Month: July 2020

Event:  Kansas Lottery 250 (Round 17 of 33)
Date:  July 25, 2020
Location:  Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
Layout:  1.5-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

• Briscoe brings his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang to Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in the midst of a career season. The 25-year-old racer from Mitchell, Indiana, scored his eighth top-two finish of the year in last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It was his second straight runner-up result and his fifth consecutive top-four finish – a streak that began with back-to-back wins at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

• Briscoe’s front-running consistency has made him a fixture atop the championships standings. Coming into the Kansas Lottery 250, Briscoe has a 24-point advantage over fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric. With just eight races remaining in the regular season, Briscoe leads the Xfinity Series in wins with five (next best has three wins) and playoff points with 28 (next best has 20). Briscoe is tied with Cindric for the most top-fives with 10 apiece, and he is second in top-10s with 13, one fewer than Ross Chastain. Should Briscoe hold on to this lead through the remainder of the regular season, he will score the regular-season championship and the 15 valuable playoff points that come with it.

With the NASCAR Cup Series season in the middle of the summer stretch, Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com team will race Thursday night at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver will pilot the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang at the 400-mile event for his 22nd Cup Series start.

Last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Custer started 19th and ran in the top-15 before his day ended prematurely after being caught up in a multicar accident on lap 219. It was a disappointing finish for the rookie driver who secured his first Cup Series win in only his 20th start the week prior at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. “I mean, it’s always one of the most humbling sports you can be a part of – winning one week and being part of a wreck the following week,” Custer said.

Team co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, Haas Tooling, was launched as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users. Beginning July 1, HaasTooling.com products became available nationally. The cutting tools available for purchase at HaasTooling.com are even more important during the current COVID-19 pandemic as CNC machines have become vital to producing personal protective equipment.

There are eight races left in the regular season before the playoffs start Sept. 6 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, and Custer’s win at Kentucky earned him one of the coveted playoff spots.

The win also put Custer in a category with 33 other drivers who have won in all three NASCAR national series. All of Custer’s SHR teammates have won in all three national series. “Being in this spot so fast, I couldn’t even think of it coming into this year,” Custer said. The young driver has also won in NASCAR’s ARCA and K&N Pro Series. Additionally, 122 drivers have won in their first 20 starts. Before Custer’s win at Kentucky, the last five drivers to win in 20 starts or less are Trevor Bayne, Justin Hayley, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kansas is the third consecutive mile-and-a-half track in as many weeks for the Cup Series. In his last seven starts at intermediate tracks, Custer has the Kentucky win, and an average starting position of 24.0, an average finishing position of 18.6 and he’s completed 94.4 percent of all possible laps.

Custer has four Kansas appearances in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a best finish of 11th, an average starting position of 10.2, an average finishing position of 22.8, and 85 laps led.

In the Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series at Kansas, the Ford driver’s lone appearance was in May 2016 when he started fourth and finished seventh.

In 66 starts at Kansas, SHR has three wins – team co-owner Tony Stewart in October 2009, and Kevin Harvick with a pair of wins in October 2016 and May 2018. In total at Kansas, SHR has 12 top-fives, 24 top-10s and 828 laps led.

Haas Automation, founded by Haas in 1983, 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 is the first of the 2020 rookie class to earn a win this season.

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

You were the youngest winner in the Truck Series at 16 years old. Do you feel more comfortable winning now that you’re a little older and in the Cup Series?

“Definitely never felt really comfortable in that role at 16. It was kind of strange. I was always kind of the quieter kid and winning that race when I was 16, I was doing interviews with big media outlets and didn’t really know what I was doing. It was cool but you have to keep winning races to make it and I’ve been lucky enough to drive some good cars. Hopefully, we can have more wins here in the future.”

How much can you carry over from one 1.5-mile track to another?

