Month: May 2020

Kevin Harvick scored his 50th win Sunday in NASCAR’s comeback race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

It was one of the most historic victories for Harvick in the series, ranking right up there with his very first win in March 2001 at Atlanta Motor Speedway three weeks after Dale Earnhardt’s death.

As historic as Sunday’s win was, Harvick wants more, including number 51, which could come in Wednesday night’s Darlington 500k at Darlington.

Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will bring back the same car he won with on Sunday. He dominated the race with 159 laps led and won by 2.154 seconds over Alex Bowman.

Wednesday’s race will be a bit different than Sunday’s as it will be only 500 kilometers – 311.4 miles – and will be run at night, as opposed to Sunday’s race that was conducted during the day.

Harvick will have the No. 1 pit stall for Wednesday’s race but will start 20th as the top 20 cars invert to create the front half of the grid. But if his pit crew is as good as it was Sunday, Harvick could once again be in contention for the win.

He’ll also have Mobil 1 on board as a sponsor and partner.

Mobil 1 isn’t just the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, it also provides the entire SHR team with leading lubricant technology, ensuring that all SHR Mustangs have a competitive edge over the competition on the track. In its 18th 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.

Harvick will also have Christopher Bucciarelli’s name on his Mobil 1 Ford Mustang during the Darlington 500k in continuation of NASCAR’s support of The Real Heroes initiative. Bucciarelli works in imaging at the Novant Health Matthews Medical Center and is from Monroe, North Carolina. He spent 11 years as a United States Navy corpsman and had three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a corpsman for the United State Marine Corps.

Bucciarelli joined Novant in 2018 and is regarded as dependable, loyal and always willing to go above and beyond for his patients and team members. He volunteered to work at the field hospital that was planned during the COVID-19 crisis. He realized his passion for emergency care during his time working with Med Center 1 in 2018 after Hurricane Florence. Bucciarelli’s son Keegan, who is 6, are avid NASCAR fans, and his favorite driver is Harvick.

Here’s hoping Mobil 1, along with Bucciarelli, can help Harvick score win number 51, which would put him only three behind Lee Petty for 11th on the all-time NASCAR wins list.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You have 50 wins. Can you talk about that accomplishment?

“When you say those two names (Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson, also with 50 career wins), obviously they’re a huge part of what built this sport. Obviously Hall of Famers. What a huge honor it is to have my name sitting next to theirs. I’ve been fortunate, especially since I’ve come to Stewart-Haas Racing. This was 27 wins together with this group of guys. I think that experience going into our seventh year here really paid off Sunday, getting our car right, making adjustments on our car, rebounding from the adversity of a bad pit stop, all the things that came with turned into a race win. That says a lot about the experience of our team, the depth we have with everything that Gene (Haas) and Tony (Stewart) give us. It’s been a lot of fun to drive fast racecars. To have your name next to those guys goes to show you how fortunate I am to be able to ride in those fast racecars. We’ve been able to capitalize on a few.”

Drivers describe Darlington as one of the more physically demanding tracks. Normally, you have a full week to recover. You’re going back there to race Wednesday. Does that change how you recover from a race?  What do you normally do to recover from a NASCAR race?

“We have been off for 10 weeks. We should be pretty fresh from the physical standpoint. For me, I’ve been working hard to make sure I was in as good a shape as I’ve been in in a long time coming back, not even knowing what the schedule was, but just wanted to be better.I think as you look at that, really the biggest thing is 300 miles for us is a short race. I think as you look at the weather, being at night, it’s going to be fairly cool. The 600 miles (at Charlotte) the next weekend will be the one that you really have to pay attention to as far as what you do.Hydration is the key for me. For the most part, it’s really about making sure that you put enough fluids back in your body.”

Why do your prefer Mobil 1 synthetic?

“I’m a synthetic guy because, in 1993 when we were sitting in the engine shop, we dumped Mobil 1 synthetic in and that’s all we did and gained seven horsepower. From that day on, we would actually save our money and then go to the local auto parts store because, at that time, it was like $5.50 a quart and the conventional and other oils were like $3.50. At the big races, we would put the Mobil 1 in the car and the regular races would put the regular oil in there. You know I’m going to say synthetic.”

Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head back to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Wednesday for the second consecutive event at the egg-shaped oval. Custer’s Mustang will once again highlight Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com. Haas Tooling was launched just weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools will be sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end-users.

