Month: February 2022

In The Know – Fontana

NASCAR returns to Fontana, California for the first time in almost two years. Below is everything you need to know about SHR storylines and how to catch all the racing action.

The Details

NASCAR Cup Series Overview

●  Event:  Wise Power 400 (Round 2 of 36)
●  Time/Date:  3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 27
●  Location:  Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California
●  Layout:  2-mile oval
●  Laps/Miles:  200 laps/400 miles
●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 65 laps / Stage 2: 65 laps / Final Stage: 70 laps
●  TV/Radio:  FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

The Broadcast Schedule

You won’t want to miss any of the action as we head out West to California. From practice and qualifying to the grand finale on Sunday,  there is plenty of racing action to catch.

SHR FAST FACTS

Kevin Harvick:
Harvick has been competing at Auto Club Speedway ever since it opened in 1997. His first start at the 2-mile oval came on Oct. 18, 2017 in The No Fear Challenge NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race driving the No. 75 entry for Wayne and Connie Spears of Agua Dulce, California. Harvick started 28th and finished 20th, completing 99 of 100 laps. Harvick has made a total of four Truck Series starts at Fontana, with his best result coming in his most recent Truck Series start at the track – eighth on Feb. 23, 2007.

Harvick’s NASCAR Cup Series stat line at Fontana includes a win, seven top-five finishes, 10 top-10 finishes and 237 laps led. His average finish across his 27 career starts is 15.1, thanks in large part to completing 98.7 percent of the laps available (6,074 of 6,156 laps).

Aric Almirola:
Almirola finished fifth at the season-opening Daytona 500 last weekend. It was his second top-five finish at the iconic race.

In 13 cup series starts at Fontana, Almirola has two top-10 finishes and seven laps led, which came in his last two starts there in 2019 and 2020.

Chase Briscoe:
Chase Briscoe secured his career-first NASCAR Cup Series top-five finish with the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in last Sunday’s Daytona 500. Briscoe overcame a spin early in the race to battle for a third-place result on the final lap in overtime.

This weekend’s Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, will be Briscoe’s first Cup Series race at the 2-mile oval. He has two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Fontana with a best finish of fifth in 2019. In the 2020 event, Briscoe started third and ran in the top-three for the first 118 of 150 laps. He led five times for 16 laps before a spin on lap 126 relegated the team to a 19th-place finish.

Cole Custer:
Southern California native Cole Custer returns home to race for the second time in three weeks as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, for the first time in two years for Sunday’s Wise Power 400.

Custer has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on the 2-mile oval, the most recent resulting in a victory in March 2019. Custer qualified his No. 00 SHR Ford third and beat runner-up Kyle Busch by 1.927 seconds, leading 29 laps along the way. He started fourth and finished sixth in the previous year’s Xfinity Series race at Fontana.

Coincidentally, it was in victory lane after the 2019 Xfinity Series race that the PAG-SHR relationship began. The race was called the Production Alliance Group 300, and that is where Custer first met company president and CEO Dale Sahlin. The two kept in touch, and PAG ultimately decided to increase its presence within NASCAR to SHR’s Xfinity Series program that year, and to SHR’s Cup Series program in 2020.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS

We’ve got three schemes hitting the track for the first time this year at Fontana. Check out our weekly wraps.

What Our Drivers are Saying:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’ve raced at Fontana 27 times in a Cup car, but is it a whole new ballgame going there with this NextGen car?
“For sure, because you just don’t know. It’s always tire management, it’s always moving around the racetrack – being able to run the top and the bottom – but this car is so different in the way that it uses the tires, and the way it uses the right-rear tire, especially. I think as you look at that, it could turn into a tire conservation type of situation to where just have to pick a speed and run the speed so you can make it through a whole fuel run. You just don’t know those things until you go do it, so being able to adapt and adjust is going to be important.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil Delvac for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is your ultimate goal this season and how will you achieve it?
“A multi-win season to set us up for a championship run is the ultimate goal for me this season. The only way to do that is to have every facet of our team perfect. You have to be perfect at this level. I have to do my part, the crew has to do their part, the men and women at the shop have to do their part. Everything has to come together, but we have the hardest-working people around and I know the effort will be there this season to make it happen.”