“Every single track is different. You can’t bring the same thing to them, but I think we have a really good idea on what we need to bring to the mile-and-a-half tracks. We should be pretty good on them obviously after Kentucky, but we are still making our best educated guess because we don’t have practice or anything to work our cars in. You just have to hope you hit it right.”

Without practice and qualifying, how much are you relying on your crew chief Mike Shiplett and your engineer Davin Restivo to get you comfortable in the car?

“A lot. It’s been cool to work with Mike and Davin because I worked with them last year in the Xfinity Series. We all have a little bit to learn in the Cup Series, but it’s nice to already have our communication down and know what each other is looking for in the cars. It’s been good, it’s just a matter of perfecting these cars and getting better each time we are out there.”

Hank Stram always liked Kansas City. The Gary Lew Wallace High School and Purdue University graduate was head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 1963 to 1974.

Stram led the Chiefs to two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl IV 23-7 over the Minnesota Vikings.

He was made famous by wearing a microphone for NFL Films during the winning Super Bowl and telling the offense, “Just keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys.” And, with the Chiefs on the goal line, calling for his favorite play, “65 toss power trap.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the 2019 Chiefs duplicated the efforts of Stram’s team from 1969 by winning Super Bowl LIV this past January.

Stram and Mahomes are winners. So is NASCAR Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick, especially at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has five poles, three wins, three second-place finishes, eight top-threes, 15 top-10s and has led a total of 855 laps in his 28 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas.

He is one of only three drivers who have participated in all 28 Cup Series races held at the 1.5-mile oval. The others are Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

Harvick is coming off his 700th career Cup Series start, which took place Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, during which he also completed his 200,000th career lap, and he went on to raise his total to 200,112 by race’s end.

With his four wins, 11 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s in 18 races this season, Harvick leads the points by 91 over Joey Logano,.

He’ll race again with Busch Light Apple on his car, as he did last week in the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Busch Light Apple is a refreshing, light lager, which combines the crispness of Busch with the light sweetness of apple flavor. It’s like the sound of refreshment meets the taste of the orchard, and is the first flavor innovation in the history of the Busch Light brand.

Similar to the All-Star Race, Busch Beer will again be running a social promotion throughout the race. Busch Beer will be giving away a case worth of beer every lap of the race, so fans have a chance to win during all 267 laps. Make sure to check Busch Beer’s Twitter to learn how.

Harvick is looking for win number five of the season and number four at Kansas, which would keep him matriculating toward another great season.

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

Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and you are the only drivers to start all 28 races at Kansas Speedway. You’ve been racing there since 2001. Can you talk about the track as it approaches its 20-year anniversary?

“It makes you feel old (laughs). I did one of the first PR days at Kansas Speedway when it first opened and there was not one single thing around that racetrack other than the highway. So, what’s been built has been neat to see and how it’s all developed and how it’s all changed. It’s a fun racetrack because there is just so much to do around the racetrack and it’s been a successful racetrack for us.”

Why have you been so successful there recently?

“I don’t really know. It’s a racetrack where I’ve won a couple races and, for whatever reason, it just kind of fits my style and what we do with the cars. We’ve had a lot of good racecars there to capitalize on the good characteristics that fall into my driving style and we’ve been able to have some good results with it.”

Take us on a lap around Kansas.

“It’s definitely a little bit different just for the fact the (corner) entries are a little different than at most places. Turns three and four remind me of turns three and four at Chicagoland Speedway, but there’s a lot more grip and fresher asphalt than what Chicagoland has nowadays. It’s a very high-speed racetrack. You run the middle to the bottom of the racetrack. But I’m sure, as time goes on, that the groove will move back up. But, for right now, it’s very fast and very sensitive to your line and, with all the speed and how tricky the entrance is into turn one, you can miss your line easily. So, you have to be very specific about where you put your car and pay attention to what you’re doing.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Hometown Original Heroes Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), looks to continue leading laps and running up front Thursday night at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

Last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Almirola led 35 laps before he was handed a penalty for a blend-line violation. He raced his way back to third by the final stage before an ill-timed caution put him and the rest of the leaders a lap down. Almirola raced back to another top-10 finish, however, and gained confidence knowing the team continues to bring cars capable of winning.

