Month: August 2020

Event:  Wawa 250 (Round 22 of 33)
Date:  Aug. 28, 2020
Location:  Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway
Layout:  2.5-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

•  Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang, returned to his winning ways last Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, scoring his series-leading sixth victory of the season but his first since winning July 4 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 25-year-old racer from Mitchell, Indiana, started last after going to a backup racecar and proceeded to lead three times for a race-high 107 laps, including the final 13, to end a seven-race winless streak. Briscoe began the 200-lap race around the 1-mile, concrete oval at the back of the 36-car field after opting for his backup racecar when his primary machine was deemed too damaged after the prior day’s 200-mile race at Dover. The backup proved ready for the spotlight, as Briscoe wheeled it into the lead for the first time on lap 71 to take the Stage 2 victory. It was a prelude of the finish, as Briscoe won the race with a commanding 2.463-second margin of victory over second-place Ross Chastain.

•  This weekend’s Wawa 250 marks Briscoe’s fifth Xfinity Series start at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and his fourth on the 2.5-mile oval. Briscoe’s most recent outing at the “World Center of Racing” came Aug. 15 in the Xfinity Series’ inaugural race on Daytona’s 3.61-mile, 14 turn-road course. Briscoe led twice for a race-high 26 laps in that race and won Stage 2, but on a restart with six laps to go, he was caught in an accordion-like crash at the entry to turn one as those around him overshot the corner. In fourth place as the field entered the layout’s first left-hander, Briscoe tried to clear the front runners by overtaking them on the outside. But the top-three cars each ran wide, pushing Briscoe off the track. As Briscoe came off the turn and onto a straight before the International Horseshoe, he got sandwiched between two other cars. This sent Briscoe spinning into the grass, whereupon the nose of his Ford Mustang sustained heavy damage. The team was unable to make repairs and Briscoe had to retire his racecar with a disappointing 29th-place finish. It was his first DNF (Did Not Finish) in 35 races, a streak dating back to July 5, 2019 at Daytona when Briscoe was collected in a multicar accident in the Firecracker 250.

•  Briscoe earned his best Xfinity Series finish

when he came home fifth in the season-opening race at Daytona in February. It bettered his previous best result on Daytona’s oval – 12th in the 2019 season opener.

•  Briscoe has two other starts on Daytona’s oval outside of the Xfinity Series. His first came in February 2016 when he finished fourth in the ARCA Series race. The second came in February 2017 when he finished third in the NASCAR Truck Series race.

•  Briscoe heads to Daytona second in the championship standings, 62 points behind series leader Austin Cindric. However, Briscoe still leads the Xfinity Series in wins with six (next best has five) and playoff points with 35 (next best has 34) with five races remaining in the regular season.

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

What is your approach for this weekend at Daytona?

“Well, anything can happen at Daytona. Right now, we’re trying to maximize race wins, stage wins and playoff points so that we’re in the best position we can be in when the playoffs start at Las Vegas. We had a big lead in the point standings until the last five or six races didn’t go our way. Austin Cindric moved into that top spot, so the regular-season championship is probably out of the equation at this point. We’re going to keep trying to get back to that, obviously, but I think at this point the ‘22’ (Cindric) would have to have one or two bad races on top of us finishing really well for it to be within reach. Daytona is such a wild card that the regular-season championship could be back in play by the time we leave. We just need to focus on running our best race, no matter what.”

With only two Fords in the Xfinity Series – you and Austin Cindric – how does that affect how you run a superspeedway race?

“The superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega are always the races I wish we had more than two Fords in the field. It definitely makes it hard when we need to make moves and don’t always have that guy to go with us. You want to have friends that will work with you at these tracks, but I feel like the last few years the superspeedway races have been so manufacturer-driven, and one manufacturer doesn’t want their teams working with a different manufacturer. That’s what makes it tough for us. A lot of times you have the JR Motorsports cars up front or the Joe Gibbs Racing cars, and they’re just not going to go with us if we make a move. They’re going to stick with their teammates. One of the guys that no one really thinks about that I really like to work with in these races is Josh Williams. He’s a really good superspeedway racer, and a good driver in general, and I trust him more than I trust some others. If you go back to Talladega, he had the fastest lap of the race. We can use guys like that to break up those manufacturer packs and possibly be in a position to take our Ford Performance Racing School Mustang to victory lane.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Hometown Original Heroes Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in the NASCAR Cup Series has successfully reached his regular-season goal by clinching a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs before competing at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, which is known to provide thrilling and unexpected results when the inevitable “big one” strikes.

