Month: February 2021

Date: Feb. 28, 2021
Event: Dixie Vodka 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)

Race Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Chris Buescher of Roush-Fenway Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 4th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 30th, Finished 18th / Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 10th, Finished 23rd / Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 16th, Finished 30th / Running, completed 264 of 267 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (2nd with 119 points, 20 out of first)
● Cole Custer (14th with 68 points, 71 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (25th with 42 points, 97 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (26th with 40 points, 99 out of first)

Race Notes
● Harvick earned his second top-five and third top-10 of the season. It was also his 12th top-five and 18th top-10 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead.
● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He finished fourth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and sixth in last week’s race on the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. He is one of only two drivers to open the 2021 season with three straight top-10s. The other driver is Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.
● Harvick finished seventh in Stage 2 to earn four bonus points.
● The Dixie Vodka 400 marked Briscoe’s third career NASCAR Cup Series start.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie.
● Almirola was caught up in an accident on lap 201, but still finished the race.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 36 laps.
● Twenty-five of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

Homestead Quotes

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang:
“We actually had a good car the second half of the race. We were just way too loose in the first third of the race. The Busch Light Ford team did a great job of getting the car better and a great job on pit road keeping our track position, so I’m just really proud of the way that everybody is battling right now. I would consider these three tracks that we’ve gone to so far kind of hit or miss for me as far as my likeability as far as driving and the things we have going on. To have the finishes that we’ve had in the first three races says a lot about our team.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:
“We fought hard all day to get our Smithfield Ford where we needed it. We found some speed there in the second stage and were headed in the right direction on the balance of the car. I got tight there and slid up the track into the 12. That put us back. On to Vegas.”

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang:
“Well, that really stings. Mike (Shiplett, crew chief) and the guys did everything they could to help fix our ability to turn through the center of the corner, and we knew that when the sun went down we would have the rear grip we were struggling with early in the race. It was looking like it might be a top-five day, but then we needed to make sure we had fuel enough to get to the end. At worst we had our first top-10 of the season, and then the tire started coming apart with three to go. It’s a shame for the HaasTooling.com team, but we are looking forward to heading out West to Vegas and Phoenix.”

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang:
“I felt like for all the things we went through, finishing 18th was good recovery from being two laps down. I’m still learning so much. It took me until halfway through the race to understand what I needed to do. I definitely got schooled on restarts in the beginning, and that’s everything in this deal. It’s going to take time and experience and learning the hard way, but I’ll continue to build on it. This was our first real race of the season in a sense, so we’ll go to Vegas and finally be able to start a little closer to the front. Hopefully that will pay dividends for our Ford Performance Racing School team.”

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Las Vegas 400 on Sunday, March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Date: Feb. 21, 2021
Event: O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 (Round 2 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (14-turn, 3.61-mile road course)
Format: 70 laps, broken into three stages (16 laps/18 laps/36 laps)

Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 5th, Finished 6th / Running, completed 70 of 70 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 13th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 70 of 70 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 26th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 70 of 70 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 18th, Finished 32nd / Running, completed 70 of 70 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (3rd with 83 points, 21 out of first)
● Cole Custer (11th with 54 points, 50 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (21st with 33 points, 71 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (27th with 23 points, 81 out of first)

Race Notes
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10 of 2021. He finished fourth in the season-opening Daytona 500.
● Harvick earned his first top-10 in two career NASCAR Cup Series starts on the Daytona road course.
● Harvick’s sixth-place result bettered his previous best finish on the Daytona road course – 17th, earned in the series’ prior visit to the track last August.
● Harvick finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points.
● Custer’s 13th-place result bettered his previous best finish at the Daytona road course – 30th, earned last August.
● Custer finished eighth in Stage 2 to earn three bonus points.
● Almirola’s 17th-place result bettered his previous best finish on the Daytona road course – 24th, earned last August.
● The O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 was Briscoe’s second NASCAR Cup Series start.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 12 laps.
● Thirty-two of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