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

You started your second full season in the Cup Series with your first top-five after finishing third in the Daytona 500. Does that finish make up for some of what you faced during your rookie season?
“I think I’m still just taking it all in. You dream of racing in the Daytona 500. Last year was tough. It was my first Cup race and our practice time was so limited I really came in with no experience. Coming back this year with a new car – a fresh slate for everyone, really – and a sold-out crowd, I felt like this was the Daytona 500 experience I would remember. Then you add what happened during the race and it all kind of played out in the best way. We were so close to the win and would have loved to get one to start the season, but to come out of it third and be in a good points position first race out is great. I don’t know that it makes up for a tough rookie year, we had some successes that were great for what we were facing, but with how we ran up front in L.A., and the Daytona finish, we can’t really ask for a better start to the year.”

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Do you feel your solid effort at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is a sign of things to come this year?
“For sure. I think it’s a mindset going into this year. We want to go into this year and hit hard and be able to figure out this car faster than any other team and try to figure out how to get us back to the front where we belong at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a great way to start off the year, a great confidence-builder. It was kind of an oddball racetrack, but I think you can take a few things to other racetracks like Martinsville and the short tracks and things like that. Everybody went there trying as hard as they could, so it was good to have the pace that we had and have a solid run.”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO DELIVER?

The No. 4 Subway Delivery Ford Mustang team knows what it takes to deliver week in and week out. Kevin Harvick, crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 pit crew give insights on their ingredients to success as we head to Fontana.

“In the Know”
Daytona Speedweek

The 64th running of the Daytona 500 will take place on Sunday, February 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.  To earn a spot in this year’s Daytona 500, drivers must first compete in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the 40-car field for the Daytona 500.

Tune in to the broadcast and prepare to be entertained! The Boss, Tony Stewart, will join  Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the booth for FOX, adding more reasons to tune in. Don’t miss a minute of the coverage.

The Details

NASCAR Cup Series Overview

Wednesday, Feb. 16:
Daytona 500 qualifying: Single-lap qualifying to determine pole for the Daytona 500
Time/TV/Radio: 8 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Thursday, Feb. 17:
Bluegreen Vacations Duel: Twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500
Time/TV/Radio: 7 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Sunday, Feb. 20:
64th annual Daytona 500: First of 36 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022
Time/TV/Radio: 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

The Broadcast schedule

You won’t want to miss any of the action as we head to The World Center of Racing. From practice to the grand finale on Sunday,  there is plenty of action to catch.

SHR FAST FACTS

Kevin Harvick: The 2022 season marks Harvick’s 22nd year in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of his 754 career, points-paying starts, 41 of them have come on Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval. In addition to his 2017 Daytona 500 victory, Harvick won the 2010 Coke Zero 400. He has 11 top-fives and 16 top-10s on the Daytona oval. The 64th Daytona 500 will be his 42nd points-paying start on the Daytona oval.

Aric Almirola: Almirola scored his first career Cup Series win in the rain-shortened July 2014 race at Daytona, when he led 14 laps. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he started on the pole in his first outing in July 2007, and he captured a win there while piloting the No. 98 Biagi-Den Beste Ford Mustang in July 2016. Last year, he won his Duel qualifying race for the first time in his career. Almirola also has three Daytona starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with a best finish of 12th. This year’s Daytona 500 marks Almirola’s 21st points-paying Cup Series start at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

Chase Briscoe: Outside of the Cup Series, Briscoe has made six previous starts at Daytona – four in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one apiece in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and in the ARCA Racing Series. He has started within the top-10 for five of those races, with his best being a third-place qualifying effort in the 2016 ARCA season-opener. His best finish is third, earned twice – August 2020 in the Xfinity Series and February 2017 in the Truck Series.

Cole Custer: The Daytona 500 marks Custer’s 76th’s career Cup Series start and his fifth on the Daytona oval. His 11th-place finish in last year’s Daytona 500 is his best result at the iconic track.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS

We’ll be heading to Daytona in style. Check out our fresh wraps for Daytona Speedweek.

Bring on 2022

No matter the challenges,  we as a race team never back down. And as we kick off the 2022 season, the expectations at SHR remain the same. We’re all in to win.

What Our Drivers are Saying:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What does it take to win the Daytona 500?
“The superspeedways, in general, are difficult to have everything line up to get a win out of the weekend. For the Daytona 500, it’s our biggest race of the year, but it’s also the one race a year that you have months to prepare for. Every team in the garage has their most prepared car that shows up at the Daytona 500. On top of that, you have the most aggression and enthusiasm to try to take risks and do things that you normally wouldn’t do to win races because the Daytona 500 only comes once a year, and it can make a year and it can also make a career out of winning that race. I think as you look at the Daytona 500, it’s just different than any other race and it becomes difficult to win because of all the risk-taking that you don’t see on a weekly basis.”

