Month: September 2020

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in the NASCAR Cup Series, is confident heading to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 due to his record breaking consistency at the 2.66-mile oval. Most drivers say Talladega’s high-speed and closer-quarter racing make it a “wild-card” event due to the seemingly inevitable multicar accident called “The Big One.” But Almirola is a different breed of superspeedway racers.

He holds the Cup Series’ best average finish of 5.1 in the last eight races at Talladega. His consistency showed when the series last raced there in June. Almirola earned a third-place finish in which he crossed the finish line backward after spinning while vying for the lead. That third-place result tied the record of eight consecutive Talladega top-10s set by Dale Earnhardt Jr., between April 2001 and October 2004.

“Talladega has always been good to me,” Almirola said. “Superspeedways have typically been good to me. We seem to find ourselves in the position to win there more than any track on the circuit, so we feel really good about our chances heading there this weekend.”

Almirola has been there before. Flash back to 2018, Almirola’s first year with SHR, when he was in a similar position at Talladega. On the last lap of that fall 2018 Cup Series race, he held off his teammates Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch to score what turned out to be the most important win of his career. It secured his spot in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR playoffs, and he went on to finish fifth in the season-ending standings – best of his career.

“That was such an incredible day,” he said, “our first year at SHR and we win at Talladega to advance to the Round of 8. We finished fifth in the overall standings that year, and I think we have an even better team this year. If we can get it done this weekend, or give ourselves the chance to race our way in at Charlotte next weekend, we’ll be serious competitors for the championship.”

Almirola won’t be the only one racing for a win this weekend at Talladega. Smithfield Power Bites, which will adorn the No. 10 Ford this weekend for the first time this year, is hosting a sweepstakes to “power up” race fans as they cheer on Almirola.

Smithfield will be giving away a variety of race-used items and tailgate supplies through the #PowerBitesHere sweepstakes this weekend at Talladega. To be eligible to win, fans will need to follow @SmithfieldBrand on Twitter. Every 10 laps, fans will have the duration of that lap plus one minute to tweet the hashtags #PowerBitesHere and #Sweepstakes to be entered to win the item for that lap of the race. Prizes include a complimentary single-day class at the Ford Performance Racing School in Charlotte, North Carolina, a smoker, Almirola’s Smithfield Power Bites driver uniform from the race, a 2021 VIP race weekend experience, and autographed team gear and tailgate items. Winners will be chosen at the end of the event. Fans will be allowed one entry during every 10-lap increment.

Smithfield’s new Power Bites are fully cooked, heat-and-eat snacking or on-the-go meal solutions consisting of eight tasty bites of sausage, egg, and cheese, offered in a four-ounce portable container. The protein-packed product is a perfect way for meat lovers to enjoy all of their favorite ingredients in one bite to satisfy cravings and curb hunger.

The No. 10 Ford driver’s six top-five finishes this year surpass his previous best of four in a season in 2018. In addition, his 288 laps led is a career-high for a season, and his 17 top-10 finishes has tied his season-best.

In his 21 career Cup Series starts at Talladega, an accident ended his day prematurely just once. In the typically accident-marred event, he’s led a total of 46 laps. Almirola’s first career Cup Series victory was captured in 2014 at Talladega’s sister track Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Almirola and the No. 10 Power Bites Ford team visit Talladega 11th in the playoff standings, 27 points below the cutoff to advance to the Round of 8.

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

You have found the most success in your career at superspeedways. Why is that? 

“I always had to go to these races and be aggressive because, back in the day, they were our only realistic options to win races. It was the only way I could make it into the playoffs and we were able to do that in 2014. They’ve been good to me. I’ve always gone into those races with that mindset.”

What did it mean to finally win a race in 2018 after nearly winning multiple races but just coming up short?

“The win at Talladega that year was clutch. Going through the season and really being consistent from summer to the playoffs was great. We didn’t really have any devastating races throughout those months and never were a threat to really win races. Then, all of the sudden when the playoffs started, our performance really ramped up. We went into the first few races with chances to win, leading laps and running up front. Even right before that, you look at races like New Hampshire, where we led a lot of laps and felt like we had the potential to win. We kind of pointed our way into the playoffs.”

Event: Ag-Pro 300 (Round 28 of 33)
Date: Oct. 3, 2020
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
Layout: 2.66-mile oval

Chase Briscoe Notes of Interest

• Chase Briscoe is playing with house money in the Ag-Pro 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang won last weekend in the NASCAR Playoffs’ opening race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, securing his spot in next playoff round. Talladega represents the second race in the Round of 12 before the cutoff race for the Round of 8 on Oct. 10 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. The top-eight drivers after Charlotte move on to the second round, which is comprised of Kansas Speedway on Oct. 17, Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 24 and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 31. The top-four drivers after Martinsville compete in the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where the highest finishing driver is crowned the 2020 Xfinity Series champion.