After much anticipation, the 2020 NASCAR season resumed Sunday with a 400-mile race at Darlington. Custer received the 14th starting position after a drawing was held to set the field. The Cup Series rookie had a strong run in Stage 1 of the race but, after his car’s handling tightened up, he was relegated to a 22nd-place result. The 22-year-old feels fortunate to have another opportunity to master the South Carolina “Track Too Tough To Tame” Wednesday night.

“I think we definitely made gains during Sunday’s race,” Custer said. “The car drove fairly well. I think if I would’ve gotten a little more confident with running the wall, that we could’ve had a better day. I think we’re going in the right direction. It’s just a matter of working out the little things and being a rookie, and we’ll be on the right track.”

Riding along with the California native for Wednesday’s race will be Novant Health employee Dean Hines. Hines is part of NASCAR’s support of The Real Heroes initiative. He has been a patient transporter at Novant Health Matthews Medical Center since 2011. Hines, who calls himself a huge NASCAR fan, is from Kinston, North Carolina. Hines is said to always put his patients first. His contributions to the hospital, especially during these uncertain times, warrant the honor of him riding along with Custer at Darlington. Hines’ patients are always complimenting him for instinctively knowing how to comfort them with his kind words of healing and understanding during their darkest times. Along with his passion for people, Hines also enjoys playing multiple musical instruments with his band on the weekends.

SHR has 39 starts at Darlington and two victories, both earned by No. 4 driver Kevin Harvick – one in 2014, and most recently on Sunday after Harvick led a race-high 159 laps. In total, the Kannapolis-based Ford team has 11 top-fives and 19 top-10s in the Cup Series at the South Carolina track.

Harvick hit a career win milestone with Sunday’s victory. “It’s pretty cool seeing Kevin get to 50 wins,” Custer said. “He’s been on a tear and it’s pretty impressive to watch. Being able to be this close to it and see how he goes about it, and how he prepares for a weekend and thinks about things. I think he’s different than anybody else on how he puts it all together, and I’m sure he’s going to win a lot more races.”

Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner 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.

Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together. Custer was the third-highest-finishing rookie at Darlington Sunday and looks to improve his position Wednesday night.

COLE CUSTER, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What did race day feel like Sunday after the 10-week hiatus?

“It was definitely different. I think the strangest thing was how quiet it was before and after the race, without the fans. But other than that, it was kind of back to normal – driving to the track and climbing in the car. But it was definitely strange not having the fans there.”

What was it like to start a race after such a long break without practice or qualifying?

“It was a little tough to start the race after the long break and no practice or qualifying. It left you guessing a little bit more. I felt like we fired off pretty good and the guys had built a great car. It was well prepared for the race. It’s just those little things that you try and work through in practice, but you don’t have that time to work through them now. You just have to jump into it, so it might lead to more mistakes, when more experienced guys might have more of an advantage.”

Once the race started, did it take some time get acclimated?

“I feel like the first lap was pretty good. I was pretty well adjusted to it. I think the biggest thing that I had to get acclimated to was just how I was going to run this car that I’ve never run before. The different lines, and how I was going to work the racetrack and do everything involved with that. It was just a matter of me getting used to the car.”

Was the level of difficulty even higher because of the nature of the Darlington track, and a race that’s notoriously difficult even with hours of track time beforehand?

“It was definitely a little bit difficult because it was Darlington but, at the same time, you try and do as much preparation as you can. Get yourself in the mindset of which different lines you’ll be running, working the dirty air and things like that. It would’ve been nice to test some of those things during practice, but I feel like we all do a pretty good job of showing up to the racetrack and being ready.”

Do you think you’ll feel much more comfortable coming back to Darlington Wednesday? What did you learn from Sunday’s race that you’ll apply when you return Wednesday?

“I think going back on Wednesday I’ll be a lot more comfortable. Just kind of being used to the whole racetrack and being confident in moving my car around is probably the biggest thing. I was pretty conservative with running the top during the race because I didn’t want to hit the wall my first time there and ruin our day. I think going back I’ll have a good feel for it to be aggressive.”

Any big similarities or differences from racing the Xfinity Series car there to now having done it in the Cup car?

“I definitely feel like there were a decent amount of similarities to the Xfinity car, how you got around the corner and which lines you would run, and stuff like that. I think the biggest thing is how you work traffic and how you want to pass people. I think traffic was the biggest thing that was different.”

MIKE SHIPLETT, Crew Chief of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What did you learn during yesterday’s race that you’ll apply when we return on Wednesday?

“Since it was Cole’s first time with these cars at Darlington, we learned a lot for the race we will have on Wednesday. The track will be different since it is a night race, so we will have to make a few small adjustments.”

How good did it feel to hear cars on the track after 70 days without activity, see people in the garage, etc.?

“It was good to get back to the track and keep Cole’s rookie year going. We had a lot of plans for the early races this year that we had to make adjustments for to start the new 2020 season. We were following all of NASCAR’s protocols, so we didn’t get to talk much to the other teams.”

Your overall assessment of how NASCAR and the teams did with being organized and following the new and different policies and procedures at-track?

“NASCAR and the team did a great job with getting us back to racing.”

Now that Cole has one Cup Series race under his belt at Darlington, is there anything in particular that you’ll focus on for Wednesday that you think could really help him?

“We are going to work on the things that will get us the most speed moving into the race on Wednesday, now that he understands the lines he needs to run with this car.

Clint Bowyer drove by a lot of cars Sunday as he raced in the top-10 most of the day before late trouble left him with a 17th-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series’ return to competition in The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

“Man, that was a bummer,” Bowyer said after the race.

“We were pretty damn good all race long until the money was on the line. Then things fell apart very quickly.”

It marked the first Cup Series race since March 8 and ran under a comprehensive health and safety plan that permitted no fans, limited crew, strict social distancing, and mandated personal protective equipment and health screenings for all.

Sunday looked like it could have been a great day for Bowyer, who started 13th and drove to seventh by the end of Stage 1. He kept that speed and finished fifth in Stage 2. It appeared he would battle for victory as he raced in sixth with 60 laps remaining, but a loose-handling car late in the run combined with several issues left him with a 17th-place finish.

While the finish was disappointing, Bowyer moved from 13th to 10th in the standings.

The 40-year-old Emporia, Kansas, native not only passed cars on the track Sunday but also passed a lot of trucks on the road during his 300-mile commute between his Mocksville, North Carolina, home and the Darlington track.

“It was kind of cool to drive to Darlington and see all of the trucks driving up and down the highway,” Bowyer said. “That kind of reminds you that things are still moving in America. Businesses are shipping and truckers are bringing people what they need to live their lives.”

He hopes to see that again Wednesday when he commutes to and from Darlington for NASCAR’s 500-kilometer – 310-mile – race that evening.

Just as it did on Sunday, Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will again carry Rush Truck Centers and Mobil Delvac 1 decals at Darlington, as well as the special social media hashtag #ThankATrucker.

The hashtag calls attention to the men and women transporting goods and providing a public service. Rush Truck Centers is considered an essential business by the government with its more than 100 dealerships operating across the country. Mobil Delvac 1 heavy-duty diesel engine oils are designed to help commercial fleets boost uptime. Mobil Delvac 1 oils can help deliver fuel economy savings, extend the life of engines and lengthen oil drain intervals.

“There are lots of heroes right now, but I hope NASCAR fans will take the time to thank a trucker,” said Bowyer, whose No. 14 Ford Mustang includes several corporate partners heavily involved in the trucking industry, like Rush Truck Centers, Mobil Delvac 1, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, as well as Cummins.

According to the American Trucking Associations, there are more than 700,000 trucking businesses in the country, employing 7.8 million people, including 3.5 million truck drivers. More than 36 million trucks log 297 billion miles per year, moving 71 percent of the nation’s freight.

“Whatever you have at your house or business, a trucker probably played a role in getting it to you,” Bowyer said.

Before Bowyer returns to Darlington on Wednesday where he will start fourth, he’ll join Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip in the FOX Charlotte studio to broadcast Tuesday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington. Bowyer, the 2008 Xfinity Series champion, joined FOX as an analyst and studio guest this season.

His schedule only gets busier after Wednesday night’s Cup Series race as the series then moves to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, followed by a 500-kilometer race at Charlotte on May 24. The schedule also includes recently announced stops at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on May 31, Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 7, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on June 10, Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on June 14, and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on July 21.

While everyone is glad for the return of live racing, SHR wasn’t idle during the hiatus between the March 8 Phoenix and Sunday’s return at Darlington.

The organization co-owned by Gene Haas and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has been building ICU webcam carts for Novant Health. The team began building a prototype cart in mid-April for use in hospital intensive care units. SHR recently delivered 10 of its ICU webcam carts to Novant Health with the plan to build 110 units over the coming weeks for use across Novant Health’s integrated system of physician practices, hospitals and outpatient centers.

