Month: August 2021

SHR Post-Race Report: Watkins Glen

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Go Bowling at The Glen
Date: Aug. 8, 2021
Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Round 23 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (7-turn, 2.45-mile road course)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)

Race Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr., of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 5th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 27th, Finished 9th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 8th, Finished 16th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
● Cole Custer (Started 19th, Finished 18th / Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (9th with 710 points, 207 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (22nd with 411 points, 506 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (24th with 398 points, 519 out of first)
● Cole Custer (28th with 356 points, 561 out of first)

SHR Notes:
● Harvick earned his 16th top-10 of the season and his 11th top-10 in 20 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen.
● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10 at Watkins Glen.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-10. He finished sixth in the series’ prior race July 18 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
● Harvick finished third in Stage 2 to earn eight bonus points.
● Briscoe earned his third top-10 of the season and it came in his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at Watkins Glen.
● Briscoe was the highest finishing NASCAR Cup Series rookie for the 19th time this season.
● Briscoe finished fifth in Stage 2 to earn six bonus points.

Race Notes:
● Kyle Larson won the Go Bowling at The Glen to score his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his series-leading fifth of the season and his first at Watkins Glen. His margin over second-place Chase Elliott was 2.430 seconds.
● There were four caution periods for a total of six laps.
● Twenty-four of the 37 drivers in the Go Bowling at The Glen finished on the lead lap.
● Larson and Denny Hamlin are tied for the championship lead after Watkins Glen with each having 917 points. Their margin over nearest pursuer William Byron is 131 points.

Watkins Glen Quotes

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Our Busch Light Apple Ford was decent today. We just had to go into fuel mileage savings as soon as we came in the pits that last run, and just kind of ran our pace and finished where we finished because we couldn’t afford to run out of gas. So, they did a good job and had a good strategy. We scored a few stage points and had a solid finish, so we’ll go to the next one.”

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“We’ve only got three top-10s now, but you’ll take any of them you can get. We ran up front a lot of the day but still weren’t quite good enough. I felt like earlier in the race I was a little bit better. And as the race went on, I don’t know if the other guys got better or we just got worse. Obviously, we’re in a position where we’ve got to go win, so ninth doesn’t necessarily cut it for us, but overall it was a good day. We got stage points and finished in the top-10, so we’ll go on to Indy. We know we’ve got to get it better if we’re gonna win one of these, and just from a balance standpoint I’ve still got to get better, too. We’ll go on to Indy and back home next week. Obviously, that one is super special, so we’ll try to capitalize there.”

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Overall, it was a good learning day for our No. 10 Ford team. We’re continually trying to build notes on our road course program. We just didn’t have the rear grip we needed today. It was nice going to a road course with no pressure coming off the win to try some things to improve. Thank you to Go Bowling for continuing to support us. I hope the fans had a great day at the Go Bowling at the Glen.”

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:
“Our HaasTooling.com Ford was solid at the end of the race, and I have to thank Mike Shiplett and the guys for that. We had some work to do with a few issues involving wheel hop and brack lockup early in the race, but we made the right adjustments there at the end. The penalty on pit road didn’t help our cause, but we were able to rally back for a top-20. We’ll stay in road-race mode for another week and see what we can do at Indy next week.”

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard on Sunday, Aug. 15 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-SHR-

Riley Herbst Watkins Glen NXS Race Report

Herbst Finishes 13th at Watkins Glen
Monster Energy Driver Scores 10th Top-15 of Season
Date: August 7, 2021
Event: NASCAR Xfinity Series 200 at The Glen (Round 20 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (2.45-mile, seven-turn road course)
Format: 82 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/42 laps)
Start/Finish: 10th / 13th (Running, completed 82 of 82 laps)
Point Standing: 12th (449 points, 400 out of first)

Race Winner: Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)

Overview:
After a roller coaster ride of a race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy team brought home a 13th-place finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series 200 at The Glen. The 22-year-old Herbst started 10th at the 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course and quickly moved his way up to ninth, where he finished Stage 1 to earn two bonus points. After pitting during the stage break for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, Herbst restarted Stage 2 in 16th. He worked his way up to 12th by the lap-33 caution. The team stayed out during the caution to gain track position. The strategy paid off, and Herbst finished sixth in Stage 2 to earn an extra five bonus points. In the final stage, the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang restarted 19th and broke into the top-15 by lap 47. Herbst was running 14th when the caution came out on lap 49. Unfortunately, the team was hit with a speeding penalty while making their fuel-only pit stop, forcing Herbst to restart at the back of the field. Herbst was a man on a mission on the lap-51 restart. The Las Vegas native gained 22 spots and made it all the way up to ninth before another yellow flag flew just 17 laps later. Crew chief Richard Boswell made the call to bring his driver down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel for the team’s final stop of the race. Herbst continued to make up lost ground as the laps wound down. On the final restart of the race on lap 79, a spin in front of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang forced Herbst to fall back in the field to 17th. He made up a majority of those lost spots in the final three laps to finish 13th and score his 10th top-15 of the season.

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“That just wasn’t the day we had hoped for at Watkins Glen. We had a top-10 car but made a mistake that put us back in the pack in the final stage. It’s so hard to pass here, and we just got stuck. We made up some ground in the playoff standings, but we still have work to do. We’ll take what we learned here and move on to Indy.”

Notes:
● Herbst finished ninth in Stage 1 to earn two bonus points and sixth in Stage 2 to earn an additional five bonus points.
● Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR Xfinity Series 200 at The Glen to earn his third career victory, his third of the season and his first at Watkins Glen. His margin over second-place AJ Allmendinger was .948 of a second.
● There were eight caution periods for a total of 15 laps.
● Twenty-eight of the 40 drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series 200 at The Glen finished on the lead lap.
● Austin Cindric remains the championship leader after Watkins Glen with an 80-point advantage over second-place AJ Allmendinger.