• Briscoe dominated last Saturday night at Las Vegas, sweeping the first two stages and leading four times for a race-high 164 laps before securing the win. No other driver led more than 15 laps in the 200-lap race. It was Briscoe’s series-leading eighth win of the season and it came in just the 27th race of the year, putting him in elite company with NASCAR legends Jack Ingram and Sam Ard, each of whom won eight races in 1984 through the series’ first 27 races.

• Briscoe leads the championship standings by 17 points over second-place Austin Cindric. Though the driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang has already punched his ticket to the second round of the playoffs, Briscoe looks to add to his total of 55 playoff points as they will all carry over into the penultimate playoff round that begins Oct. 17 at Kansas Speedway.

• Briscoe is in the midst of his second straight playoff appearance. He finished fifth in the Xfinity Series standings last year, narrowly missing out on advancing to the Championship 4 and competing for the series title. He did, however, win the rookie-of-the-year award.

• Beyond leading the championship standings and having a series-best eight wins, other numbers bolster Briscoe’s championship charge:

• Briscoe has already led 702 laps this season, 505 more laps than he led all last season.

• Briscoe has already scored 15 top-fives, two more than he earned last year.

• Briscoe’s average starting position this season is 6.9, an improvement over his 8.8 average starting position last year.

• Briscoe’s average finishing position is 7.4, bettering his 8.2 average finishing position in 2019.

• Briscoe has made three career Xfinity Series starts at Talladega with a best finish of fourth in 2019. He also has one NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start (finished 22nd in 2017) and one ARCA Series start (finished third in 2016).

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

You started off the playoffs with a win last Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and also hit your preseason goal of eight victories. Was that a statement win?

“I feel like it was, but anything can change. Every week someone can find something or have a lot of speed. A lot of the races we’ve won this year we haven’t necessarily been the best car, but last weekend we were the best car by quite a bit. It made my job super easy and I’m just so thankful that I get to drive these racecars. It was so good to drive. I can’t put it into words. I think it was a really big statement to come out of the first race in the first round of the playoffs and win. You want to start off good with a lot of momentum and we certainly have that now.”

Are you more excited or relieved to have already secured your spot in the next round of the playoffs as we head to Talladega where anything can happen?

“Relief for sure. I am not the biggest superspeedway fan and when I was in the Truck Series, the race at Talladega knocked me out of the playoffs. Even with the points gap we have right now, if you get crashed early and run 35th on back at Talladega, it puts you in a tough spot going into the Roval. We’ve got two races coming up where anything can happen. I’m definitely going to sleep a lot better this week and I’m actually looking forward to going to Talladega and the Roval now. This weekend is still going to be a whatever happens, happens type of race, but it opens up a lot of scenarios for the next two weeks.”

This weekend Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Talladega, Alabama for the final superspeedway race of the season. Custer will make his 34th career NASCAR Cup Series start at the 500 mile event.

The rookie driver’s one previous NASCAR Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway was in June. Custer ran in the top-five during the event, but as the race went into overtime, he had to dive onto pit road from the fifth position after his Mustang began to starve for fuel. The late-race stop relegated Custer to a 22nd-place finish.

In this year’s two visits to Talladega’s sister track, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Custer’s races both ended prematurely – in February due to a mechanical issue and last month after getting caught up in a late-race accident.

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega, Custer made three starts between 2017 and 2019. He earned a best finish of ninth in 2018 with an average starting position of 12.3 and an average finishing position of 22.3. In the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Custer made one start in 2016, which he started on the pole, led two laps and finished 29th after getting caught up in an accident.

While Custer did not advance to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series playoffs, he’s still eligible to finish as high as fifth in the final standings and can’t finish below 16th.

Last weekend at Las Vegas, the California native was having a solid day, even with a tight handling Mustang. An untimely late-race caution during a green-flag pit cycle forced Custer to take the wave-around in order to get back on the lead lap. Custer worked his way up to a 16th-place finish in his third Cup Series start at the intermediate oval.

So far this season, Ford has won 17 races, and Custer and his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick have both earned wins for the Blue Oval – one for Custer and nine for Harvick. Ford’s milestone 700th win in the Cup Series came at the hands of Harvick on Aug. 23 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Ford captured its first victory on June 25, 1950. Ford drivers made up 50 percent of this year’s starting playoff field, with eight drivers representing the Michigan manufacturer in the Round of 16, and five drivers continuing on to the Round of 12.

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 74 starts at Talladega and one win, earned by Aric Almirola in October 2018. SHR dominated that day and had all four of its cars nose to tail leading the field in the closing laps. In total, SHR has two pole awards, eight top-fives and 23 top-10s along with 382 laps led at the 2.66-mile, high-banked superspeedway.

