Author: Ashlyn Siske

They might have been the best three laps of Clint Bowyer’s career.

Bowyer’s No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion had just taken the lead during the break before the final stage of the June 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Rain clouds out of the northeast drew closer,  spitting a fine mist with most of the 39-car field suspecting the race wouldn’t last much longer.

Bowyer held the lead but only because his crew chief Mike Bugarewicz elected to take two tires while most of the field took four.

“When we were coming on pit road, I was 100 percent sure two tires was the right call,” Bugarewicz said. “We got about three quarters of the way down pit road, I was about 70 percent sure. When he slid into the pit box, I was about 50 percent sure. By then, we were leaving. It was too late.”

It was up to Bowyer to hold the position just ahead of his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Kevin Harvick who had led 49 laps – more than any other driver.

Bowyer admitted he had his doubts.

“I looked in the mirror – everybody behind me is on four tires,” Bowyer said. “(I’m thinking that) I don’t know what you’re looking at, but there’s an army of people on pit road who saw the same forecast, same radar, they took four.”

The green flag waved and Bowyer drove as hard as he could for three and a half laps. He edged just ahead of Harvick before the rain fell hard enough for NASCAR to end the race with 67 laps remaining, giving Bowyer his 10^th career victory and second of the 2018 season.

“I knew, if we could get the lead, we had a decent shot of holding them off,” Bowyer said. “Fortunately, we did. We were racing for the win. I couldn’t have held him off had it gone another lap.”

Kurt Busch’s third-place finish gave SHR its first 1-2-3 finish – the first since Roush-Fenway Racing’s trifecta in September 2008 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Bowyer’s Michigan victory came on a gamble, but it wasn’t a fluke. He finished second in the first stage and turned in top-three lap times throughout the race. The key was track position and that’s likely to be the case again this weekend when the Cup Series returns to Michigan for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400.

Track position – two words that will be heard a lot of this weekend.

“At the end of the day, Michigan is all about track position. If you lose that track position, it’s a fight to try and get back up there,” Bugarewicz said when asked about the strategic keys to victory at Michigan. “You look at the restarts, they are brutal. Those guys are four-wide, gouging, trying to get every spot they can. If you’re going to gain spots, that’s where you’re going to gain the majority of them. Throughout the fuel run, you might gain one or two. Keeping the track position, I think, is key all day long.”

Bowyer arrives at Michigan after an 11th-place finish on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International last weekend. It was another respectable finish in a season that has seen Bowyer win twice, post six top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. Bowyer is fifth in points and owns the fourth-most playoff points as the regular season winds down with just four races remaining.

Bowyer would like nothing more than to add a third victory to that 2018 resume and roll into the playoffs with momentum from another victory at Michigan. Driving an SHR Ford, gaining late-race track position and driving the best laps of his career certainly could be the recipe for success once again.

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

What are your thoughts on SHR running 1-2-3 at Michigan in June?

“Remember, Michigan is an aero track, a horsepower track, and it’s a demanding racetrack on your equipment. Plus, as drivers, you have to be able to hit your marks and things like that because 217 mph is fast no matter what type of motorsport you are racing. That’s really fast in NASCAR. When we finished first with Kevin and Kurt behind us, it was just awesome. We got out and gave each other hugs. We were truly, genuinely happy for one another. That’s what it takes. That’s what it takes to push you to another level. Working together, the communication, pushing each other each week. It’s not just Kevin, Kurt, Aric (Almirola) and I. It’s our teams, our crew chiefs, our pit crews, everybody who raises the bar for everybody involved. It’s cool to see.”

Event:               Mid-Ohio Challenge (Round 21 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 11, 2018
Location:          Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington
Layout:             2.4-mile road course

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The Mid-Ohio Challenge will mark Custer’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.
• Custer has four career road-course starts in the Xfinity Series. His best Xfinity Series finish at a road course is sixth – earned last Saturday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.
• Custer’s best finish in the 20 Xfinity Series races run this season is second, earned in the 11^th event May 26 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
• Custer has earned four poles, seven top-five finishes, 16 top-10s, and has led 232 laps in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
• Custer’s four pole awards this season leads all Xfinity Series regulars.
• Ford has won three of the five Xfinity Series races run at Mid-Ohio.
• Custer is second in the Xfinity Series driver standings, 22 points behind series leader Christopher Bell.
• Custer is competing for his fifth consecutive top-10 this weekend.
• Last year at Mid-Ohio, Custer suffered mechanical issues on lap two and re-entered the field 22 laps down. He ran the remainder of the race turning top-10 lap speeds.
• There are only six races left until the Xfinity Series playoffs begin Sept. 21 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The winner of the regular-season points championship will earn an additional 15 playoff points – equivalent to winning three races.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Based on your performance at Watkins Glen, what are your expectations going into your second consecutive road-course race? 