The 36-year-old native of Tampa, Florida, is the highest average-finishing driver in the last seven races at 5.3, with no visit to victory lane.

“We’re continuing to put our Smithfield Ford Mustang up front and that’s all we can really ask for right now,” Almirola said. “Our sport relies a lot on circumstances. I have to do my part and the team has to do theirs, but at the end of the day, if a caution is thrown at the wrong time, your shot to win could be done right there regardless of what strategy you have. We expect to keep running up front with fast cars every weekend. One of these races are going to go our way and we’re going to see victory lane this year.”

Almirola is riding a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes, the best of his career. He finished fifth June 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, third June 22 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, third June 27 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, fifth June 28 at Pocono, third July 5 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, eighth July 12 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and 10th last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. His previous best streak was a run of six consecutive top-10s in 2019 that began with the second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and lasted through the series’ seventh race at Texas.

This is Almirola’s best season to date and the first time in his career he has earned consecutive top-five finishes. His five top-fives are the most he’s had in any single season during his nine-year full-time Cup Series career.

The No. 10 Ford driver sits eighth in the playoff standings for his career-best points position after 18 races. In his first two seasons at SHR in 2018 and 2019, Almirola was 10th in the standings after 18 races.

Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 23 top-five finishes, 71 top-10s and 790 laps led in 334 starts. Almirola has led 218 laps this year at six different venues.

Almirola continues to provide fans with content from his documentary series Beyond the 10, where they can get VIP, behind-the-scenes access by subscribing to his YouTube channel. 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 and his longtime partner Smithfield Foods debuted a new paint scheme last weekend that honors frontline hometown heroes and will again run that scheme Thursday night at Kansas. Smithfield looks to honor those who are putting their own health and safety at risk in a selfless act to protect and nourish others around them. The Smithfield “Hometown Original Heroes” program provides the opportunity for fans to share the stories of their own “Hometown Hero.” Be it a nurse, doctor, food worker, public servant or anyone who is on the frontlines each and every day, Smithfield and Almirola want to hear their stories and give.

To nominate a hometown hero, visit www.SmithfieldHometownHeroes.com and submit a one-minute video nominating the “Hometown Hero”. Ten heroes will be chosen to have their stories told and will have their names riding onboard the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang at a race during the NASCAR playoffs this fall. The heroes will also receive a VIP race day experience and full-year supply of Smithfield “Hometown Original” bacon.

“I’m really looking forward to Kansas on Thursday knowing we had such a great car at Texas this weekend and continuing the momentum at 1.5-mile tracks,” Almirola said. “This team really deserves a win and we’re in a position to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

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

What do you like about Kansas? 

“I love going to Kansas. I’ve got friends who live there and it’s just a really nice area all around the racetrack. There are lots of things to do. As the new pavement has aged and worn out, we’ve really been moving all around the racetrack and it’s really put on some great races.”

This week won’t be the type of homecoming he expected, but Clint Bowyer returns to his home track of Kansas Speedway in Kansas City Thursday night ready to compete in a race that means as much to him as any in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“I think every driver in our sport would say they want to win the Daytona 500 more than any other race but, for me, Kansas would be right up there,” said Bowyer, who owns three top-five finishes but has never won at Kansas.

The Emporia, Kansas native expects trips back to Kansas to include family visits, as well as a busy track schedule meeting and greeting fans and sponsors. But COVID-19 will curtail those plans, leaving the grandstands empty, the sponsors at home and Bowyer wishing it was like the pre-virus days.

“Certainly, going back home isn’t going to feel like home,” said Bowyer, who finished 11th Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

“I can’t go and have dinner with 20 people like I have been accustomed to, and go back and have family and friends and people who have followed my career tailgating in the infield and go have a beer with them or whatever the case may be. I won’t be able to do that this time around. It is not going to be the same.”