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.

Custer, who had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, clinched 2020 Rookie of the Year honors in his official rookie season in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. Competing against fellow rookie notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick, he was the only rookie to clinch a playoff spot this season. Custer was the highest finishing rookie at Las Vegas last weekend.

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

Some of the remaining tracks will have fans in the stands. How does it feel to have them there?

“Honestly, at first, it’s a little weird at times because we got so used to them not being there. We’d show up to the racetrack and it would just be silent. It has been cool to have them back to get us pumped up before the race. We do this for the fans and to not have them there is really strange. Hopefully, we can get them back at all of the tracks soon.”

How would you describe racing at Talladega with the added pressure of it being in the playoffs?

“It’s definitely a stressful race, but I guess all of the races in the playoffs are stressful. You can’t control a lot and you have to hope for the best. Everyone is racing for stage points, whether you’re in the Round of 12 or not. You have to race your race the best you can to put yourself in a good position.”

Your teammate Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have been in a league of their own this year. Is there a way you can get to that level?

“For us, it’s about taking it one day at a time and being competitive and run our race. You can’t focus a lot, especially being a rookie, on what other people are doing. I think you have to focus on yourself. You can’t be worrying about the other guys. You can learn some things from them and make sure you’re not out of the ballpark, but you have to make sure you’re running your races. If you start trying to do too much, you’ll start making mistakes.”

Every year, the fall NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway is circled on the calendar. Of the 10 playoff races, it is a wild card.

This year’s Round of 12 cutoff race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway was circled, as is next week’s Round of 8 cutoff race on the “roval” at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, and the Nov. 1 Championship Four cutoff race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

But even though Talladega is not a cutoff race, cue the playoff music anyway because it is simply a wild card race that anyone can win.

The good news for Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is that he has 3,104 points with a 61-marker lead over the Round of 8 cutoff position.

The bad news is that if he gets involved in an early accident at Talladega, most of that big lead could disappear.

The truth is, Talladega and its sister track Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway 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 getting into the best position on the final lap to try and win the race.

Harvick has started 78 races in his career at Talladega and Daytona with three total victories in point-paying races. He will make his 40th Talladega start in the NASCAR Cup Series Sunday, where he has one win, two poles, seven top-five finishes, 16 top-10s and has led 262 laps there.

He scored his lone win at the 2.66-mile superspeedway in April 2010, when he started fourth, led two of 200 laps and beat runner-up Jamie McMurray by .011 of a second.

Harvick earned his first Talladega Cup Series pole in May 2005 with a speed of 189.804 mph. He won his second Cup Series pole there in April 2018, when he recorded a lap of 49.247 seconds at 194.448 mph. Harvick has three career Cup Series runner-up finishes at Talladega, most recently in October 2010, when he started 14th, led 12 laps and was beaten by now-SHR teammate Clint Bowyer.

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

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

Talladega vs. Daytona – what’s the difference for the spotter?

“Talladega is a lot bigger. It’s a lot wider. The track itself is bigger. The shape of Talladega is different than Daytona because of the track being wider and the way the tri-oval is shaped. The start-finish line is almost all the way down into turn one, which seems to change some of the outcomes of the finishes, because you have to go all the way down the front straightaway before you get to the finish line. Talladega’s tri-oval is a little bit different than Daytona’s. That bottom groove has a little less banking than the rest of the racetrack, so it’s almost like you’re dipping down into a hole. Sometimes you see guys get loose down into the tri-oval and spin out, so it ends up being where some of the wrecks are caused. It’s really hard to push through that tri-oval, especially as you are heading down into that bottom lane. It’s tough to know exactly where you need to be at the end of the race but, for me, I’ve only won one of them there. In that particular race, we were tandem racing and I was second coming into the tri-oval and was able to get past Jamie McMurray. But I would still rather be leading and in control. If I’ve made it to the white flag, then I’ve made it a lot farther than I’ve made it lately, so it’s a chess match all day. You have to have a little bit of luck on your side, but you can also put yourself in a good position by making the right moves, having a good day on pit road and not making any mistakes.”

Thoughts on Talladega?

“I have no idea. You just show up and see how it develops. All you can do is show up for a weekend at Talladega and see how it develops and go from there.”

Combine the tension of four- and five-wide racing at 200 mph on a NASCAR superspeedway with the importance of the Cup Series’ 2020 playoffs and the ingredients are in place for a memorable 500-mile race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), says he welcomes having a “wild-card” race like Talladega in the middle of the most important stretch of the season.

“This is an opportunity,” he said. “When you have a track that you say is a wild-card race, that’s an opportunity. And, in the situation we’re in, you’ve got to be able to look forward to those opportunities at hand because we need one.”