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

What would it mean to become a Daytona 500 champion in your last full-time season?
“Outside of winning the championship, if I had to pick one race to win, it would be, without a doubt, the Daytona 500. I’ve won every other race there is to win there. Being only two hours away from Tampa, Daytona is my home track, so it would be huge to have that opportunity to be a Daytona 500 champion. I’m already fulfilled in my career, but that would be the icing on the cake.”

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

Do you have a goal that you’d like to accomplish in your second season?
“The goal, and truly the expectation, is to run up front consistently. Be a guy that’s in the hunt for wins most weekends, not just four or five times. If we could get a win or two, make the playoffs and then make a run in the playoffs, that would be a successful second season. Daytona is a place where you want to win. No matter who you are or what kind of background you come from, you want to be able to say you’re a Daytona winner. It’s not my favorite type of racing, but it’s one that fans always make sure they are watching. It’s humbling to be able to compete in it but winning it and starting the season off with a step in the right direction toward fulfilling those goals would be a moment I’d never forget.”

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

Do you feel your solid effort at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is a sign of things to come this year?
“For sure. I think it’s a mindset going into this year. We want to go into this year and hit hard and be able to figure out this car faster than any other team and try to figure out how to get us back to the front where we belong at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a great way to start off the year, a great confidence-builder. It was kind of an oddball racetrack, but I think you can take a few things to other racetracks like Martinsville and the short tracks and things like that. Everybody went there trying as hard as they could, so it was good to have the pace that we had and have a solid run.”

Of Special Interest: THE NEXT GEN

The NextGen car is an entirely new racecar, and if you’re keeping score at home, it’s the seventh version of the stock car NASCAR introduced in 1949. Each version has been an improvement from its predecessor, be it from a manufacturer standpoint with more aerodynamic bodies or from a NASCAR standpoint with better overall safety. Dimensions have varied over the years with drivers, teams and manufacturers politicking for various changes to spoilers, splitters, roof railings, ride-heights, etc., resulting in a multitude of templates that have shaped the on-track product. But the NextGen car is a massive leap forward, as never in NASCAR’s 73 prior years has this much time, energy and money been spent to bring a car from concept to reality. Say goodbye to such time-honored traditions as the H-pattern shifter, 750-horsepower engines, five-lug wheels and even centered door numbers. You can say “Hi” to them at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but not at a NASCAR Cup Series track. Instead, say hello to a sequential shifter, 670-horsepower engines, a single center-lock wheel nut akin to Indy cars and sports cars, and car numbers just behind the front wheels. But that’s not all. Introduce yourself to carbon fiber-reinforced plastic body panels, a carbon-fiber floor that covers the entire underneath portion of the car, and a rear-end diffuser – all of which are in place to reduce dirty air. And it’s more than skin deep, as rack-and-pinion steering replaces the archaic recirculating ball, and an independent rear suspension is a drastic upgrade from the full floating axle first championed by 1950s-era Detroit iron. The bottom line is that the NextGen car is much more in line with what manufacturers sell and consumers want. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday has never been more accurate.

Check out some of SHR’s first with the Next Gen on YouTube:

“In the Know”
THE CLASH AT THE COLISEUM

The 2022 season kicks off in a new location, on a new track, with a new car. All four SHR Cup teams head to LA for the Busch Light Clash where we’ll battle on a purpose-built, quarter-mile, asphalt oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Tune in to the broadcast and prepare to be entertained! The Boss, Tony Stewart, will join  Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the booth for FOX on Sunday, February 6, adding more star power to the event in Los Angeles. Don’t miss a minute of the coverage.

The Details

NASCAR Cup Series Overview

● Event: Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum
● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 6
● Location:  Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
● Layout: Quarter-mile oval
● Format: 150-lap Feature with a 23-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
● Note: Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 3-5 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 6 p.m. EST.