“When (crew chief) Mike Bugarewicz and I sat down at the beginning of the year we set new goals. The main goal for the regular season was to make Daytona not matter,” Almirola said. “A win was obviously what we were looking for, but clinching a spot in the playoffs before getting to Daytona was the ultimate goal and we achieved it.”

This marks the third year in a row since joining SHR that Almirola has made the NASCAR Playoffs. This will be his fourth playoff appearance in his nine-year full time career. His best playoff run was in 2018 where he finished fifth in the season standings.

So far this season, he has earned five top-five finishes, ten top-10s and has led 286 laps. In Almirola’s last 14 races he has earned 11 top-10s and five top-five finishes. The No. 10 Smithfield Ford driver sits eighth in the driver standings for his career-best points position after 25 races.

The Tampa, Florida native has found his way to victory lane at Daytona before, scoring his first career Cup Series win in the rain-shortened July 2014 race, when he led 14 laps. He tasted restrictor-plate-racing success again four years later during his first season with SHR, when he was victorious at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. It put him in the 2018 Cup Series playoffs, where he advance to the semifinal round, and proved the No. 10 driver has potential to bring home another superspeedway win any time he races on one.

“Racing at Daytona is exciting,” he said. “It’s very fast. We do a lot of drafting. We run in these huge, tight packs. You have 40 racecars all going 200 mph and we’re all an inch apart. Front to rear and on each side – its nerve racking for the driver and the fans. They’re cheering for their guy and the unexpected is always evident there. One little bobble or mistake is a 20-car pileup. While this is exciting for the fans with that uncertainty, it stresses the drivers out. Daytona and Talladega are the most stressful tracks we go because the stakes are so high, but that’s what make a victory there so sweet.”

Almirola and his longtime partner Smithfield Foods have collaborated to honor frontline hometown heroes by showcasing a special paint scheme on the No. 10 Ford this weekend. 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.

The last time Almirola visited a superspeedway June 22 at Talladega he finished third sliding backwards across the finish line, nearly winning the race. Almirola has one simple rule for success at restrictor plate races.

“Whatever it takes,” he said.

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

How would you say your regular season has been so far? 

“We have definitely done what we anticipated to do. That win has just alluded us. We started off rough and were just not there as a team and then we went on a wild stretch of top-fives and top-10s. We’ve had a few races we should have performed better at but, overall, we’re good enough to make a deep run in the playoffs and race for a championship.”

The last time you visited a superspeedway you finished backwards. How was that? 

“I actually thought we won the race. I drove through a small gap I probably didn’t fit in and just got clipped in the right rear. It was crazy. I was just waiting for the team to say we won, but when they asked if I was okay I knew the deal.”

Walk us through the final lap of the 2018 Daytona 500 when you were a half lap away from being crowned a Daytona 500 champion. 

“I felt so confident. I knew that if I hit all of my gears perfectly, I would have a shot at it and I did. I looked in my mirror and saw everyone racing side by side and figured that I was in control of the race and, if I made the right move, I was going to be the winner of the Daytona 500. About halfway down the back straightaway, they were coming with a run and I pulled over to block it. In your head, you know it’s the Daytona 500 and you’re a mile and a half away from winning, so you’re going to do everything you know to try and win that race. I pulled over to block and put a pretty aggressive block on the No. 3. I knew that if I blocked high, he was going to go low. As soon as I blocked high, I knew I was going to have to immediately block low. When I blocked low, he turned against my back bumper and (I went) into the outside wall. I wrecked a mile away from winning the Daytona 500.”

Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com/Autodesk Fusion 360 team with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head back to Florida for the final time this season for Saturday night’s 400-mile NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 marks Custer’s 29th career start in the series.

While a superspeedway is always intense with all of the unknowns it presents, this weekend’s race comes with especially high levels of stress among many of the competitors who still have hopes of making the 10-race, 16-driver playoffs that begin next week. Typically, the season’s second Daytona race was held around the Fourth of July. This season, however, the event was moved to late August in order to make it the final race of the regular season. Superspeedway races are always a wildcard as drivers often can’t control their own destiny and there are often large accidents that take out many cars at a time. Fortunately, Custer can breathe a sigh of relief headed to Daytona as he’s already locked into the playoffs. He joins SHR teammates Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola, who also have clinched playoff spots, while teammate Clint Bowyer can make it a clean playoff-clinching sweep for SHR by finishing 34th or better Saturday night. Additionally, SHR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chase Briscoe has already clinched his playoff spot in that series.

HaasTooling.com will share Custer’s No. 41 livery this weekend with Autodesk Fusion 360. Autodesk is a leading designer and supplier of software for the architecture, engineering, construction, media and entertainment, and manufacturing industries. Autodesk’s Fusion 360cloud-based 3D CAD, CAM, CAE, and PCB software brings enterprise-grade capabilities, data services, and a support network to teams of any size, uniting people, products, and processes across the product development process. The company empowers customers, like SHR, to push their boundaries and shape a thriving future.

During last weekend’s doubleheader at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Custer finished 11th Saturday and 10th Sunday. He was the highest finishing rookie in both events and he now has six top-10 finishes this season. Custer stayed at Dover to participate in the testing of NASCAR’s 2022 Next Gen car, wrapping up his duties Tuesday evening at the concrete mile oval.

In Custer’s two superspeedway starts earlier this year, his Daytona 500 ended prematurely with a mechanical issue and his June Talladega start resulted in a 22nd-place finish.

In the Xfinity Series at Daytona, the California native has six starts and has led eight laps, but he’s still looking for his first top-10. In the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Daytona, Custer has one outing, in which he finished 24th.

So far this season, the Mustang has won 14 races for Ford. Custer and his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick have both earned wins for the Blue Oval this season and have accounted for a total of eight victories. Harvick scored the win in Sunday’s race at Dover to give Ford its milestone 700th win in the Cup Series. Ford captured its first victory on June 25, 1950.

With Custer’s Cup Series win July 12 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, he became one of 10 drivers who have won in each of NASCAR’s top three national series, as well as in ARCA and one of NASCAR’s developmental series.

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.

SHR has three wins on the 2.5-mile superspeedway at Daytona. Team co-owner Tony Stewart won the July races in 2009 and 2012, and former SHR driver Kurt Busch captured the 2017 Daytona 500. In total, SHR has led 372 laps and has 13 top-fives and 20 top-10s at Daytona.

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/Autodesk Fusion 360 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Daytona is a wildcard race and it’s the last race before the playoffs this year. Do you expect it to feel a little bit different because of what is on the line?

“This Daytona race is going to be pretty nerve-wracking. The playoff cutoff line is there so that adds a lot of tension. It’s a really crazy, unpredictable race anyway, so it might be tough for some guys to go into it with their head screwed on straight, if you will.”

Does this Daytona race carry a sense of desperation, where drivers might look for opportunities that aren’t there simply because the clock is up?

“Yeah, there are going to be a lot of people on different agendas, I feel like. You’re going to have some guys who are going for all the stage points, and they’re going to race as hard as they can. You’re going to have some guys who are trying to play the safe approach and just make it to the end. So, it’s going to be a strange race to figure out who is on what agenda.”

What’s the feeling around SHR in general now that it looks like all four cars should make the playoffs?

“Honestly, it’s unbelievable. I think that’s every organization’s dream to have all four cars in the playoffs, so it’s a huge deal. Everybody at SHR has worked extremely hard. I mean, even from last year I think everybody wanted to see us run a little bit better with the 550 package. I think they did a great job of figuring it out and trying to find ways to make us better and get us going in the right direction. So, it’s just a testament to everybody at the shop and all the hard work everybody has put in. Now we just have to take advantage of the opportunity.”

You are the only rookie in the playoffs right now. If no other rookie makes it in, you’ll be the rookie of the year. How does it feel to be in this position?

“It’s really cool. Honestly, I think it is cool to have the rookie battle this year. We had a lot of good guys in there with me, Tyler (Reddick), Christopher (Bell) and John Hunter (Nemechek). It is a really good rookie class. It’s still not over because obviously somebody else could make the playoffs, but it would be really cool to have that title. But overall, you’ve still got to find ways to make yourself better. There are some days Christopher is the fastest rookie, some days Tyler is and some days I am. John Hunter has done a really good job in their stuff, too, so you’ve got to find ways every single race to try to make yourself better.”

How much has team morale grown since the Kentucky win?

“Honestly, it’s been pretty game-changing. The start of the year was pretty rough for me, especially. I was just trying to get a feel for the cars and, to come home with that win, it just took so much pressure off. I think it brought the morale up in our team. We need to be fully focused going into the playoffs, and make sure we’re 100 percent and try to make a run at it. We don’t just want to be a part of the playoffs, we want to be competitive.”

