Author: Ashlyn Siske

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff-opening South Point Hotel Casino 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a team operating like a well-oiled machine.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion finished the 26-race regular season as the series leader with seven points-paying wins, 19 top-five finishes, 22 top-10s, 1,220 laps led and 50 playoff points, but second in total regular-season points. He starts the playoffs as the second seed but is tied with leader Kyle Busch for the most points at 2,050 after the regular-season standings were reset for the 16 drivers who qualified for the playoffs.

One of Harvick’s seven wins through the first 26-races came in the season’s third race at Las Vegas in March. However, this weekend’s race will be a new challenge as it is the first time the Cup Series has visited Las Vegas in the playoffs, and hot temperatures combined with a slick racing surface will make things much different for drivers and teams than they were during the 400-miler in March.

To help combat this weekend’s harsh conditions, Harvick and the No. 4 team expect to benefit from SHR’s technology partnership with Mobil 1, which is a unique combination of experience, expertise and innovative thinking that strives to consistently deliver performance-enhancing results on the track.

Mobil 1 works to reduce engine temperatures and to increase engine efficiency. The products allow the No. 4 Ford to reduce rolling resistance, which contributes to increased acceleration on restarts on the way to reaching top speed. Mobil 1 continues to perform rigorous testing with the SHR teams to improve on-track performance, including the reduction of frictional loss in the engines to maximize fuel mileage, increase horsepower and turn more rpm.

The Mobil 1 products reduce friction in the suspension components, as well, providing maximum tire grip and helping to reduce steering compliance to give precision control and improved handling for Harvick behind the wheel.

More good news for Harvick and the No. 4 team is that they enter the playoffs with 50 playoffs points. Those 50 playoffs points will be a huge benefit as the team attempts to advance out of the Round of 16 and into the Round of 12. In fact, the playoff points could be beneficial through each of the rounds as long as the team advances.

Additional race and stage wins would give Harvick nearly a full-race cushion as the team tries for its second championship in four years. Therefore, the goal remains the same – win races and stages as often as possible to reach the season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in 10 weeks.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’ve had a great regular season. How do you carry that into the final 10 playoff races?

“We had a good first 26 weeks. Obviously, you want to win all the races that you can and we were fortunate to win seven of them in the first 26, so it’s been a good regular season. But, now it’s crunch time. You have to go out and perform and try to do the exact same thing that we did through the first 26 races of the season in the last 10 races – that’s winning races. That is the focus and the mindset we need to have because there is no guarantee that you get to the next round. The bonus points and playoff points are nice, and you can continue to accumulate those, but there are no guarantees as we saw last year with Kyle Larson. He had a lot of bonus points but still didn’t make it into Homestead. We just have to take it one week at a time – that’s my mentality and we’ll try to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Do you try and step up the intensity or add motivation to the crew prior to the start of the playoffs?

“I would rather not because I would hope that we’re prepared. A lot of the guys on our team have been to the playoffs, won a championship; they’ve been there with their backs against the wall having to win races. The more you can make it like just another week – and with the intensity level it’s not just another week, but the more you can make it like every other week that we’ve been racing with a playoff atmosphere – the better off you’re going to be. When you go there and try to do something with more intensity, you start making mistakes pressuring the pit crew guys or crew guys trying to do things that they haven’t been doing. It has to be a part of the process. It has to be a part of how you think and the things you do to prepare going into this race need to be the same as how you went into the last race. I just believe the playoff points structure and how the points are structured – you have to go to the Daytona 500 and start collecting bonus points. Martin Truex Jr. proved that last year with the things he did and the way that they went about their regular season. It just kept building all the way through the year. Those playoff points are important and the race wins are even more important. There is nothing that builds more confidence than race wins.

You won at Las Vegas earlier in the year. How is this race going to be different from that one?

“As we go to Las Vegas this week, we know we went there and won the race at the beginning of the year. Now we want to go back and do the same thing. But, you have to adapt to all the things that have changed over the last 23 weeks and the weather conditions. There are going to be differences because of the track surface temperature, ambient temperature. All of the heat that goes through the racecar affects everything. It affects how big the hole is, how you cool the gear, how you cool the driver and how much tape you have to take off to cool the engine. The brakes are going to get hotter and the tires are going to build pressure faster. Are you going to move up the racetrack earlier because you’re looking for grip? I don’t know. The one thing about this weekend is you have the trucks there, the Xfinity cars there, so the track is going to be pretty rubbered up and different than it is in the spring.”

Playoff time is finally here and it couldn’t come soon enough for No. 14 One Cure Ford Fusion driver Clint Bowyer.

The first round of NASCAR’s 10-race, 16-driver playoffs begin this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For Bowyer, who’s making his first playoff appearance since 2015, it’s the moment he’s been waiting for since joining Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2017.

“We have such a long season with so many races that it’s easy to get in a routine, especially after you get a win and you know you are in the playoffs,” said Bowyer, who finished second in the playoffs once and in the top-five three times during his career. “But, there’s nothing routine about what starts this weekend in Las Vegas. The pay window is open and it’s time we start racing for a championship. It’s why we are here and why I joined this organization.”

Bowyer begins the playoffs fifth in the reset standings with 2,015 points thanks to a seventh-place finish in the final regular-season standings, a stage victory Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, plus victories at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March and a June victory at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn. To advance to Round 2 of the playoffs, Bowyer needs to remain in the top-12 in points through Round 1. That makes running well Sunday at Las Vegas, Sept. 22 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, and Sept. 30 on the new road course at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway imperative to a chance for the title.

“I’ve always thought the first round is the toughest,” he said. “You have to be ready to go right out of the box. You can’t have any mistakes. You sure as heck can’t afford to get behind.”

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford will carry the green-and-white colors of One Cure this weekend in Las Vegas. One Cure is a project led by the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University. The One Cure program is founded on the principle that cancer affects all creatures and that treatment breakthroughs come through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with people and animals. This approach is known as comparative oncology and it is the guiding concept of One Cure and the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State. The center works to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets, and teams with the human medical field to translate research findings that will help people with cancer.

The center, located in the university’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sees more than 1,500 new animal cancer patients every year, with approximately 130 patients enrolling in carefully monitored clinical trials specific to their cancer type. The canine and feline patients are helping pioneer cancer research, moving cutting-edge treatments out of the laboratory and into clinical practice, ultimately providing hope to the next generation of animal and human cancer patients.

“There isn’t much difference between dogs and humans when it comes to cancer,” Bowyer said. “What they get, we get. We’re both in the same environment, drink the same water and react the same way. So, One Cure is researching cancer in dogs and other pets not only to treat them, but to apply that research in the hopes it will lead to curing cancer in humans, as well.”

SHR first featured the One Cure initiative on its No. 10 Ford in 2017. This year, it has appeared on Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford in March at Las Vegas and in June at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway with the goal of encouraging race fans to visit www.OneCure.com, where they can learn about the research and offer financial support.

Bowyer hopes he can create even more attention for One Cure Sunday at the fast, 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval. It marks his 13th start at Las Vegas, where he owns a top-five finish and four top-10s in 13 races. He arrives in in Las Vegas after leading a race-high 37 laps, winning Stage 1 and finishing fifth Monday at Indianapolis.

It’s been a solid regular season for Bowyer in 2018. He’s earned two victories, seven top-five finishes and 12 top-10s. He and his SHR teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch have combined for 10 victories and comprise three of the top six positions in the playoffs.

“All that doesn’t matter anymore,” Bowyer said. “The next 10 races will define everyone’s season.”

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 One Cure Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Can you and the No. 14 team compete with the dominant tier of drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., in the playoffs?

“You have to elevate your game and rise to their capabilities and expectations. Those guys, not only do they have the wins, they are dominant cars that have led a lot of laps when they get those wins and all the stage points and all that stuff. You have to be able to do that more consistently. On our team, that is what we have to do. We have touched on that and made some mistakes and know we have to get those mistakes behind us to capitalize on every possible situation. Every stage. Every lap. That is what we have to do better. We have to smooth out the highs and lows. You have to stay on top of the mountain. You can’t fall off the damn mountain. That’s what it boils down to.”

Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after a 23^rd-place finish Monday in the rain-delayed Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the final race of the regular season.

Almirola secured his second career berth in the Cup Series playoffs at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway earlier this month. The Smithfield driver and his 15 fellow playoff competitors begin their quest for the NASCAR Cup Series championship for the first time at Las Vegas, and this weekend marks the first time the series has visited the 1.5-mile desert oval twice in the same year. Conditions are expected to be night-and-day different than during their March visit as ambient temperatures are expected to climb well into the triple digits.

Almirola earned one of his 10 top-10 finishes this season in the March race at Las Vegas, his best career finish at the track, and he was the second-highest-finishing SHR driver as Kevin Harvick scored the victory that day. In his 10 starts at Las Vegas, Almirola has a best qualifying position of seventh, earned in March 2016.

In Almirola’s seven starts at 1.5-mile tracks at this season, he has three top-10 finishes and has started in the top-10 three times. At the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, he led a season-high 70 laps.

The 34-year-old Almirola previously contended for the championship in 2014. This season also marks the first time crew chief John Klausmeier enters the playoffs in his role as the leader of a team. Klausmeier is the only first-year crew chief in the running for this year’s ultimate prize. Even though it’s the University of Maryland, Baltimore County graduate’s freshman year as a crew chief, he’s experienced when it comes to playoff pressure from his engineering tenure with SHR driver Kurt Busch.

SHR has enjoyed its most successful season as a four-car contingent in 2018. SHR is the only four-car team to have all of its entries in the playoff field.

Almirola has four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas and earned a best finish of 11^th in March 2015. Additionally, he has three starts in the NASCAR Camping World Series with all three finishes inside the top-10 with four laps led.

Fans can still enter for their chance to win Smithfield’s Smoke Machine Mustang designed by team co-owner Tony Stewart with the help of drifting champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. They helped create a one-of-a-kind Ford Mustang RTR Spec 3 that will be given away to one lucky fan. Fans can register for their chance to win the suped-up Mustang and a trip to November’s Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead by visiting SmithfieldRacing.com, or by texting SMOKE to 82257.

Las Vegas marks the 24^th points-paying event during which the Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Fusion. Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, which is based approximately five hours northeast of SHR headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its seventh season with Almirola and its first with SHR. Founded in 1936, Smithfield is a leading provider of high-quality pork products, with a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts.

In 26 Cup Series outings this year, Almirola has an average start of 17.8 and an average finish of 14.3, with one top-five finish and 10 top-10s. He’s also led 115 laps this season, already a career best. Almirola rounds out the four-driver SHR contingent at 14^th in the point standings. The season’s consistency on the track allowed Almirola to clinch his playoff spot.

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

Now that we’re headed into the first race of the playoffs, has the mindset changed?

“No, not really. We’re showing up with fast cars and that’s what we have to keep on doing, and run up front. Eventually, things will turn and lady luck will go our way. We just have to keep pressing forward. We have a great group of guys, great team. And our Smithfield Ford Fusions are fast. We just have to put a whole race together and go win a race.”

When you look at the first three playoff races, what do you think is your best chance in the first three races? 

“I think the roval (at Charlotte) is an unknown for everybody, but I feel like Vegas and Richmond we’ll be really good at. We’ve been good at most of the mile-and-a-half tracks from summertime on. We were really good at Richmond earlier this year. Between those two tracks, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to going to those two places but, with the roval, who knows.”

Will it be a bonus going to the track the second time with your crew chief Johnny Klausmeier?  

“I think so. We’ve run really well and, the more we work together, the faster I feel like our cars are showing up to the racetrack. And we’re doing a good job of understanding each other, understanding what I want out of the racecar, understanding where we need to be balance-wise. Johnny is making good adjustments and we’re bringing fast cars to the track. If we keep doing that, we’re going to be fine. We’re going into the playoffs and we’re just going to put our heads down and go to work like we have all year. I feel like we’re under the radar and not a lot of people have noticed how much speed we’ve had, so hopefully we surprise a lot of people starting this week.” 

At the start of the year, did it seem like all eyes were on you and your goal of making the playoffs. Outside of winning, do you feel like this year has gone how you hoped?

“I think it has. We’ve had a really good year and we’ve had fast racecars. I feel like the one thing that’s missing is just a trip to victory lane. We’ve run so well. We’ve had cars that have run up front and we’ve led races and we’ve been in contention, and then we just keep having crazy things happen. Indy is a perfect example. I had a car that could run in the top-three or top-five, and then had a flat right-rear tire right before the end of Stage 2. Eventually those things are not going to happen and eventually we’re going to have good fortune go our way and it will show. The speed and everything that we have will all come together, hopefully, at the right time and we’ll go on a tear.”

The voice of legendary sports broadcaster Brent Musburger can be heard saying, “You are looking live at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the 2018 NASCAR playoffs are set to begin.”\

Musburger, who is now a Las Vegas resident, used his trademark opening line “You are looking live” before countless professional football games. But there was always added emphasis if it was before an NFL playoff game. And before he would introduce his broadcasting partners Irv Cross, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder and Phyllis George, Musburger would always highlight key players.

And if he was working Sunday’s opening race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Las Vegas, Musburger would highlight Kurt Busch, who is a Las Vegas native and would love to win the opening race of 2018 postseason.

Busch has won two poles and scored one top-five finish and four top-10s at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval. Additionally, the 40-year-old driver has led 85 laps, has an average starting position of 9.1, an average finish of 22.5, and has completed 95.2 percent – 4,341 of 4,560 – of the laps he’s contested there.

But he’s never found victory lane at his hometown track. And it would be a Vegas-style party if he wins it this year.

Think of Dale Earnhardt in 1998 winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Or Busch’s boss, Tony Stewart, when he finally won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2005.

That would be Busch if he could be victorious at Las Vegas, especially with it being the opening race of the playoffs for the first time.

He and the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing have had a great season thus far, winning one race, scoring 17 top-10 finishes and entering the playoffs tied for sixth in points.

And both Busch and his crew chief Billy Scott would love nothing better than getting a victory at Las Vegas to start the playoffs in the best way possible, and giving Busch a heartfelt, hometown win.

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Thoughts on the playoffs?

“We have to stick with our strengths and that is consistency. We’ve qualified well all year. We’ve had good pit strategy and we just have to make sure we don’t make any mistakes that hurt us and we lose a lot of track position. So, right now, it’s the playoffs and we’ll just work our way through and advance through the rounds.”

Are you worried about the “Big Three” of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.?

“They’ll be strong. You can never count them out. There’s a group of us that’s from fourth to I’d say 16^th. I mean, everybody that’s in the playoffs has a chance, but those big three have bonus points that will help them advance.”

What track are you most comfortable about in the first round?

“My hometown Vegas has been tough on me over the years. The roval (at Charlotte) is going be terribly exciting (laughing). We’re going to go with Richmond. I think Richmond is our strongest track in that first round. We have the best driver rating there from the spring race. We just didn’t execute to finish the race, so we’ll see how it all plays out. That first round is all new tracks for the first round.”

Does racing in Las Vegas give you a “home-field” advantage, and are you excited about two chances to win at Vegas in 2018?

“It never translated to a home-field advantage. I’ve always struggled at Las Vegas. I’ve qualified well but just haven’t raced that well. I’m looking to turn that around. There’s no sense in having the fast laps at the beginning if you can’t back them up at the end. And to get the second weekend, that’s huge for Las Vegas. To kick off the NASCAR playoffs in Las Vegas, it will be hot – be forewarned – and it will be a new, exciting feel for our sport. I’m really happy for the track and the town to have two dates.”

What does it feel like coming back to Las Vegas?

“Vegas is different. It’s our hometown and we grew up racing on that little three-eighth-mile bullring that is in the shadows of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Every time I go out there, it reminds me of all the people who helped Kyle (Busch, brother) and I, especially our dad Tom. But the different Late Model teams, Modified teams, the Legend car races, and all the competitors, the Dwarf car days. It’s just fun to come back and reminisce. But, ultimately, you’ve got to strap on the helmet and focus on the task at hand. It’s always special in Vegas.” 

Of those venues that you mentioned, is there an area out West that you like to visit – have to visit – when you’re out there? 

“My hometown of Las Vegas, going back there to see family, friends, and restaurants. There’s this old-school place where we always used to go get pizza when I was a kid. It was just great to go back to the roots and reminisce. It gets you back to where everything started, going to Vegas.”

Event:               DC Solar 300 (Round 26 of 33)
Date:                 Sept. 15, 2018
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Layout:             1.5-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• Custer’s most recent start on a 1.5-mile oval was at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, where he earned his fourth-career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole, led 14 laps and secured his 10^th top-five finish of 2018. He led the 2017 Xfinity Series with 422 points at 1.5-mile tracks after winning the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway by 15.405 seconds and winning Stages 1 and 2.
• The DC Solar 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the last race of the regular season. Custer is second in the standings, 49 points behind first-place Justin Allgaier. The winner of the regular-season championship will earn an additional 15 playoff points – equivalent to winning three races.
• The DC Solar 300 is the seventh of 11 races on 1.5-mile tracks on the 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. Custer has earned one pole, four top-five finishes, five top-10s and has led 47 laps in the six 1.5-mile races run this season.
• Custer has competed in four career races at Las Vegas – one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, two Xfinity Series starts and one in the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
• In 20 career Xfinity Series starts and nine Truck Series starts at 1.5-mile ovals, Custer has one win, one pole, nine top-five finishes and 17 top-10s.
• Custer, a native of Ladera Ranch, California, grew up racing in grassroots series across the Western United States. He began racing at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011, earning a victory in the USAC Young Gun division to help him secure the USAC National Focus Young Gun championship. Then, in 2012, he became the youngest Late Model division winner at the Bullring, also earning the NASCAR Nevada Rookie of the Year title.
• 00 Code 3 Associates Ford crew chief Jeff Meendering isn’t a stranger to success at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Meendering was the NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for Bobby Labonte throughout the 2008 season, earning a 17^th-place finish at Las Vegas in his third race with the team. He has come close to victory lane at the 1.5-mile oval as a car chief for Jeff Gordon, earning a fourth-place finish in 2005, a fifth-place finish in 2006 and a second-place finish in 2007.
• Custer’s average starting position of 6.4 and four pole awards leads all Xfinity Series regulars. He has earned 18 top-five starts and 23 top-10 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
• Custer’s 20 top-10 finishes is tied with Elliott Sadler and Allgaier for most among Xfinity Series regulars.
• Custer has earned four poles, 10 top-five finishes and has led 237 laps in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Describe a lap behind the wheel at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It’s pretty much just really fast and you’re wide open. You’re going to start racing around the bottom, but you’ll be able to move around a bit by the end of the day. The biggest challenge is just trying to get used to the edgy feeling that you’re going to have from running wide open.”

Knowing that you’re second in the regular-season standings and third and fourth place are just a few points behind, how important is it to hold onto second place to earn 10 playoff points – equivalent to winning two races?

“Points are huge right now. You want to pack on as much as you can get because it gives you a cushion in that first round. We had some bad luck in the playoffs last year with tires going down, so having a few extra points helps when things just don’t go your way.”

How has Cup Series racing at Las Vegas given you an edge at the 1.5-mile track?

“The Cup race definitely helped me learn a lot about the track earlier in the year and gave me a lot of confidence in the Xfinity car. I think there’s a lot of things I can apply to this weekend after learning so much earlier in the year. The Cup practice definitely pays off at a track like Vegas. With the way our team has set up the mile-and-a-half cars this year, there’s probably no track I’d rather go to end the regular season.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

How do you feel about Las Vegas and how are you planning to attack the weekend?

“We haven’t been to a 1.5-mile track in a while and we’re excited to get back because it’s been our strong suit, even since last year. Every time we visit an intermediate track, we get better and Cole gets more experience behind the wheel. We’re obviously going to do everything we can to get a win this weekend, but we need to secure our second-place spot to earn those extra 10 playoff points.”