Month: August 2020

Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Round 20 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)

Format: 301 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/110 laps/116 laps)

Start/Finish: 6th/18th (Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Point Standing: 12th with 512 points, 291 out of first

Race Winner:      Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner:  Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner:  Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Clint Bowyer started sixth and finished seventh to earn four bonus points.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford jumped to third on the opening lap before contact with Denny Hamlin dropped him to fifth.

● Bowyer pitted for tires during the lap-17 caution and restarted 14th.

● Bowyer stayed on the track during the lap-30 competition caution and moved to sixth. Told crew he needed the car to turn better.

● Bowyer moved to fourth on the restart and then survived contact with Jimmie Johnson on lap 62 that brought out another caution.

● During the stage break, Bowyer pitted for tires and fuel as well as more adjustments to help his car turn.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-185):

● Bowyer started 27th and finished sixth to earn five bonus points.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford climbed to 24th when rain slowed the race on lap 92.

● Bowyer stayed on the track and moved from 24th to fourth during the caution. 

● The Kansas native dropped to eighth by lap 120 losing positions to cars with fresher tires.

● Bowyer started saving fuel late in the stage and was on the verge of pitting when a caution came on lap 171.  

● After another caution, the race restarted with two laps left in the stage and Bowyer in ninth.  

● The veteran driver used some nifty driving over the last two laps to climb to sixth by the end of the stage.

● Bowyer stayed on the track during the stage break.

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Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-301):

● Bowyer started sixth and finished 18th.

● Bowyer reported his car was very loose at the start of the final stage and dropped to ninth.

● The No. 14 Haas Automation Ford pitted with 95 laps to go and restarted 15th.

● Bowyer reported even greater handling issues and held 15th-place with 50 laps to go.

● With no cautions over the final 83 laps, the crew couldn’t make handling adjustments and Bowyer finished 18th.

Notes:

● By staying 12th in the point standings, Bowyer will start in the top 12 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Aug. 8.

● Bowyer is a two-time winner at New Hampshire (September 2007 and September 2010).

● Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 to score his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.647 seconds.

● This was Ford’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 697th all-time Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire and its third straight. Kevin Harvick won the past two races at New Hampshire (2018 and 2019).

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 52 laps. Twenty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after New Hampshire with an 81-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We got some bonus points in the first two stages today and we’re still in the top 12. We’ll go to Michigan this week and I know our Fords like that place a lot.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The FireKeepers Casino 400 starts at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 8 and the Consumers Energy 400 begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Live coverage of both will be provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Round 20 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)

Format: 301 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/110 laps/116 laps)

Start/Finish: 14th/8th (Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Point Standing: 19th with 381 points, 422 out of first

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):             

● Cole Custer started 14th and finished 16th.

● During the caution on lap 16, Custer told the HaasTooling.com crew that he was too tight overall. He didn’t pit and restarted fifth.

● On the lap-30 competition caution, Custer pitted from 10th for fuel, four tires and adjustments. He restarted 21st.

● Custer was 16th on the lap-63 caution and didn’t pit in an effort to try and gain stage points. He restarted third with eight laps to go in the stage.

● The rookie driver slipped back to 16th where he finished Stage 1 and pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-185):

● Custer started in 24th and finished 13th.

● On lap 92, the caution came out for rain and Custer reported he could be freed up a little bit while in the 16th spot. He pitted and restarted 17th.

● On lap 141 Custer reported his Mustang felt “way tighter” while running 20th.

● Under caution on lap 172, the California native continued to report his car was tight and he pitted from 13th. Custer restarted 15th.

● In a sprint to finish Stage 2 after a caution, Custer restarted 14th and finished 13th.

● Custer didn’t pit during the Stage break.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-301):

● Custer started 12th, finished eighth.

● On lap 196 under caution, Custer told the HaasTooling.com crew that his No. 41 Ford Mustang was really good on the bottom groove. He was running 14th, didn’t pit and restarted 13th.

● Custer was ninth when the caution came out on lap 204. He pitted and restarted 16th after varying pit strategies.

● Another caution on lap 213 and Custer didn’t pit and restarted 11th.

● On lap 225, Custer was in the eighth position and remained quiet on the radio.

● Custer was ninth on lap 267 but eventually regained the eighth position after passing Jimmie Johnson.

● The remainder of the race ran under green and Custer secured an eighth-place finish.

Notes:

● Custer earned his fifth top-10 of the season and it came in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at New Hampshire.

● This was Custer’s second straight top-10. He finished seventh in the series’ last race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

● Custer was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie.

● Custer made three career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at New Hampshire prior to moving to the NASCAR Cup Series this year. He finished in the top-10 every time with a best finish of second, earned last year.

● Custer scored first career NASCAR Truck Series victory on Sept. 20, 2014 at New Hampshire – and he did it from the pole. At 16 years, 7 months and 28 days, he became the youngest race winner in NASCAR national series history.

● Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 to score his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.647 seconds.

● This was Ford’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 697th all-time Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire and its third straight. Kevin Harvick won the past two races at New Hampshire (2018 and 2019).

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

● Twenty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after New Hampshire with an 81-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

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

“Today was definitely the run we needed. If we can keep being this consistent, we’ll have something for the playoffs.” 