In support of the Real Heroes Project, a collaborative initiative by 14 sports leagues, Wednesday’s race will again honor health care workers serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford will carry the name of Josie Fongoh, RN, from the emergency department of the Novant Health Mint Hill (S.C.) Medical Center. The 38-year-old Charlottean has been working in health care in North Carolina since 2012 after moving to the United States from Cameroon, Africa. She began her career as a certified nurse assistant before obtaining her license as a registered nurse. She has experience in hemodialysis, rehabilitation, and currently in emergency nursing. She is recognized as a compassionate and skilled nurse providing emergency care at the Mint Hill facility since 2018. She recently completed her master’s program as a Family Nurse Practitioner and is entering the next phase of her health care career in internal medicine.

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

What was Sunday in Darlington like?

“Once you get into the car, it’s normally business as usual and it was really that way in Darlington. Was it weird driving down there by yourself, walking to the car with no fans and no atmosphere? Yes, and it sucked. But once you got in the car, it was pretty normal. Those racecars don’t know if there are fans there or if there is a pandemic going on or not. You still have to keep four tires on the track and go as fast as you can.”

Was there any “rust?”

“Not nearly as much as I thought. We set a good pace in the first run. Within six or seven laps, I was comfortable and ripping it 100 percent.”

What did you learn for Wednesday night’s race?

“We learned a lot about the balance of our racecar. There were some adjustments we will do again and there are some adjustments we won’t do again. It was just our fifth race as a team and we’re still working on our communication. Communication plays a big factor in deciding the adjustments you make.”

Is there a difference between day and night races at Darlington?

“The night races are always different. One of the things that caught us off guard is, typically at Darlington, you get tighter as the race goes on, but we got looser. We are trying to decipher why that was with our setup and, again, what happens when it cools off even more Wednesday. Plus we have weather moving in Wednesday at Darlington. We have to keep an eye on that storm and understand what the track conditions are going to be like and make the best decisions possible.”

Why should race fans tune in Tuesday to watch you as part of the FOX broadcast team announcing the Xfinity race?

“I’m excited about Tuesday night and working the Xfinity race. This series is always awesome to watch. There’s a great mix of veterans with a lot of experience and rookies without much experience who are in really good, fast hot rods. That’s always a recipe for massive entertainment, especially on a track that’s as hard to get around as Darlington. I think the sparks will fly.”

The No. 10 Smithfield / #GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) returned to live racing Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where driver Aric Almirola started fifth by a random draw and finished 12th to advance one position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff standings. The team sits seventh with 151 points – 67 out of first place. SHR teammate Kevin Harvick dominated the race to earn his first win of the season.

Almirola raced inside the top-five in the first stage and earned six stage points. He was forced to race his way back through the field after an uncontrolled tire penalty forced him to the rear of the field in the second stage. He gained four positions on the final restart and held the Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford just outside the top-10 before the checkered flag waved. He was the second highest-finishing SHR driver.

“Overall, it was a good day after earning some stage points and moving up in the standings, but we’ve got some rust to knock off,” Almirola said. “The Smithfield car was good until we lost track position and, when we finally had the opportunity to run back toward the top-10, it was toward the end of the race. We definitely learned a lot that we can take back on Wednesday. That’s the good thing. We know where our weakness is and now we just need to get buttoned up and run a clean race.”

Without a single practice lap or qualifying, Almirola and crew chief Mike Bugarewicz were put to the test. Communication was key and patience led the team to progress in the point standings.

“We have a few areas to fine-tune on our team,” Bugarewicz said. “We show potential every week to run top-10 and top-five. We just need to clean up a few areas and we’ll be in good shape.”

Advancing one position in the standings wasn’t the only positive during the team’s return to racing. Almirola and Smithfield teamed up to bring meals to families in need through Smithfield’s #GoodFoodChallenge.

From last Tuesday through May 21, Smithfield and Almirola are conducting the #GoodFoodChallenge. Smithfield launched the campaign amid the COVID-19 outbreak and has donated more than 40 million servings of protein to Feeding America – Now fans are asked to continue to help. The easiest way is via social media posts using the hashtag #GoodFoodChallenge, which automatically donates 10 meals to Feeding America through Smithfield. They can also visit www.SmithfieldGoodFoodChallenge.com if they’d like to donate monetarily.

Fans and industry members have rallied around the cause with an abundance of social media posts during Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400. Almirola and the Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford team look to continue that charitable momentum Wednesday night.