The FORMAT

In true L.A. fashion, almost any NASCAR Cup Series team can show up at the Coliseum, but not everyone is getting past the velvet ropes to participate in the 150-lap main event. Because the track at the L.A. Coliseum is only a quarter-mile in length – the shortest track the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on in 2022 – only 23 cars can compete in the feature. Getting to the main event is much more arduous than walking the red carpet and slipping the bouncer a $100 bill. Here’s how it will work:

• After Saturday’s practice and the initial single-car qualifying session, drivers will be placed into heat races based on their best-posted qualifying speed. Every car entered into the Clash automatically advances to one of the heat races, giving them a chance to move on to the main event.
• On Sunday, drivers compete in one of four 25-lap heat races with up to 10 cars in each race. The fields will be filled out in a manner consistent with their initial qualifying speed. Fastest will start on pole in the first heat race, second-fastest starts on pole in the second heat race, and so on (one, five, nine, etc., line up in Heat 1).
• The top four finishers in each heat race will automatically advance to the main event, totaling 16 drivers with a ticket to Sunday’s feature. Drivers who do not advance from their qualifying race will be placed into one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) races. The top three from each LCQ advance to the Sunday feature.
• The final spot in the 23-man main event is reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2021 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in the heat races or LCQ.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS

We’ll be heading to LA in style. Check out our fresh wraps for The Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum.

What Our Drivers are Saying:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your expectations for the Busch Light Clash?
“It’s going to be a lot of quick throttle, heavy brake, and the speeds are going to be so much slower compared to what we’re used to that you’re going to have to just wing that part of it.”

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

Are you excited about racing inside of the Coliseum?
“Having the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum is such a unique opportunity for our sport. All of the history this venue has is one thing, but it’s another to make history debuting the NextGen car at the same time. No one really knows what to anticipate during the race, but it’s definitely going to put on a show for the fans in attendance and those fans at home watching. The one really cool thing is that I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids that I raced inside the Coliseum. My son got really excited when I showed him pictures. He said ‘Dad that’s where the Cars movie was filmed,’ so that was funny.”

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

What was the biggest thing you learned during your rookie year in the Cup Series?
“The biggest thing I learned my rookie year was that it takes a lot of things in the Cup Series to have a good result. At the end of the day, every little detail matters, whether it’s getting off and on pit road under green, having a good pit stop, and every pit stop with no penalties, and good restarts. It literally takes every single thing to even be in the hunt at the end of the day. There are days where you can do everything perfect and you’re still not in the hunt, so just trying to capitalize on those days where you have a good car and good speed and not make mistakes. Last year, I made a lot of mistakes, whether it was penalties or just not maximizing pit road and things like that. So, I’m going to try improve on that this year and learn from those things and be able to capitalize when we do have a good car.”

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

What is it going to be like for a driver to be in that Coliseum environment, and how do your prepare for that?
“Nobody really knows what to expect with this being the first race with the new car and also a track we’ve never run before. Like I said, with how small the track is, there’s going to be a lot of beating and banging and it’s probably going to be the craziest race of the year. You get on a simulator to figure out little things – just getting prepared, getting the visuals right for the racetrack, getting a little bit of a feel for it. But really, it’s going to be a lot of adapting. You’re going to go out there for the first lap of practice and you’re going to try and soak it up and adapt as fast as you can.”

Of Special Interest: THE NEXT GEN

The NextGen car is an entirely new racecar, and if you’re keeping score at home, it’s the seventh version of the stock car NASCAR introduced in 1949. Each version has been an improvement from its predecessor, be it from a manufacturer standpoint with more aerodynamic bodies or from a NASCAR standpoint with better overall safety. Dimensions have varied over the years with drivers, teams and manufacturers politicking for various changes to spoilers, splitters, roof railings, ride-heights, etc., resulting in a multitude of templates that have shaped the on-track product. But the NextGen car is a massive leap forward, as never in NASCAR’s 73 prior years has this much time, energy and money been spent to bring a car from concept to reality. Say goodbye to such time-honored traditions as the H-pattern shifter, 750-horsepower engines, five-lug wheels and even centered door numbers. You can say “Hi” to them at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but not at a NASCAR Cup Series track. Instead, say hello to a sequential shifter, 670-horsepower engines, a single center-lock wheel nut akin to Indy cars and sports cars, and car numbers just behind the front wheels. But that’s not all. Introduce yourself to carbon fiber-reinforced plastic body panels, a carbon-fiber floor that covers the entire underneath portion of the car, and a rear-end diffuser – all of which are in place to reduce dirty air. And it’s more than skin deep, as rack-and-pinion steering replaces the archaic recirculating ball, and an independent rear suspension is a drastic upgrade from the full floating axle first championed by 1950s-era Detroit iron. The bottom line is that the NextGen car is much more in line with what manufacturers sell and consumers want. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday has never been more accurate.

Check out some of SHR’s first with the Next Gen on YouTube: