Month: July 2023

Post Race Report – Richmond

Date:  July 30, 2023

Event:  Cook Out 400 (Round 22 of 36)

Series:  NASCAR Cup Series

Location:  Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)

Format:  400 laps, broken into three stages (70 laps/160 laps/170 laps)

Race Winner:  Chris Buescher of RFK Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner:  Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing

Stage 2 Winner:  Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing (Ford)

SHR Race Finish:            

●  Ryan Preece (Started 11th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

●  Aric Almirola (Started 24th, Finished 8th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

●  Kevin Harvick (Started 8th, Finished 10th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

●  Chase Briscoe (Started 20th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

SHR Points:

●  Kevin Harvick (6th with 634 points, 110 out of first)

●  Aric Almirola (24th with 384 points, 360 out of first)

●  Ryan Preece (25th with 382 points, 362 out of first)

●  Chase Briscoe (31st with 283 points, 461 out of first)

Preece Notes:     

●  Preece earned his first top-five as well as his first top-10 of the season. This was his first top-five and second top-10 in seven career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond.

●  This was Preece’s best finish so far this season. His previous best was 12th March 12 at Phoenix Raceway.

●  Preece’s fifth-place result bettered his previous best finish at Richmond – 18th, earned in the series’ prior visit to the track in April.

●  Preece finished sixth in Stage 1 to earn five bonus points and seventh in Stage 2 to earn four more bonus points.

Almirola Notes: 

●  Almirola earned his second top-10 of the season and his fifth top-10 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond.

●  This was Almirola’s second straight finish of 12th or better. He finished 12th last Sunday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

●  This was Almirola’s second straight finish of 13th or better at Richmond. He finished 13th in the series’ prior visit to the track in April.

●  Almirola finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points.

Harvick Notes:  

●  Harvick earned his 10th top-10 of the season and his 31st top-10 in 45 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond.

●  This was Harvick’s third straight top-10. He earned back-to-back fourth-place finishes July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and last Sunday at Pocono.

●  This was Harvick’s fifth straight top-10 at Richmond. He finished eighth in September 2021, second in April 2022, first last August and fifth in his prior start in April.

●  Harvick’s 31 top-10s at Richmond are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Kyle Busch is next best with 28 top-10s.

●  Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only one finish outside the top-15 at Richmond.

●  Harvick finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points.

Briscoe Notes:   

●  Briscoe’s 11th-place result equaled his previous best finish at Richmond. He finished 11th in April 2022.

●  This was Briscoe’s second straight finish of 12th or better at Richmond. He finished 12th in the series’ prior visit to the track in April.

Race Notes:       

●  Chris Buescher won the Cook Out 400 to score his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. His margin over second-place Denny Hamlin was .549 of a second.

●  Buescher was the 13th different winner in the 22 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.

●  This was Ford’s 723rd all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its third of the season.

●  This was Ford’s 35th all-time NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond. It won its first race at the track on May 5, 1957 with Paul Goldsmith.

●  There were just three caution periods for a total of 21 laps.

●  Nineteen of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Richmond with a 39-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.

Sound Bites:

“My confidence was I’ve seen what Chad (Johnston, crew chief) has given here in year’s past and we talked a lot about what we were gonna need and I said, ‘Man, if you can get me to roll the center, I’ll deal with loose in,’ so that’s what he gave me today and this United Rentals Ford Mustang was pretty stout. Fifth, we lined up in that second row at the end, but we run more like this, we’re gonna have more opportunities to challenge for wins.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang

“It was a strong day. I don’t know that we had anything for the 17 (Chris Buescher) or the 6 (Brad Keselowski). They were really good, but I could maintain and after about 55 laps, I think we were arguably the best car on the racetrack from that point on. The first run it went 70 laps and from like lap 50 to 70 I passed a ton of cars and, unfortunately, in those next few stages the runs aren’t as long. They’re only 45-50 laps when you break them up into three, and I didn’t have enough of a long run to pass a lot of cars like I did previous. I’m frustrated that I bottomed out getting onto the apron coming to pit road under the green flag there and kind of took off in a four-wheel slide and barely clipped the orange box there with my right side tires. I’m frustrated. That’s a silly mistake. You can’t make those mistakes, but, all in all, it was a great day. I had a great Smithfield Ford Mustang. I’m really proud of our guys. We’ve been bringing some really good racecars to the racetrack lately, so we’ll see. We’ve got a few more here to try and get one.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang

“Overall, it was a decent day. Our qualifying effort hurt us more than I thought it was going to. I thought our car was really good on a long run, but just could never get the track position to go with it. It seemed like toward the end of the run we would be better than a lot of guys, but were never better enough to pass them. Overall, I thought our car was good, but just needed a little bit more speed to finish it off. With how our last couple of months have gone it’s definitely nice to have another solid run. It seems like all the short tracks we can always run good, it’s just the big tracks that we kind of struggle on so, hopefully, we can apply something we learned today for Michigan and move on.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, Aug. 6 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

In The Know – Richmond

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  Cook Out 400 (Round 22 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 30

●  Location:  Richmond (Va.) Raceway

●  Layout:  .75-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  400 laps/300 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

Harvick finished fifth in his return to Richmond in April. It was his 18th top-five and 30th top-10 in 44 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the .75-mile oval, the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Next best is Kyle Busch with 27 top-10s. Who is the all-time leader in top-10s at Richmond? None other than “The King,” seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty. He earned 41 top-10s at Richmond in 63 career starts.

Aric Almirola:

In 22 starts, Aric Almirola has earned eight top-10 finishes and two top-fives on the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway oval. He’s qualified inside the top-10 in four of his last six appearances there with a best start of sixth in the September 2018 race. Almirola’s best Richmond finish of fifth came in September 2018, his first year driving for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). In this year’s first Richmond event April 2, he ran in and around the top-10 throughout the race and earned a 13th-place finish.

Chase Briscoe:

Chase Briscoe makes his sixth NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond (Va.) Raceway Sunday in the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang. He has a best start of fourth and a best finish of 11th, both earned in April 2022. This past April, Briscoe started 19th and ran in the top-15 all race long en route to a 12th-place finish.

Ryan Preece:

The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has showed streaks of improvement and consistency at various points this season. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 21 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes – March 12 at Phoenix Raceway, April 16 at Marinsville (Va.) Speedway, May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma and July 2 at the Chicago Street Course.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

 

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang:

When you won at Richmond last August, it was your second straight victory after winning the weekend before at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. How satisfying was it to back up your Michigan win with an outright victory six days later at Richmond?

“Coming off of Michigan and being able to go there and just have the fastest car and win the race was really good for us to know, OK, we’ve got this figured out. It took us a while last year to get everything figured out, and really, the second half of the year, the cars really ran well and we had a lot of good races and we were able to get to victory lane a couple of times. So, that was definitely good for everybody’s mind at Richmond.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

You’re in a must-win situation to enter the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Where does Richmond rank in opportunities to win?

“If I could pick one out of the next handful of races to win, I will pick Richmond, hands down. That is the racetrack that I have excelled at the most and have not gone to victory lane, so I would love to do that in front of all of the Smithfield employees and their families.” 

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang:

The short-track package appears to still deliver for the No. 14 team despite the struggles you’ve been faced with lately. Does that give you some confidence heading to Richmond?

“I think it gives us something positive to look forward to. It’s going to be really important to be up front and have that good track position if we want to finish there. We saw that at Loudon. We used pit strategy to put ourselves up front and we were able to stay there. We just have to keep making the most out of what we have.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

Do you enjoy racing at Richmond?