“We managed to turn what looked like a bad weekend into a solid top-10 finish at Watkins Glen. We had a lot of ups and downs throughout that race, including the rain. We fell back about 10 spots because there was confusion about whether or not we were going to run the windshield wiper when it rained, but it was fun slipping and sliding out there. I definitely don’t want to do that again at Mid-Ohio, though. I think we’re starting to understand road courses better than last year, so I feel more confident heading into the weekend.”

Explain the difference between racing at The Glen and Mid-Ohio.

“Compared to Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio has a lot more low-speed and technical corners. It’s a fun place because you get to hit curbs and have some elevation changes. This race puts the outcome a little more in the driver’s hands rather than the car’s performance.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

How would you evaluate the performance of your road-course program this year?

“It has certainly improved. We didn’t put together the fastest car last weekend, but we’re definitely getting better. We’re working with better equipment this year and more notes to go off of. Cole has improved in his ability to get around a road course, as well. Our goal right now is obviously to win a race, but we’re pushing hard to earn the regular-season championship – it will put us in a great spot going into the playoffs.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series head to Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International this weekend. In addition to his usual role behind the wheel of the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in Sunday’s Cup Series race, Almirola will also compete this weekend in the No. 98 Go Bowling Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. It’s all in an effort to continue to hone his road-course-racing skills.

Watkins Glen is the second road course on the Cup Series schedule this season and it marks the first for the Xfinity Series. The 2.45-mile, seven-turn circuit is located in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York and is quite different from Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, the first road course stop each June. “Watkins Glen is a really fast racetrack,” Almirola said. “I would compare Sonoma to a Martinsville. It’s slow, technical, and wears the tires out really bad – bumping and banging, very physical. Watkins Glen to me is like racing at Dover. It’s still very technical, but incredibly fast. You’ve got to have a car that’s really stuck to the racetrack, has good downforce and is able to run up through the esses.”

While the road courses have been a challenge for Almirola over the years, he posted his best career Cup Series road-course finish of eighth at Sonoma this year in his No. 10 Ford Fusion.

Heading into this weekend, Almirola has made just one previous Xfinity Series start at Watkins Glen, in August 2011, when he started 17^th and finished eighth.

The 34-year-old will make his eighth Cup Series start at The Glen this weekend, looking to improve on his best Watkins Glen finish of 16^th. He’s completed 597 of the 630 possible laps at the facility, and hopes the extra seat time he’s getting in the No. 98 Xfinity Series entry will allow him improve his Cup Series performance this weekend.

This weekend at The Glen, professional bowler Jason Belmonte of Orange, Australia will be attendance. He’s also known for his bowling trick shots that can be seen here from Dude Perfect. Belmonte will be showcasing his skills on the two fully operational lanes Go Bowling has set up at The Glen for the fans during the weekend. Almirola will also display his bowling skills at the bowling lanes on Friday and Saturday.

Almirola and the No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Fusion also will give the fans a chance to get a little extra money for their bank account this weekend. If he wins at Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen, one lucky fan will win $10,000. If Almirola doesn’t win Sunday, one fan still has the chance to win $1,000. To enter the contest, visit GoBowling.com/10k.

Meanwhile, safe to say Almirola is having a career year in the Cup Series, and his confidence continues to grow as his on-track performance has improved. “It has given me a tremendous amount of confidence and belief in myself,” he said. “I have talked a lot this year, and especially the last couple of weeks, just about the last six years. I have always been unsure if it was the equipment, my team, or me. Do I just not stack up? Am I holding the team back? I think it’s natural as a human being to question everything, and particularly yourself. Having this opportunity to drive the best equipment in the garage at Stewart-Haas Racing and me being able to rise to the challenge, and go out there and run up front and lead laps and be competitive, it gives me a lot of confidence in myself and in my ability. It’s good to know that, given the right circumstances and the right opportunity, I can go and compete with the best.”

In 21 Cup Series starts this year, Almirola has accrued an average start of 19.7 and an average finish of 13.1, with one top-five finish and eight top-10s. He’s also led 113 laps this season, already a career best. Almirola rounds out the four-driver SHR contingent at 11^th in the point standings.

ARIC ALMIROLA, Driver of the Go Bowling Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Can you talk about what it’s like making a lap at Watkins Glen and what it takes to get around the track?

“I would say maybe 80 percent of the passes are made getting into the Bus Stop. So you’ve got to be able to set that pass up coming through the esses, and that is one of the fastest, trickiest spots on the racetrack. It’s very challenging to get up through there and carry a lot of speed. Your car gets kind of light and out of control, and you’re running 150 or 160 miles an hour through there, and then reaching a top speed of 180 or 185 miles per hour before a very, very heavy braking zone going through the Bus Stop. It’s a fun racetrack, its fast. For a road course, I would say it’s probably one of the fastest road courses in the country. It’s definitely the fastest road course that we race on in NASCAR.”

What is the highest score you’ve bowled?