George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) said in a 1996 episode of Seinfeld that the name “Seven” would be a great name for a child.

Susan Ross, played by Heidi Swedberg, hates the name which caused George to scream, “Alright, let’s just stay calm here! Don’t get all crazy on me!”

Sadly for George, Susan’s cousin loved the name and decided to name her child “Seven,” despite George’s attempts to change her mind at the hospital on the day of birth.

For Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang team for Stewart Haas Racing, seven has a much sweeter ring to it. For they have seven wins in the 2020 season and that team has been together for seven years – and all those years have been with the support and partnership of Mobil 1.

And what a seven years it has been.

Since joining forces at SHR in 2014, Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers have combined to produce 33 points-paying victories, a victory in the non-points 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 25 Busch poles, 123 top-five finishes and 174 top-10s while leading 10,719 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Kyle Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Harvick has already clinched this year’s regular-season title, which brings with it 15 playoff points.

And he’s won three of the last five races, which means he and his team are hot at just the right time.

Before the playoff opener Sept. 6 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, though, they must get through Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, the regular-season finale at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Harvick has started 77 races in his career at Daytona and its sister track Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, with three total victories for a winning percentage of 3.8 percent.

While his superspeedway win percentage isn’t his best, Harvick did win the biggest race of them all in 2007 when he led just four laps to take the Daytona 500 victory.

The truth is, Daytona and Talladega are different animals when it comes to stock car racing because they are races that literally anyone can win. Drivers must draft together, side-by-side, at speeds approaching 200 mph, and a lot of the race is spent trying to get into the best position on the final lap to try and win the race.

Harvick will again have the help of Mobil 1 on board as a sponsor and partner, and that relationship paid off nicely for Harvick three weekends ago at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and last week at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. For racing twice with just one Ford engine in more than 90-degree air temperatures Saturday and Sunday at Michigan, he totaled 634 miles in the twin events and came home with two trophies thanks to the advantage Mobil 1 technology gave him and the No. 4 team.

He finished fourth Saturday at Dover and won Sunday and his engine went 622 miles with air temperatures in the 80s. Afterward, Harvick said simply, “Thank you to Mobil 1. They put a lot into the oils and lubricants in these cars and grinding to find more horsepower and less drag. It is an honor to drive for these guys.”

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.

The regular-season championship is already decided, but Harvick can still gain more playoff points and at the end of the day, the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford team loves to win. And Harvick will be going for career win number 57.

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

You’re in the single digits now in the all-time win list, tied for ninth. What does that mean? You’re getting into some pretty serious territory with some pretty serious guys up there.

“Yeah, you know, it’s an honor just to be up there on that list and, as I’ve said before, I feel like it’s definitely a huge responsibility to be up there and be around those guys. Hopefully we can keep this thing rolling and make up some ground on the next gap. But it’s been a lot of fun at Stewart-Haas Racing, and you’re only as good as the racecars that you have, and it’s been an honor to drive the racecars and be able to take those racecars and have success with them and capitalize on winning like we did (Sunday).”

What does it mean to you to be the regular-season champion? You’ve won a lot of races, so you haven’t backed into it, and you’ve won that now, and what does that mean in your kind of back-and-forth with Denny Hamlin?

“Well, it’s something that we’ve never done before, so any time you can do something for the first time, it’s definitely fun to accomplish, and I think in this instance it definitely pays dividends in the playoff points. Look, that’s really what you want to accomplish in the regular season – to gain as many playoff points as you can. We’ve done that by winning races. We’ve done that in a number of different ways throughout the year just trying to be consistent and make up for days when things aren’t going good and make finishes out of them. It’s been a great 25 weeks, and hopefully we can have a good week in Daytona and see where it all falls after that.”

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.”

Clint Bowyer has nearly clinched one of the 16 berths in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, so it might be natural to question his motivation in going for the victory in Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – the regular-season finale.

But those who question his motivation sure don’t know Clint Bowyer.

“Oh, we have plenty to race for Saturday night and want to win badly,” said Bowyer, who will make his 30th career start on the 2.5-mile superspeedway oval in Daytona.

“If there is a trophy on the line, then you’ll see hard racing in this sport. Have you been watching us this year? Heck, we showed we race hard in iRacing video games when the sport was shut down, let alone on the track at Daytona in the final race of the regular season.”

Bowyer seeks his 11th career Cup Series victory, but there’s so much more on the line. Bowyer can clinch a 2020 playoff berth by scoring three bonus points during the first two stages of the race, or by earning no worse than a 34th-place finish.  Even if he finishes worse than 34th, his competitors vying for the final playoff spots must have extremely good fortune in Daytona.