“I do. I’m a short-track racer, so that’s a really big part of it. It definitely doesn’t drive like a lot of other short tracks but, if you can compare it, it’s more like Phoenix. We had our best finish of the season at Phoenix earlier this season, too, so that’s in the back of my head. The corners aren’t as tight at Richmond and the track is so unique. Our team needs to unload and be fast right away so we can qualify up front and stay there. Track position is always the name of the game and we’ve had to fight for track position these last few weeks because we didn’t qualify as well as we hoped. I’m hoping this weekend is different and we can be up front to start things off.”

Post Race Report – Pocono

Date: July 23, 2023
Event: HighPoint.com 400 (Round 21 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 160 laps, broken into three stages (30 laps/65 laps/65 laps)

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports

SHR Race Finish:
● Kevin Harvick (Started 4th, Finished 4th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Aric Almirola (Started 27th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 29th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 160 of 160 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 34th, Finished 31st / Running, completed 159 of 160 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (8th with 601 points, 110 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (25th with 352 points, 359 out of first)
● Ryan Preece (27th with 341 points, 370 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (31st with 257 points, 454 out of first)

SHR Notes:
● Harvick earned his sixth top-five and ninth top-10 of the season. It was his 16th top-five and 23rd top-10 in 44 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● Harvick’s 16 top-fives and 23 top-10s at Pocono are the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Denny Hamlin is next best with 15 top-fives and 22 top-10s.
● This was Harvick’s second straight top-five. He finished fourth last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
● Since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has only four finishes outside of the top-10 at Pocono – a span of 18 races.
● Almirola earned his fifth top-15 of the season and his seventh top-15 in 21 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono.
● This was Almirola’s eighth straight finish of 16th or better at Pocono.

Race Notes:
● Hamlin won the HighPoint.com 400 to score his milestone 50th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his seventh at Pocono. Tyler Reddick crossed the finish line second as the race ended under caution.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 44 laps.
● Thirty of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 30-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“I would’ve rather won, but I think we just have to keep ourselves in the mix, keep doing what we’re doing, and you just never know how these things are going to play out. We needed the front in clean air and we never really got that. Our car just struggled in traffic on that first lap of the restarts to get going with the front tires, but it was a strange race. I didn’t ever think that that strategy would play out like it did, running where we were and then have it cycle all through. You’ve just got to keep going every lap. They know what they’re doing up there and let it play out.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Peach Ford Mustang

“Today was a tough day, but I’m glad we were able to finish on the lead lap. We’ve had success at Pocono with HighPoint.com and I really wanted to get them a good finish in their race. We still have a lot of work to do on the No. 14 team, but I have all the confidence in these guys and I know we’ll figure it out.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out 400 on Sunday, July 30 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

In The Know – Pocono

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  HighPoint.com 400 (Round 21 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 23

●  Location:  Pocono (Pa.) Raceway

●  Layout:  2.5-mile triangle

●  Laps/Miles:  160 laps/400 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 30 laps / Stage 2: 65 laps / Final Stage: 65 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

On June 27, 2020, in his 39th NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono, Harvick finally nabbed a coveted victory at the “Tricky Triangle.” After starting ninth and methodically working his way toward the front, Harvick led the final 17 laps to take the checkered flag by .761 of a second over runner-up Hamlin in the first race of a doubleheader weekend. Harvick then followed up his win with a strong second-place finish Sunday, as Hamlin came home the victor.

Aric Almirola:

 The No. 10 Ford Mustang will sport a new Ford Motor Company livery this weekend at Pocono. Almirola has been a Ford driver for the entirety of his 12-year fulltime Cup Series career. Ford is one of the most successful global racing programs and is the only car manufacturer to win the world’s most prestigious races, including the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Rolex 24 at Daytona, the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals, the Baja 1000, Rally Great Britain, the Bathurst 1,000, and even the Rallycross competition at the X Games. Ford has 722 all-time wins in the NASCAR Cup Series by 88 different drivers, including all three of Almirola’s career victories. Additionally, Ford has won 10 Cup series championships and 17 manufacturer titles.