Next Up:
The next event on the Xfinity Series schedule is the Indianapolis 150 at the Brickyard on Saturday, Aug. 14, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The race starts at 4 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-SHR-

“In the Know” Watkins Glen

“In the Know”
Watkins Glen International

Coming off a rare two-week summer break, drivers and crews are ready to get back in action this weekend at Watkins Glen International. Off weekends are rare in NASCAR, and back-to-back weekends are even more rare, but the longest season in sports got a reprieve as broadcast partner NBC covered the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Now, starting with Watkins Glen, only four races remain before the 16-driver NASCAR Playoffs begin September 5th at Darlington Raceway. There have been 13 different race winners thus far in 2021, leaving just three playoff spots open for a driver to get in on points. The next four races include two road courses, a 2-mile oval and a 2.5 mile superspeedway. If there is another new winner this season, that means one less playoff spot available via points.

The Details

● Event: Go Bowling at The Glen (Round 23 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 8
● Location: Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International
● Layout: 7-turn, 2.45-mile road course
● Laps/Miles: 90 laps / 220.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 20 laps / Stage 2: 20 laps / Final Stage: 50 laps
● TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

What Our Drivers are Saying:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang

The preponderance of road-course racing in NASCAR is still relatively new, but road-course racing at Watkins Glen isn’t. Despite NASCAR’s recent uptick in road-course racing, does Watkins Glen feel like a comfortable pair of slippers because you’ve been there so often?
“For sure, and it will be nice to know every nook and cranny because we haven’t been there in a little bit. We didn’t go there last year, and going back this year definitely makes it a little bit different because of the fact that you’re not going to have any practice or qualifying. Plus, you took a year off from the racetrack, so it’s not as relevant as somewhere that we raced last year with the notes and the things we have. It’s definitely a racetrack I have a lot of laps at.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Are you excited to get to the road course at Watkins Glen after your win and a two-week break?
“I’m really looking forward to getting to Watkins Glen. It’s one of my most confident road courses of all the ones we go to, now. I’m looking forward to going there and being competitive with a little extra incentive coming off the win, and it’s the Go Bowling at The Glen and we’re in the Go Bowling car, so I’m even more excited to go out and give it my all.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You had a nice two-week break, but now we’re back with just four races to go in the regular season. How are you feeling about making your first Cup Series start at Watkins Glen?
“It’s only been two weeks but it feels like forever, so I’m looking forward to getting back to racing. This year, our best results have come on the road courses and now we’ve got two back-to-back, but Watkins Glen is probably lower on the list of my favorite road courses. I’ve only raced there once, so I don’t have a ton of experience there and, like every other track, having no practice will make it that much more challenging because it is a track where the car is maybe a little more important than the driver’s road-course racing ability. I’m going to run the ARCA race on Friday to get some more time on track, learn the turns and try to figure some things out.”

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

You’ve raced at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the K&N Pro Series but didn’t get to race there during your rookie Cup Series campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What will it be like racing this weekend without practice or qualifying?
“We always want practice to try things and get used to the track. No matter what it is, practice is always a gain. But being a track we’ve all raced on a pretty decent amount, we all know what we need to bring there. Nothing’s changed a ton about what’s going on at Watkins Glen. So I feel like it’s probably not a huge disadvantage to not be there for a couple of years.”

SHR Stats

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, has made a total of 46 NASCAR Cup Series starts on road courses. He has 20 starts at Sonoma, 19 at Watkins Glen, three at the Charlotte Roval, two on the Daytona road course, one at COTA and one at Road America. He has scored two wins – Watkins Glen in 2006 and Sonoma in 2017 – along with 10 top-fives and 23 top-10s with 195 laps led. When Harvick scored his first road-course victory at Watkins Glen in 2006, he had to beat his current team owner to do it. Tony Stewart – the “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas Racing – had won the past two NASCAR Cup Series races at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course and was poised to capture a third straight win as he was leading Harvick with four laps to go in the 90-lap race. But Harvick, who had already led once for 24 laps, passed Stewart on lap 87 as the two drag-raced down the frontstretch and into turn one. Harvick held onto the lead despite Stewart in his rearview mirror, earning a margin of victory of .892 of a second.

Sunday’s race will be Cole Custer’s first start at Watkins Glen. The annual August event during Custer’s Rookie of the Year campaign in 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it will be his first Cup Series appearance at The Glen, Custer has raced there three times each in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series and K&N Pro Series East. In his three Watkins Glen starts in the Xfinity Series from 2017 through 2019, all in the No. 00 SHR Ford, Custer finished in the top-12 in all three, his best resulting in a sixth-place finish in 2018. He debuted with a 12th-place finish in 2017 and added a seventh-place finish in 2019. Custer’s three NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races at The Glen included finishes of fifth from the pole and third from the inside-second-row starting spot in his two most recent visits in 2015 and 2016, respectively. He led 17 laps in the 2015 event.

Chase Briscoe finished sixth in his only NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Watkins Glen. He finished in the top-10 in all but three of the 10 road-course races in which he competed in the Xfinity Series, including a victory in last year’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Aric Almirola has 26 road-course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. He has two top-10 finishes with a best of eighth at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, four top-20s at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International with a best finish of 12th, three top-20s on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval with a best finish of 14th, and a top-12 finish in the Feb. 9 Busch Clash on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course – his best road-course finish of the year.

Of Special Interest

Be sure to check out our merch hauler at Watkins Glen International this weekend! If you can’t attend in person, you can shop anytime at store.stewarthaasracing.com