Thursday night’s race is the NASCAR Cup Series’ 15th since its return May 17 from a 10-week hiatus due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As it did at the previous 14 races, NASCAR series and team personnel in the infield will continue to operate under a comprehensive health and safety plan at Kansas that permits limited crew, strict social distancing, and mandated personal protective equipment and health screenings for all.

Unlike the most recent two races at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Texas, there will be no fans in the stands at Kansas, but that won’t lessen what is at stake Thursday. When the green flag flies, Bowyer is going to do his best to bring home a trophy from Kansas.

“There is still a lot of pride in running and racing in the Cup Series of NASCAR at home at Kansas Speedway that means so much to you,” he said. “That pride is still there, but it is going to be different this time around, just like it has been everywhere else.”

Bowyer also has a lot of pride carrying the One Cure decals that will be adorn his No. 14 Ford Mustang Thursday night at Kansas.

The One Cure project is led by the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University. It is founded on the principle that cancer affects all creatures and that treatment breakthroughs come through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with people and animals. This approach is known as comparative oncology and it is the guiding concept of One Cure and the Flint Animal Cancer Center. The center works to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets, and teams with the human medical field to translate research findings that will help people with cancer.

The center, located in Colorado State’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sees more than 1,500 new animal cancer patients every year, with approximately 130 of them enrolled in carefully monitored clinical trials specific to their cancer type. The canine and feline patients are helping pioneer cancer research, moving cutting-edge treatments out of the laboratory and into clinical practice, ultimately providing hope for the next generation of animal and human cancer patients.

One Cure has been one of Bowyer’s partners at SHR since he climbed into the No. 14 racecar in 2018. The program’s goal is to direct fans to www.OneCure.com, where they can learn about the research and to offer financial support.

Kansas is not only important to Bowyer personally, but key to securing a playoff spot with just eight races left in the regular season. He is 13th in in the driver standings, but in the playoff standings he is 15th with a 36-point cushion over the final transfer spot in the 16-driver playoff field. A win at Kansas secures a spot in NASCAR’s postseason, but a good run helps in padding his points cushion.

“We’ve just got to go and compete the way we’re capable of competing,” he said.

And if he does that Thursday night and finally wins that Kansas trophy, it will be a homecoming like no other.

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

What will Kansas Speedway be like Thursday without fans?

“Obviously, it is going to be drastically different not having fans. That is what put this sport on the map. That is what has kept it on the map all these years and, without that, it is just a void that can’t be replaced. Are we putting a product on the racetrack? Yes. Are there people at home watching? Yes, the ratings show that and these are the things keeping us alive and relevant. I think the rest of the sporting world is fixin’ to see firsthand just like we have experienced in the last few months the difference and challenges and impact of not having that fan presence there. It isn’t just the presence, it’s the atmosphere and your event. Without that, it isn’t quite the event it could be or should be or would be.”

You race Thursday night, and then you get Sunday off. What are your plans?

“My wife is on me nonstop, ‘What are we doing?’ And my plan, man, you get an idea and go down that path and that doesn’t work. I’ve been going over to the lake (Lake of the Ozarks) a lot and I enjoy that. But it’s like, ‘I want to go somewhere different, I want to take my family somewhere.’ The kids are fixin to go back to school or whatever the heck that’s going to look like. It’s just hard. Camping. I love to camp. We camp every weekend, anyway. And it’s kind of funny to say, ‘Oh, let’s take the bus and go camp somewhere.’ We were going to do that. Good luck finding a campground somewhere you can get into to do that. I would say we’ll probably end up back over at the lake. It makes the most sense. It’s two hours from Kansas City, or a three-hour drive over there. But who knows? We’re trying to figure it out. That’s a great question. And that’s a question that, when my eyes woke up this morning, she was staring at me saying, ‘What are we doing this weekend?’ I still don’t have an answer.”