“The highest game that I’ve bowled was just over 200. I think I bowled something like a 204 or 205. I’m consistent in the 150 to 170 range but, on occasion, I’ve bowled above 200 – maybe a handful of times.”

How do you feel going into the road-course race? With one coming in the playoffs, is it more important to you? 

“Road-course racing has been arguably my Achilles heel throughout my career, and I don’t claim to be very good at road-course racing at all. I have always worked really hard at it to try and be better. As a racecar driver, you want to be versatile. You want to be able to contend for wins on superspeedways and intermediate tracks and short tracks – challenging tracks and road-course tracks. You don’t want to be weak in any one area. For me, it has been a big challenge to conquer road-course racing. I have put a lot of effort into this year to be a better road-course racer and had a lot of help with it. With Ford, they have helped me a lot with a lot of time in the simulator with our race team at Stewart-Haas Racing, and they’ve provided a lot of data to look at and a lot of things to study. On top of that, running the K&N race out in Sonoma before the Cup race, I feel like that helped me a lot to get ready for Sunday. I got my first-ever top-10 on a road course out at Sonoma and had a really good run and was really fast. Same thing going into Watkins Glen. I have worked really hard studying data and getting ready in the Ford simulator. We are fortunate enough to have Go Bowling on the car for the weekend because it is the Go Bowling weekend at the Glen. We are going to have a Go Bowling car on the racetrack on Saturday in the Xfinity race. I feel that will help me get in a rhythm for Sunday and hopefully that will pay off for Sunday at Watkins Glen. Road-course racing is definitely not something that I am overly comfortable with, or something I claim to be good at by any means, but through hard work I am trying to get a lot better at it and I feel like I have.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will make his 36^th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at a road course this weekend when the series visits Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International for Sunday’s Go Bowling at The Glen.

The Bakersfield, California native is one of only three active drivers to claim a NASCAR Cup Series victory at both Watkins Glen International and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are the others to make that claim.

Harvick added his first-career win at Sonoma in June 2017, when he started 12^th, led 24 laps and finished ahead of SHR teammate Clint Bowyer when the race ended under caution. He also won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma the day before.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion scored his lone Cup Series victory at Watkins Glen in 2006, when he started seventh and led 28 of 90 laps and beat current SHR co-owner Tony Stewart to the finish line by .892 of a second.

In 2015, Harvick started fourth, led 29 laps and appeared to have the race won with a sizable lead on the final lap. But he ran out of fuel in the final turn and coasted to a third-place finish behind race winner Joey Logano and runner-up Kyle Busch.

Harvick also visited victory lane in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Watkins Glen in August 2007. He started 11^th and turned in a dominant performance after quickly racing his way to the front, leading 49 of 82 laps and beating runner-up Jeff Burton by 3.529 seconds.

Harvick will get additional seat time this weekend on the 2.45-mile road course as he seeks his second win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at The Glen. He will be behind the wheel of the No. 41 FIELDS, Inc. Ford Mustang for SHR on Saturday afternoon.

What is most important for Harvick coming into this weekend at Watkins Glen and the four races that follow is the accumulation of playoff points that are so critical at this point in the season. Thus, even more pressure to start up front and, ultimately, to try to win the Busch Pole Award. Harvick ranks second with 33 playoff points heading to The Glen,  just two markers behind Kyle Busch’s 35 and seven ahead of Martin Truex Jr.

The “Big Three” of Harvick, Busch and Truex has accounted for 16 of the 21 race wins in 2018 and 67 percent of the total playoff points accumulated – 94 of 140 available through 21 races.

The best way to score maximum playoff points in a race is to start up front, earn stage points and win races. Harvick and the No. 4 team can accomplish all of those goals with a win this weekend in the team’s only visit to Watkins Glen in 2018.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion:

What is the key to having a good race at Watkins Glen International?

“Watkins Glen is really fast, so the biggest thing there is to get your car good under braking so you can make passes during the race. Usually, where you can gain the most time is in the braking zones.”

Are the road courses still odd-ball races, or do they seem like just another race, now?

“They are pretty much just another race, now. I think everybody knows that you are going to a road course and you’ve got a lot of different aspects from a driver’s standpoint and the team standpoint that you have to pay attention to.”

What sections or turns are the most challenging at Watkins Glen?

“It just depends on how your car is handling. I think they can all present problems. As the race goes on, turn one becomes more of an issue because it’s downhill and the brakes start to get worn out. The wheel hop becomes more prevalent as the race goes on. For me, that is the one you’ve got to watch during the race, but they all present different challenges.”

How does Watkins Glen International differ from Sonoma Raceway?

“There is a lot of speed difference. At Watkins Glen, you go from turn one, up through the esses and into the inner loop and end up running about 170 to 180 miles per hour down the backstretch. At Sonoma, you’re lucky to get above 100 miles per hour, so speed is definitely the biggest difference.”