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The FireKeepers Casino 400 starts at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 8 and the Consumers Energy 400 begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Live coverage of both will be provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Round 20 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)

Format: 301 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/110 laps/116 laps)

Start/Finish: 7th/5th (Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Point Standing: (1st with 803 points, 81 points ahead of Brad Keselowski)

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

● Harvick started seventh and finished third, earning eight bonus points.

● Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang, pitted on lap 19 for four tires. Said car was a little tight.

● On lap 64, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and two rounds in the right rear. Harvick said the car just won’t turn.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-185):

● Harvick started third and finished 19th

● Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang, pitted on lap 166 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. He was seventh.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-301):

● Harvick started 26th and finished fifth.

● On lap 189, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.

● Harvick pitted on lap 197 for fuel only and a track bar adjustment.

● The No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang moved from outside the top-10 all the way to fifth.

Notes:

●  Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 to score his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.647 seconds.

●  This was Ford’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 697th all-time Cup Series victory.

●  This was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire and its third straight. Harvick won the past two races at New Hampshire (2018 and 2019).

●  There were 11 caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

●  Twenty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Harvick remains the championship leader after New Hampshire with an 81-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

●  Harvick earned his series-leading 13th top-five and 17th top-10 of the season, and his 13th top-five and 21st top-10 in 37 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.

●  This was Harvick’s seventh straight top-five and his eighth consecutive top-10. He finished 10th June 22 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, won June 27 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, finished second on June 28 in the series’ return to Pocono, won the July 5 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finished fourth July 12 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, finished fifth July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and finished fourth last week at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

●  This was Harvick’s third straight top-five at New Hampshire. He won in the series’ previous two visits to the track in 2018 and 2019.

●  Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only three finishes outside the top-five at New Hampshire. It’s a run that includes three victories (September 2016, July 2018 and July 2019).

●  Harvick’s 13 top-fives at New Hampshire are tied with Brad Keselowski for the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

●  Harvick has finished among the top-10 in 17 of the 20 races held this year. He has only one finish outside the top-15.

●  Harvick finished third in Stage 1 to earn eight bonus points.

●  Harvick led once for six laps to increase his laps-led total at New Hampshire to 765, second-most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

●  Harvick has now led 10,314 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 14,740 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.

Rodney Childers, crew chief of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Kevin did a nice job. We didn’t get the late caution which usually happens here. We screwed up and made a bad decision worrying about tire sets. But we got another top-five and I’m proud of everyone on this Mobil 1 team.”

Next Up: 

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The FireKeepers Casino 400 starts at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 8 and the Consumers Energy 400 begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Live coverage of both will be provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (Round 20 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval) 

Format: 301 laps, broken into three stages (75 laps/110 laps/116 laps) 

Start/Finish: 1st/7th (Running, completed 301 of 301 laps)

Point Standing: 8th (614 points, 189 out of first)

Race Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-75):

●  Aric Almirola started first and finished 10th to earn one bonus point.

●  Almirola led the first two laps of the race.

●  The No. 10 Smithfield Ford driver pitted during the lap-30 competition caution for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments to correct loose-handling conditions. 

●  He restarted 17th with fresher tires than most of the competitors ahead of him. 

●  Almirola pitted on lap 63 for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments to restart 15th.

●  He battled his way inside the top-10 before the stage concluded. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 76-185):

●  Almirola started eighth and finished fourth to earn seven bonus points.

●  He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments on lap 96 to loosen the Smithfield Ford’s handling conditions. 

●  Almirola was scored fourth by lap 150. 

●  He pitted on lap 172 under caution for four tires and fuel to restart fourth, where he ultimately finished the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-301):

●  Almirola started fourth and finished seventh. 

●  Almirola pitted for four tires and fuel under a lap 204 caution and was demoted to 14th due to multiple cars staying out. 

●  He raced back to sixth by lap 263 and fell one position to teammate Kevin Harvick before the checkered flag waved. 

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Well the streak continues. Nine top-10s in a row. So proud of this Smithfield Hometown Heroes Ford Mustang team. We ran up front a little bit in the beginning and were just off a bit on balance of our car. It was a solid day. We continue to build a points gap back to the cutoff line to the guys in the playoffs and we just continue the consistency. One of these days we’re going to get us a win.”

Notes:

●  Almirola earned his 12th top-10 of the season and his fourth top-10 in 18 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.

●  This was Almirola’s ninth straight top-10, and it is the longest top-10 streak 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, 10th July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and sixth in the series’ last race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. 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.

●  Since joining SHR in 2018, Almirola has never finished worse than 11th at New Hampshire. He earned his best career result at the track when he finished third in 2018.

●  Almirola led once for two laps to increase his laps-led total at New Hampshire to 56.

●  Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 to score his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his third of the season and his second at New Hampshire. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 1.647 seconds.

●  This was Ford’s series-leading 11th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 697th all-time Cup Series victory. 

●  This was Ford’s 15th NASCAR Cup Series victory at New Hampshire and its third straight. Harvick won the past two races at New Hampshire (2018 and 2019).

●  There were 11 caution periods for a total of 52 laps.

●  Twenty of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Harvick remains the championship leader after New Hampshire with an 81-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

Next Up: 

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a doubleheader Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The FireKeepers Casino 400 starts at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 8 and the Consumers Energy 400 begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Live coverage of both will be provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.