Daytona Road Quotes

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang:
“There was lots of chaos. We had a pretty solid day with our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang and were a lot better. We missed all of the chaos and finished the race. Our goal was to score stage points and we did that. We also wanted to finish in the top-10 and we did that, so we’re going to leave and go home.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:
“Our Smithfield Ford team showed a lot of improvement today for our road course program. Our pit crew did great, and Buga (Mike Bugarewicz) and the team brought us a fast Ford Mustang today. We improved a lot on our road course program. I spun out there in Turn 3 when my tires hit the rumble strip and it snapped me loose. We made minimal mistakes today, but that set us back later in the race. We had them beat in areas we weren’t able to beat them before – even with some nose damage. We need to head to Homestead and get some stage points and get ourselves a good finish, but I’m looking forward to seeing where our road course program goes.”

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Dixie Vodka Ford Mustang:
“Man, we deserved a top-10 today. It was just chaotic (on the lap-58 incident), and there was nothing else we could do in that situation but stop. We made it through all the other incidents today, and our Dixie Vodka Ford got stronger as the race went on. The guys made good calls after we were struggling early in the race with rear grip and turning in the right-handers. It’s just a little disappointing to not get rewarded with a top-10. It’s on to Homestead.”

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang:
“I made too many mistakes at the beginning and it put us behind the rest of the day. One thing is for sure – Cup Series racing is no joke and racing with no power steering makes it that much harder. We had a chance toward the end for a good finish, but when we all got stacked up the additional damage took us out of contention. I’m learning a lot each week and the guys have done a great job of giving me what I need to be able to run all of the laps. On to Homestead and another chance at improvement for our Ford Performance Racing School team.”

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Dixie Vodka 400 on Sunday, Feb. 28 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Date: Feb. 14, 2021
Event: 63rd Running of the Daytona 500 (Round 1 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (65 laps/65 laps/70 laps)

Race Winner: Michael McDowell of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 8th, Finished 4th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 27th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 30th, Finished 19th / Running, completed 197 of 200 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 3rd, Finished 34th / Accident, completed 13 of 200 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (3rd with 50 points, eight out of first)
● Cole Custer (15th with 27 points, 31 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (18th with 18 points, 40 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (23rd with 13 points, 45 out of first)

Harvick Notes:
● This was Harvick’s 20th career start in The Great American Race, with his first Daytona 500 coming on Feb. 17, 2002.
● Harvick earned his 11th top-five and 16th top-10 in 40 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has earned four top-fives in the Daytona 500.
● Harvick finished second in Stage 2 to earn nine bonus points.
● Harvick led twice for 17 laps to increase his laps-led total at Daytona to 279.
● Harvick has now led 11,156 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,582 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.

Custer Notes:
● Custer made his 40th career NASCAR Cup Series start and his third at Daytona to kick off his sophomore season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
● Custer’s 11th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Daytona – 30th, earned in the series’ visit to the track last August.
● Custer finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point.
● Custer led lap 31. It was his first lap led at Daytona.

Briscoe Notes:
● The Daytona 500 marked Briscoe’s NASCAR Cup Series debut.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie.

Almirola Notes:
● Almirola earned a third-place starting position in the Daytona 500 by virtue of his win in Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel. It was Almirola’s best start in 19 career NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona.

Race Notes:
● Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500 to score his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.
● This was Ford’s 705th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory.
● This was Ford’s 16th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona. Ford won its first race at Daytona on February 24, 1963 with Tiny Lund. Ford’s previous NASCAR Cup Series win at the track came via SHR in the 2017 Daytona 500 with former driver Kurt Busch.
● There were seven caution periods for a total of 40 laps.
● Only 11 of the 40 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Austin Dillon leaves Daytona as the championship leader with a six-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin.

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 on Sunday, Feb. 21 on the Daytona road course. The race begins at 3 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.