Wednesday’s race will also again support The Real Heroes project by recognizing a front-line health care worker by replacing Almirola’s name above his driver-side door with that of Clayton Vaught, a supervisor of diagnostic radiology at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center. Vaught’s work ethic is said to be second to none. He is thought of as a tremendous leader and team player. He works at Novant Health and Stone institute, a urology group that takes care of kidney stones. Vaught is a die-hard NASCAR fan who, throughout the years, has hosted a group of more than 30 fans at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway campgrounds and fires up the grill for everyone involved. Clayton is in the market for a new favorite NASCAR driver.

“It’s people like Clayton who make all of this possible,” Almirola said. “Without our front-line health care workers, we wouldn’t be racing on Wednesday. Hopefully, I can win him over and gain a new fan.”

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

How was it finally getting back to racing? 

“I’m proud of everybody. I’m proud of NASCAR for being the first sport to get things going again. It was kind of eerie to walk out to pit road and not see anyone in the grandstands, but it sure felt good to get back in the racecar and that thrill of competition was much needed. I hope everybody enjoyed it and I hope everybody started getting their fix on sports from watching us race. We’re one step closer to getting back to normal.”

What would it mean to win at Darlington?

“It is such a physically demanding track, it’s such a demanding track on the car, on the crew, on everybody. When you win at Darlington, you’ve done something. Darlington is just a really tough racetrack. It’s called ‘Too Tough to Tame’ and the ‘Lady in Black’ for a reason. It such a challenging place. To go there and have success, to walk away with a trophy, is a bucket list kind of race that you want to win.”

Event:  Darlington 200 (Round 5 of 33)
Date:  May 19, 2020
Location:  Darlington Raceway
Layout:  1.366-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

•  The Darlington 200 is the fifth event of the 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. It will mark the first event for the Xfinity Series since racing went on hiatus following the March 7 LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix Raceway.

•  Racing was forced into hibernation by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Briscoe made sure he stayed sharp. The 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, competed in numerous iRacing events on both asphalt and dirt track tracks, and when he wasn’t in his sim rig, Briscoe was mastering the art of hibachi-style cooking and knocking out home-improvement projects while keeping up with his two French bulldogs, Ricky and Callie.

•  Briscoe comes into Darlington second in the championship standings, just three points behind series leader Harrison Burton. Briscoe has three top-10 finishes this season, highlighted by a win Feb. 23 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

•  Briscoe has just one NASCAR start at Darlington. It came in last year’s Xfinity Series race when Briscoe started fifth and finished sixth in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200. 

•  Briscoe won the 2019 rookie-of-the-year title in the Xfinity Series and is racing for a championship in 2020. He is a three-time winner in the Xfinity Series and the 2016 ARCA Racing Series champion. Briscoe finished fifth in the Xfinity Series championship standings last year, narrowly missing out on advancing to the Championship 4 and competing for the series title.

CHASE BRISCOE, Driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang:

Were you able to learn anything from watching Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race that will help for when you take the green flag on Tuesday?

“I felt like I learned a little, but I think I’ll learn the most after talking to the Cup guys. Track conditions will likely be a little different for us with our race starting later. The more information we can get for our HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang, the better since we’re running what we unload. It looked like each of the Stewart-Haas Racing cars was strong at some point in the race, with Kevin Harvick being the strongest at the end, so I think we can get some good feedback from our teammates.”

You spent a lot of time iRacing during the sport’s hiatus. While it’s not the same thing as real racing, do you feel like it kept your mind and reflexes sharp?

“Doing any type of racing keeps you sharp and in the right state of mind, and iRacing is, for sure, a part of that. There’s so much similarity between how you drive a track on iRacing and in real life. If you lose your focus for a second, that could mean a mistake that costs you or someone else a good finish, and I think we saw a lot of that in some of the Saturday Night Thunder races.”

How difficult is it to race at Darlington, even when you have plenty of track time beforehand?

“What makes it tough is it’s just so different from every track we go to. The groove, the surface and the shape are unlike any on the schedule, and it’s so narrow. You’ve got to take care of your tires or you aren’t going to be able to make any moves for position and move around on the racetrack to find speed. Under the lights at Darlington is going to be different, for sure. It’s easy to make mistakes – we saw that on Sunday – so patience is going to be the most important thing. I’m ready to be back in the HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Mustang and I’m ready for the challenge of Darlington.”