10’s while leading 782 laps throughout the 2019 season.
• Mike Shiplett has six starts at the 2.45-mile road course with a best finish of third coming in 2016.
• Click here for Custer’s career stats.
• Click here for Custer’s stats at Watkins Glen.
• Click here for photos of Cole.

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We’re coming up on our first road course race of the year. What have you done to prepare for this stretch of races?

“This stretch of road courses is going to be tough. I ran the K&N race in Sonoma to help get my mind ready for road course season and we ran pretty well there so I am looking forward to getting to Watkins Glen. I will be spending some time in the simulator this week and I will watch film from the past races to ensure I am ready. We ran sixth here last year so we have a little to build on to make sure we are in contention for the win this weekend.”

Kevin Harvick is locked into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs via his win two weekends ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Now it’s time to go for more wins and more points.

Harvick is always a contender on any type of racetrack, including the circuits where drivers turn left and right. That’s what he and his competitors will do during Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen, which is conducted on the historic road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

The driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) won at The Glen in 2006 and joined Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt as winners at The Glen. Now, Clark, Hill, Stewart, Lauda, Fittipaldi and Hunt scored their wins in Formula One cars, which has “tyres,” not “tires.” And the races were on a “circuit” that was longer than what NASCAR runs on currently. But, hey, those are some big names to be associated with.

In addition to Harvick’s win at The Glen, he has three top-five finishes, nine top-10s and has led a total of 66 laps in his 18 career NASCAR Cup Series starts. His average start is 13.5, his average finish is 13.3 and he has a lap-completion rate of 97.8 percent – 1,589 of the 1,624 laps available.

His lone win came in 2006, when he started seventh, led 28 laps and finished .892 of a second ahead of his future SHR co-owner Tony Stewart.

Harvick has competed in eight NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Watkins Glen and won in 2007. He has one pole, and finished in the top-10 in all eight races. And Harvick has competed in three NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races at Watkins Glen with a best finish of seventh in 1999.

Harvick is one of only three active drivers to claim a NASCAR Cup Series victory at both true road courses on the schedule – Watkins Glen and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., are the others who can make that claim.

Harvick added his first career win at Sonoma in June 2017, when he started 12th, led 24 laps and finished ahead of SHR teammate Clint Bowyer when the race ended under caution. He also won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race the day before the Cup race.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

What is the key to having a good race at Watkins Glen International?

“Watkins Glen is really fast, so the biggest thing there is to get your car good under braking so you can make passes during the race. Usually, where you can gain the most time is in the braking zones.”

Are the road courses still odd-ball races, or do they seem like just another race, now?

“They are pretty much just another race, now. I think everybody knows you are going to a road course and you’ve got a lot of different aspects from a driver’s standpoint and the team standpoint that you have to pay attention to.”

Are the rivalries the same today as they were 15 to 20 years ago?

“You look at other sports and I think we’ll use the Yankees and the Red Sox. Does it seem the same as it was 15 to 20 years ago? No, and I think a lot of that comes down to the media, to social media, to guys growing up together and playing together. There’s just more people who know each other and, for us, it’s harder to carry a grudge in the garage today than it was 20 years ago just because of the fact that, if there’s a major beef going on, it’s a major hassle and it affects your team and it affects the things that you do, and everybody knows that, so it’s best to just move on, have a short memory. That’s the approach I try to take to it – to have the shortest memory possible, whether it’s a good weekend or a bad weekend, a good moment or a bad moment – and you move on with it. It’s just super-hard to carry a grudge and be able to function and not spend time answering questions about that. That would be what it would be about if you had a moment, so that’s frustrating and distracting.”

Who has the best average finish in the last six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series road course races?

Take a minute to think about it.

Since this is the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) advance, the likely guess would be Clint Bowyer.

And that is correct. Really!

The former body shop employee and dirt track racer from Emporia, Kansas, who hadn’t seen much of any road course until he joined the NASCAR ranks, is at the top of the list.

In his 28 career starts on road courses at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and the “roval” at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Bowyer has earned a victory, 11 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s.

“Not in a million years would I have imagined this success,” said Bowyer, who has a theory on why he and all other Cup Series drivers have improved their road-course racing skills over the last several years.

“I think a big part of it is engineering,” he said. “They came into this sport – our engineers were able to get our cars underneath us way better than we could before. Those ringers would go test time and time again all over the place, all sorts of different racetracks, in preparation for these one or two races. And, when we’d get there, our focus is on those mile-and-a-half tracks that make up the biggest part of the season. That’s a big difference. When we get here and we’re on the same playing field as they are, I feel like I’m proud to say the Cup regulars are holding their own.”