Chase Briscoe:

Briscoe has visited Pocono’s victory lane twice – once in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and once in the ARCA Menards Series. In 2020, the native of Mitchell, Indiana, overcame a pit-road speeding penalty, a near-miss in a multicar accident and a late-race spin while leading to notch his fourth Xfinity Series win of the season and the first home-track win for HighPoint.com. He led 24 laps that day.

Ryan Preece:

Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 will mark Preece’s seventh Cup Series start at Pocono. His previous six outings were with JTG-Daugherty Racing, beginning with the June 2019 race when he started 29th and finished 23rd. Preece started on the pole but finished 25th in the second race of the Pocono doubleheader weekend in 2020. In his most recent Pocono appearance, the second race of the June 2021 weekend doubleheader, Preece started 23rd and finished eighth, his best at the track. In two career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Preece has a best finish of fourth, which came in 2019 with JR Motorsports after starting eighth. Preece has also made two NASCAR Truck Series starts at Pocono, both with David Gilliland Racing. The first was in 2021, when he started eighth and finished ninth, and the second last season, when he started 22nd and finished second after leading six laps.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

 

W

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

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

You mentioned the Tunnel Turn – what makes it so difficult?

“The Tunnel Turn is difficult just because you try to carry so much speed through there. It’s not an extremely hard corner, but it’s an extremely hard corner to carry speed through there without having the front end push or the back slide out. It’s not an extremely hard corner until you try to go through there as fast as you can lap after lap. It’s an easy corner to make a mistake. You can give up a lot of time there, but you can also make a lot of time.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10  Ford Mustang:

What is your best memory of Pocono over the years?

“My best memory of Pocono would be that doubleheader weekend we had in 2020 during the pandemic. I ran really well and led a lot of laps. We finished third in the first race, then we had to invert the field, which put me in the middle of the pack, and we ran really well that next race. It was my best weekend at Pocono. That weekend, I was like, ‘Yes I finally figured out Pocono.’”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com  Ford Mustang:

How do you keep your head in the right place for a track that challenging?

“I think some guys go in with the mindset or mentality where they’re already kind of defeated before they get there because it’s such a tough track. That’s half the battle and I’ve always loved racing there. But it is probably one of the most terrifying places we race. The front straightaway is so long, and you can’t see the end of the corner. You’re almost going into this 90-degree corner and, you know, hopefully you come out OK on the other side. The racing is tough but the track has a great atmosphere with all the fans camping, so if you can go in knowing you have challenges that you just have to manage, the success will come and then you get to go out and celebrate with all of those people that have stuck it out all weekend.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang:

You have a good amount of experience at Pocono and some really good results there in the Xfinity Series and Truck Series. What is it about Pocono that you like?

“It just really fits my style of racing. I really enjoy the racing that Pocono provides. Our team has been really emphasizing a handful of tracks and this is one of them, just like New Hampshire was. New Hampshire just didn’t go our way last weekend, which was a bummer because I really hoped for a better result. We’ve been working really hard on the simulator and making sure our car is just right when it comes off the truck. That’s important for our team, and then qualifying well is key. We’ve seen how important qualifying at the front is at these tracks because you don’t know if you’ll be able to maneuver the track and make those passes necessary to get up there and contend. We’re consistently moving in the right direction and this weekend will be no different.”

In The Know – New Hampshire

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  Crayon 301 (Round 20 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16

●  Location:  New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon

●  Layout:  1.058-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  301 laps / 318.46 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 115 laps / Final Stage: 116 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

As a 23-year veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series with 60 career wins, Kevin Harvick has a lot of good racetracks. New Hampshire Motor Speedway is one of them. The driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has made 39 starts at the 1.058-mile oval and won four times – tied with retired driver Jeff Burton for the most all-time. And when he hasn’t ended his race in victory lane, Harvick has been well within the vicinity. He has 14 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes, both of which lead the series among active Cup Series drivers

Aric Almirola:

Aric Almirola won the July 2021 NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After a two-hour rain delay, he and the field battled daylight. With darkness closing in on the 1.058-mile oval, Almirola sprung to life late and pulled off the surprise victory. The win catapulted him from 27th in the standings to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time in his career. Almirola is in the exact same points position heading into this weekend’s race.

Chase Briscoe:

The 28-year-old driver has four top-10 finishes this season, three of which came on tracks measuring 1 mile or less. Briscoe finished seventh at Phoenix Raceway and fifth at the flat, paperclip-shaped Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He also earned a fifth-place effort in the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway dirt race.

Ryan Preece:

Ryan Preece and the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are heading home to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, approximately two hours and 45 minutes from Preece’s hometown; Berlin, Connecticut. The Cup Series heads North for afternoon action at the 1.058-mile oval on Sunday, July 16 at 2:30 p.m. EDT on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

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

You get a giant lobster for winning at New Hampshire. Other than scaring your kids with it in victory lane, what do you do with it?

“My lobster, they mounted on a board. It sat in a closet and his claws fell off and some of his arms and legs fell off, so we took the lobster off the board and we used the board for a skateboard ramp. That was what happened to my first lobster because he just fell apart and we used the board for Keelan’s skateboard ramp.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

Does it give you a lot of confidence knowing you won at New Hampshire in 2021?

“It certainly does give me a lot of confidence going back to New Hampshire and to know that we are capable of winning. I get really excited about going to a place where I have notoriously run well at and, every time I show up to New Hampshire, I have just a tremendous amount of confidence. I know what I need out of my racecar. I know what I want it to feel like and so, because of those things, I just show up with the right mindset. And, if we have the car and we execute, I know we’re capable of winning. I do get excited and fired up about going to New Hampshire. It was an awesome day in 2021, and holding that lobster in victory lane and celebrating with all my team guys and knowing that that catapulted us into the playoffs gives me a lot of good memories as I get ready to go to New Hampshire this weekend, knowing that we can do that again.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Gen.G Mobil 1 Ford Mustang:

In the last three weeks, we’ve seen a change, even if a slight one, in the performance of the No. 14 team. Do you feel like anything has changed?

“There has definitely been a change in team dynamics – the way we communicate and prepare. I know I’ve been held way more accountable over the last two or three weeks. I feel like we’ve run some good races, like Chicago, where the strategy just didn’t really work out for us. We’ve been able to capitalize on better starting positions, which helps out in the race if maybe we don’t have the best speed. We’ve seen track position become so important, so that helps a little more, to have a starting spot that is 10 to 15 positions better. I do think that we’ve seen that light at the other end of the tunnel and it’s just a matter of getting there. I’ve heard some comments from people outside of the organization saying it’s not better, but it’s not going to be a quick change. It’s going to take time and that’s where you just have to keep believing and knowing what we’re working toward.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang:

Is this a race that you’ve been looking forward to and have circled on your calendar?

“Absolutely. I put in a lot of preparation at going over details with Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and amongst my team every week, but when you see places like this, you put in that extra little bit. That  little bit more to make sure because, you know at the end of the day, me going to New Hampshire versus me going to Kansas is my opportunity; my opportunity  to win at a place like New Hampshire is greater. Definitely, I have a really good idea and feel for what I need to get around New Hampshire Motor Speedway fast. We’ve been heading in that direction. I feel really confident with what we’re bringing that we can be a contender.”

 

Post Race Report – Atlanta

Date:  July 9, 2023

Event:  Atlanta 400 (Round 19 of 36)

Series:  NASCAR Cup Series

Location:  Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia (1.54-mile oval)

Format:  260 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/100 laps/100 laps)

Note:  Race called 75 laps short of its scheduled 260-lap distance due to rain.

Race Winner:  William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports

Stage 1 Winner:  Ryan Blaney of Team Penske

Stage 2 Winner:  Brad Keselowski of RFK Racing

SHR Race Finish:            

●  Aric Almirola (Started 1st, Finished 18th / Running, completed 185 of 185 laps)

●  Chase Briscoe (Started 3rd, Finished 22nd / Running, completed 185 of 185 laps)

●  Ryan Preece (Started 13th, Finished 24th / Running, completed 185 of 185 laps)

●  Kevin Harvick (Started 6th, Finished 30th / Running, completed 181 of 185 laps)

SHR Points:

●  Kevin Harvick (9th with 530 points, 98 out of first)

●  Ryan Preece (25th with 326 points, 302 out of first)

●  Aric Almirola (27th with 317 points, 311 out of first)

●  Chase Briscoe (31st with 222 points, 406 out of first)

SHR Notes:        

●  Almirola won the pole for the Atlanta 400 with a lap of 31.261 seconds at 177.346 mph. It was Almirola’s fifth career Cup Series pole and his second at Atlanta. It was the 59th NASCAR Cup Series pole for SHR.

●  Almirola led twice for a race-high 46 laps.

●  Almirola finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn a bonus point.

●  Preece finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn a bonus point.

Race Notes:       

●  William Byron won the Atlanta 400 to score his eighth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season and his second at Atlanta. Daniel Suárez finished second as the race finished under caution.

●  There were seven caution periods for a total of 43 laps.

●  Twenty-seven of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

●  Byron leaves Atlanta as the new championship leader with a 21-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Crayon 301 on Sunday, July 16 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

In The Know – Atlanta

NASCAR Cup Series Overview:

●  Event:  Atlanta 400 (Round 19 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 9

●  Location:  Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia

●  Layout:  1.54-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  260 laps/400 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 100 laps

●  TV/Radio:  USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

Sunday’s Atlanta 400 will mark Harvick’s 36th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta – the most of any active driver – but only his fourth on the new configuration. In his 32 starts on the old layout, Harvick led the way with a series-high nine top-fives, 16 top-10s (tied with Kurt Busch), 1,348 laps led and 10,127 laps completed. Who is the all-time leader at Atlanta? That’s none other than Richard Petty. They call him “The King” for a reason: 65 career Cup Series starts at Atlanta with six wins, 22 top-fives, 33 top-10s and 1,827 laps led with 17,513 laps completed.

Aric Almirola:

Almirola has a solid record at superspeedways with two wins, six top-fives, 12 top-10s and 84 laps led. In June 2020, he scored his eighth-consecutive top-10 at Talladega to tie the track record for most consecutive top-10s – a mark first set by Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., from April 2001 to October 2004.

Chase Briscoe:

In three starts at the superspeedway-style intermediate track in Hampton, Georgia, Briscoe has a best finish of 15th, earned in March 2022. He came home 24th in the first visit to Atlanta earlier this year.

Ryan Preece:

The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has continued to improve in recent weeks and has seen more and more consistency, providing a heightened sense of motivation. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 18 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes, four of which came in the last six points-paying races – May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma, and Sunday’s race in Chicago.

Our Weekly Wraps:

 

What Our Drivers Are Saying:

Kevin Harvick Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang:

With three NASCAR Cup Series races on the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, the new Atlanta really isn’t all that new anymore. How would you describe the current track?

“It’s just a superspeedway race on a mile-and-a-half racetrack. Things just happen a lot faster, so the decisions have to happen faster, the cars move around a lot more, the corners come up a lot quicker. A lot more seat-of-your-pants, just, ‘Go here, go there, do this, do that.’”

Aric Almirola Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

With your successful superspeedway career, do you look forward to Atlanta?

“I have always enjoyed going to Atlanta. It has been a place that we are so fast as a race team. It’s been a place where we have led a lot of laps recently and I look forward to going there knowing we can put ourselves in a position to win. Unfortunately, both times we have led laps we have been wrecked out or cut a tire from the lead toward the end of the race. Things have to go our way, eventually, and I know we can put ourselves back in that position again this weekend.”