Bowyer arrives for the second of three Round of 12 playoff races 10th in points. He is just 20 markers behind the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 with only Talladega and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway “roval” remaining in the round.

After earning three bonus points and finishing 12th in Sunday’s opening Round of 12 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bowyer knows more bonus points and a good finish are mandatory at Talladega this weekend and on the Charlotte roval next week.

“Honestly, with the situation you’re in with those guys having such a (points) pad on you anyway, you’ve got to go there and race and try to get stage points and try to do it all,” he said. “I like the next two races. You can’t go out there and feel like you have to, it ain’t Hail Mary time. Twenty points can fall in your lap pretty easily at a track like Talladega and the roval. You’ve got to go out there and be smart and we’ll do that, do the best we can, and that just might be enough.”

Part of the reason Bowyer welcomes Talladega this weekend is his past success on the high-banked, 2.66-mile track. In 30 career Cup Series starts there, he’s won twice, posted seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s.

“Talladega – it’s been good to us, but I know you have to respect the track and you’ve got to get to the end of them,” said Bowyer, whose Talladega wins came in 2010 and 2011. “Obviously, you’ve got to have a little bit of luck not to get caught up in things and, more importantly, be careful not to cause them yourself.”

Bowyer’s race at Talladega in June might best illustrate the fine line between success and failure on its high banks. After starting 10th, he ran at the back of the pack through the first two stages while showing the ability to get to the front of the field when needed. As the laps wound down, he moved himself into position to battle for the victory, but an accident on the final lap left him with a 25th-place finish.

He’ll be riding at the front on Sunday hoping to collect bonus points in the first two stages. Bowyer said while a Talladega race might look chaotic on television and from the grandstands, the action is just as frenetic driving the car.

“There’s so much going on inside the car, whether you’re listening to the spotter, or you’re looking at – as you’re listening to him, you’re following along to – that story in the mirror, right?” he said. “You’re living it through the windshield. I mean, there are so many things that are going on, you just – you flat out – don’t take it all in. I mean, your brain is registering so many things that, at the end of the race, you don’t even remember half of it.”

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Mustang will carry the colors of Rush Truck Centers and BlueDEF Platinum Sunday at Talladega.

Rush Truck Centers has been the primary partner for the No. 14 team since Bowyer arrived at SHR in 2017 and has been with the organization since 2010. With Bowyer’s background working in his dad’s towing service in Emporia, Kansas, Bowyer understands the importance of keeping trucks up and running. That is why Rush is proud to partner with Bowyer and support the trucks that haul the racecars, as well as customers across the country with its total service management package, RushCare Complete. This all-inclusive solution provides dedicated concierge service, vehicle telematics, mobile service, express routine maintenance, real-time service updates and a comprehensive source for all-makes parts.

BlueDEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) is one of the key elements in the process used by diesel engine builders to meet environmental regulations. DEF is not a fuel or fuel additive. Instead, when injected into the exhaust stream and passed over a catalyst, DEF helps convert harmful gasses into nitrogen gas and water vapor – two harmless and natural components of the air we breathe. Platinum is a new DEF product that addresses the problem of deposit buildup, which has plagued vehicle owners since the inception of selective catalytic reduction emissions-reduction systems that require DEF.

Who knows what will happen Sunday in Talladega, but those final laps are sure to be some of the best racing of the season. Bowyer hopes he’ll be at the front of the field at the time, and another step closer to advancing in the 2020 playoffs.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 RushTruck Centers/BlueDEF Platinum Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

The Round of 12 is pretty unpredictable with Talladega and the roval. How do you feel the round shapes up for your team?

“I like it. I’m ready. Talladega is a crapshoot. The roval is a lot of fun. But again, things can happen. At the end of the day, I’ve had a different approach to the whole thing this year. This whole damned year has been chaotic and everything else and you’ve just got to go out there and do the best you can do and not worry about or panic about anything else. That’s all you can do, anyway, just taking it race by race, and I’m looking forward to this round, too. These are some of my best finishes, coming at these tracks right here.”

Is it difficult to hold back at Talladega?

“You get a little bit excited and antsy to get up into the pack and, even with 50, 60 laps to go, you’re like, ‘How am I going to get up there?’ They get three-wide and there’s just literally no place to go. At Talladega, you can go four-wide, and I’ve seen when it goes five-wide you get into a wreck. We see that quite a bit there – somebody attempting it – and that’s when it gets this place exciting. Looking forward to hopefully getting to the end and, more importantly, getting a win.”

What is the key to success?

“Attitude is a big part of this, but it goes toward being a student while you’re out there, learning as much as you can. That’s the tricky thing about these situations at these racetracks.”