Some of Bowyer’s best road-course work has come since joining SHR in 2017. He climbed in the No. 14 driver’s seat when three-time champion Tony Stewart retired from NASCAR competition. In the six road-course races since joining SHR, Bowyer owns an average finish of 5.8 – the best of any driver who has competed in each of those races. Bowyer owns top-five finishes in four of the six road-course races since 2017 and hasn’t finished outside the top-11. That 5.8 average finish is even more impressive when considering his teammate Kevin Harvick is next best with an average finish of 7.5 in those races.

“That’s pretty cool and shows the quality of Fords the folks at SHR have been building for us,” Bowyer said. “When we go to road courses, we expect to be at the top of the chart each time.”

All this Bowyer trivia comes into play this weekend when the Cup Series races at Watkins Glen in Sunday’s GoBowling at the Glen in the second of three road courses on the 2019 schedule. With those numbers, Bowyer will obviously be a driver to watch when the green flag drops Sunday afternoon.

Bowyer warns there’s very little comparison between the high speeds of the Watkins Glen track and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, where Bowyer finished 11th on June 23. Watkins Glen is all about rhythm and timing that lead to its higher speeds.

“There is such a sensation of speed at Watkins Glen,” Bowyer said. “It is a wild racetrack and you have to be on your toes. If you slip up the least little bit, you are not only going to crash, you are going to crash hard. I think of it like this – Sonoma is like a short track and Watkins Glen is like a superfast, 1.5-mile track. That’s the speed difference.”

Bowyer has lots of motivation this weekend as he arrives in Upstate New York 15th in the NASCAR standings. With only four races remaining in the regular season and only 16 spots available, Bowyer leads the 17th-place driver by 12 points and trails the 10th-place driver by 82 points.

He arrives at Watkins Glen after finishing 11th last weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, where he started 13th and ran in the top-10 most of the day before restarting 20th in overtime and driving to 11th.

Bowyer will have a few extra family and fans in the grandstands this weekend at Watkins Glen. Bowyer’s wife Lorra is a native of Pen Yann, New York – a town of 5,000 people about 25 miles north of the track. Bowyer has spent considerable time in the area over the years.

“I love this place,” he said. “There are so many lakes and the area is so beautiful. Not sure I want to spend winters here but, when we visit, we have a good time.”

Bowyer will carry the decals of Rush Truck Centers and Haas Automation this weekend in New York. Rush Truck Centers has 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. Rush Truck Centers wants to make NASCAR fans aware of these opportunities.

Haas Automation is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. Founded by Gene Haas in 1983, Haas Automation manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are built in the company’s 1.1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.

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

Why is road-course racing in NASCAR becoming more popular?

“It’s just a hell of a show for the fans, the television audience and even the drivers. Man, they’re just so difficult. They’re so out of the ordinary. There are so many opportunities. That’s the thing about a road course – that there are not a lot of good opportunities to pass, but there are a lot of opportunities. If somebody makes a mistake, like if you catch pit road as a caution’s coming out, there are just so many things to capitalize on one of those road courses.”

What are the differences between the Watkins Glen, Sonoma and Charlotte road courses?

“You are way more at ease at Sonoma. It’s a finesse, rear-grip, take-care-of-your-tires type of track. I think it is a much more technical track. When you go to Watkins Glen, it’s a ton of fun but it’s a whole different beast. It’s wide-open. It’s balls-to-the-wall. You have to be extremely good on braking and have a fast racecar. Both of them are a ton of fun and so unique. That is the thing. We race and chase each other in circles non-stop. It is refreshing to have a break like this when we come to these road courses. The consequences just seem far greater at Watkins Glen than they are at Sonoma. If you hit at Sonoma, it’s like, ‘Man that hurt.’ You hit at Watkins Glen, you might be telling ’em about it a couple days later when it comes back to you. From the time you pull out on the track at Charlotte, to the time you get off, it’s just sketchy. You are just tip-toeing. There’s no room for error at all. The grip level isn’t  there. If you get to sliding a little bit getting in there and you look over at them tires, you realize there’s no room. If that thing gets out from under you, you are going to be in the fence and you are going to be in it hard. It’s not something (your car is) going to limp away from.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads to the second of three road course races of the season this weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

The 2.45-mile, seven-turn circuit is located in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York and is quite different from Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, the season’s first road-course stop each June.

“Watkins Glen is a beast of its own,” Almirola said. “We go to Sonoma, which is also a road course but much more like Martinsville, where it’s very slow, very technical and you struggle for grip. Then you go to Watkins Glen, that’s like a mile-and-a-half racetrack for road courses. It’s very fast and aero-dependent. I can’t stress how fast that racetrack is. It’s totally different than Sonoma.”

Last year at The Glen was a doubleheader weekend for Almirola, who competed in both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series races. He earned his first Watkins Glen Xfinity Series top-five, his previous best Xfinity finish there being eighth in 2011. He finished 22nd in last year’s Cup Series race.

In the days leading into each race weekend, Almirola focuses on improving his physical abilities and is well prepared for races where drivers are faced with high G-forces, like Watkins Glen.

“It takes a different technique,” he said. “From the driver standpoint, it’s very aggressive and taxing on the body.  There are a lot of G-forces (at Watkins Glen) compared to Sonoma, and we’re doing some heavy braking in several different spots on the track. Going through the esses, you try and run through there wide open and the car is very sketchy trying to go up through there at 150 to 160 miles per hour. It’s fun and very challenging.”

In 21 Cup Series starts this year, Almirola has one pole, one top-five finish, 10 top-10s and has led 112 laps. In 301 career starts, Almirola has two wins, two poles, 16 top-five finishes, 59 top-10s and 469 laps led. Almirola has qualified on the front row six times this season – one pole and five outside-front-row starts.

GoBowling.com will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 10 Ford this weekend. Go Bowling is the destination for bowling fans and enthusiasts seeking news and information about one of America’s favorite pastimes and the nation’s No. 1 participatory sport. With more than 67 million people taking to the lanes every year, GoBowling.com is a one-stop location where people of all ages can go to satisfy their love of bowling. Consumers turn to GoBowling.com every day to find bowling fun – discovering new bowling centers, tips and tricks to use on the lanes, event news, and great deals at more than 1,700 family friendly bowling centers across the country.

Almirola and the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang also will give fans a chance to get a little extra money for their bank account this weekend. If he wins at Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, one lucky fan will win $10,000. If Almirola doesn’t win Sunday, one fan still has the chance to win $1,000. To enter the contest, visit GoBowling.com/10k.

Also, fans can now get VIP, behind-the-scenes access in following “Aric ‘Beyond the 10’” by subscribing to his YouTube channel and following episodes on Facebook and Instagram TV. Episodes showcase never-before-seen footage of Almirola at the racetrack, on family trips, and “A Day in the Life” during the week, as well as all that goes into a NASCAR Cup Series driver’s season. Click here to subscribe on YouTube and watch the latest episode.

Almirola sits ninth in the championship standings heading to Sunday’s GoBowling at The Glen, 210 points out of first.

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

What is the highest score you’ve bowled?

“The highest game that I’ve bowled was just over 200. I think I bowled something like a 204 or 205. I’m consistent in the 150 to 170 range but, on occasion, I’ve bowled above 200 – maybe a handful of times.”

How do you feel going into the road-course race? With the Charlotte ROVAL coming in the playoffs, is it more important to you?

“Road-course racing has been arguably my Achilles heel throughout my career, and I don’t claim to be very good at road-course racing at all. I have always worked really hard at it to try and be better. As a racecar driver, you want to be versatile. You want to be able to contend for wins on superspeedways and intermediate tracks and short tracks – challenging tracks and road-course tracks. You don’t want to be weak in any one area. For me, it has been a big challenge to conquer road-course racing. I have put a lot of effort into this year to be a better road-course racer and had a lot of help with it. With Ford, they have helped me a lot with a lot of time in the simulator with our race team at Stewart-Haas Racing, and they’ve provided a lot of data to look at and a lot of things to study. I got my second top-10 on a road course out at Sonoma and had a really good run and was really fast. Same thing going into Watkins Glen. I have worked really hard studying data and getting ready in the Ford simulator. We are fortunate enough to have Go Bowling on the car for the weekend because it is the Go Bowling weekend at The Glen. I feel that will help me get in a rhythm for Sunday and hopefully that will pay off for Sunday at Watkins Glen. Road-course racing is definitely not something that I am overly comfortable with, or something I claim to be good at by any means, but through hard work I am trying to get a lot better at it and I feel like I have.”