Bowyer will more likely use Saturday night at Daytona to better position himself for the first round of the playoffs. A Daytona victory would likely jump Bowyer from 14th to eighth in the playoff standings. A solid run could help in capturing a higher seed since he is only 15 points behind 10th-place Kurt Busch and 34 points behind ninth-place Kyle Busch in the regular-season standings.

Bowyer brings some momentum to Florida this weekend. In the last five races, he’s scored the fifth-most points of all drivers. At this past weekend’s doubleheader at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, he finished sixth on Saturday and restarted the race in seventh on Sunday with less than 20 laps remaining before a loose lug nut brought him back down pit lane. He finished 16th.

Daytona has been good and bad to Bowyer over the years.

In 29 starts, he owns four top-five finishes and 13 top-10s and he’s led 162 laps. He battled for victory in the 2019 Daytona 500, when he restarted fifth with two laps to go. Bowyer dove to the inside on the backstretch to grab the third spot, but clipped another car. The contact sent Bowyer into a spin, collecting several cars. In this year’s Daytona 500, Bowyer finished sixth despite seeing his chance for victory end on a restart in overtime when contact from behind sent him to the grass, damaging his Ford.

He’s also won twice at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – Daytona’s sister track.

“It’s time for a victory,” said Bowyer, who arrives at Daytona seeking his ninth career playoff appearance and third in a row with Stewart-Haas Racing. “We always seem to run well at Daytona and have a chance at the end. I expect we’ll have our chances again Saturday night. We have to take advantage. We know we are a good team and certainly want to get on a roll to have momentum going into the playoffs.”

The playoffs’ Round of 16 begins Sunday, Sept. 6 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, followed by races at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway – three venues that are Bowyer favorites. He won the first two stages at the most recent Darlington race, finished second at Bristol in May and owns two career victories at Richmond.

“I love the tracks in the first round of the playoffs and I think fans will, as well,” Bowyer said. “Those are some of the best tracks we race on and some of the places where I love racing the most.”

Bowyer will carry the black-and-red colors of Haas Automation on his No. 14 Ford at Daytona. 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.

When the checkered flag falls late Saturday night in Florida, Bowyer expects he’ll be in the playoffs carrying a ton of momentum to Darlington for the first round of the playoffs. A little Daytona victory lane celebration wouldn’t be bad, either.

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

How challenging is a 400-mile race at Daytona in August?

“Daytona is a challenge for everyone, not just the drivers. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that an August Saturday night in Florida is going to be hotter than you know what. That means those engines, gears and everything are going to be stressed. We feel like we have a competitive advantage over the other teams because our Mobil 1 lubricants have been tested and proven to be the best on the track. It means better horsepower, reduced friction, and outstanding wear protection for our Mustangs. In this sport, even the tiniest advantage is a huge advantage.”

How predictable is a Daytona race?

“It’s one of those things where you can be leading coming to the white flag and finish 15th to 20th. I’ve done that. I’ve also been way back in the pack, then somehow picked my way through it on the last lap and got a good, solid finish. It’s a rollercoaster, just like it has been with everybody. You go from thinking, ‘I got ’em!’ to ‘Oh, no! How have we done so wrong?’ I mean, it’s just one of those emotional rollercoaster races where you just never know what’s going to happen.

“I had the Daytona 500 won in 2010, and they literally used the Bondo out of the haulers to fix the track. I didn’t win that year but, before that happened, I just knew I had it won. Whether it’s a track surface, somebody hitting a jet dryer and blowing up, or coming down to a green-white-checkered at the end, you just never know the recipe and what it’s going to take to win there.”

What are your first memories of racing at Daytona International Speedway?

“I remember Richard Childress hiring me and sending me to an ARCA test at Daytona. My eyes are this big – ‘Daytona? Really?’ To be able to roll through that tunnel and see those high banks and Daytona, that’s your ‘I’ve made it’ moment and it’s still that way today. Every time you go there in February and roll through those tunnels and see them high banks, it just gives you chills. You know what I mean? You come back in the summer, you don’t have – those are sweats, that’s sweat, those aren’t chills anymore. If you get chills in the summer, you need to go lay down, you’re too hot. But so much fun to be able to go back there, and every single year it’s just meaningful to get on those high banks and be able to compete at Daytona because, for me, it’s always been that moment of, ‘Hey, man, I got here.’”