Chase Briscoe Driver of the No. 14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang:

How important is track position at Atlanta where you don’t have a chance to practice before the field is set in qualifying?

“With this new car, track position has become very important, but you really have to have your balance figured out at Atlanta compared to some of the other big tracks we race at. As much as we like to say it races like a superspeedway, we’re more reliant on the handling at Atlanta than we would be at Daytona or Talladega. It’s always a good thing to start up front but, if the car isn’t set up right, we’re going to the back quickly and it’ll be hard to make that up.”

Ryan Preece Driver of the No. 41 Sony Mobile ES Ford Mustang:

Does the fact that this weekend’s race is a night race change anything from a driver perspective?

“As a driver, I just hope the track loses some grip for us. With the track being superspeedway-style racing, evertything is happening so fast and it’s a unique track layout. The track is just going to continue to change throughout the race. It’s definitely a superspeedway and we can really capitalize on that, but we have to be smart, too. We didn’t get the opportunity to do some of the drafting because of losing the cylinder earlier this season but we know we will have options with the different lanes at this track. It’ll be interesting but I’m looking forward to it.”

Post Race Report – Chicago Street Course

Date: July 2, 2023
Event: Inaugural Grant Park 220 (Round 18 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Chicago Street Course (temporary 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit)
Format: 100 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/25 laps/55 laps)
Note: Race was shortened 22 laps shy of its scheduled 100-lap distance due to darkness.

Race Winner: Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing
Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing
Stage 2 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing

SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 24th, Finished 12th / Running, completed 78 of 78 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 28th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 78 of 78 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 16th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 78 of 78 laps)
● Kevin Harvick (Started 35th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 78 of 78 laps)

SHR Points:
● Kevin Harvick (7th with 523 points, 68 out of first)
● Ryan Preece (25th with 312 points, 279 out of first)
● Aric Almirola (27th with 297 points, 294 out of first)
● Chase Briscoe (31st with 207 points, 384 out of first)

SHR Notes:
● Almirola earned his best result since finishing sixth April 16 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
● This was Preece’s sixth straight finish of 17th or better.
● Briscoe finished 10th in Stage 2 to earn a bonus point.

Race Notes:
● In his first career NASCAR Cup Series start, Shane van Gisbergen won the inaugural Grant Park 220, becoming the first driver in 60 years to win in his Cup Series debut. The New Zealander and three-time Supercars champion beat second-place Justin Haley by 1.259 seconds. The last time a Cup Series driver won in his first career start was Johnny Rutherford at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in 1963.
● Van Gisbergen was the 12th different winner in the 18 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season.
● There were nine caution periods for a total of 21 laps.
● All but three of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Martin Truex Jr., remains the championship leader after Chicago with a nine-point advantage over second-place William Byron.

Sound Bites:

“What an awesome event. It’s almost dark out and the city’s lit up. Amazing event. My hat is off to NASCAR, the city of Chicago, everybody who thought about putting on this event. What an amazing event. I’m glad to have a good run, too – the start of the turnaround of our season, hopefully. It was pretty dicey there in the wet. I’m not going to lie. I was tip-toeing around just trying to not crash, trying to survive, and I’m so glad that it finally dried out and we got slicks on and got those rain tires off. I was way more competitive in those conditions. Just super proud of Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and everybody on this Smithfield Ford Mustang team. We’re grinding. We’re fighting and, hopefully, this is the turn we need to go get us a win here in the next few races.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang

“Truthfully, for a street course, I think it raced better than I thought it would. There are definitely parts that can be improved, like widening the track, but all things considered, it surprised me compared to what I thought it was going to be. I thought there were a ton of fans here, and I thought the event was cool. I would’ve loved for the weather to cooperate so we could’ve seen what this event could’ve really turned into, because there were still so many people out there for how bad the weather was. Hopefully, we can do it again, do a couple things better, and put on an even better race.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Atlanta 400 on Sunday, July 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The race begins at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.