The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this weekend. Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) head into the event coming off of an eighth-place finish Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

Almirola has amassed three top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts at tracks that are less than 1.5-miles in length. He has an average finish of 15^th and has completed 99.8 percent of all possible laps at those tracks. The last such event was the 11^th race of the season at the Dover (Del.) International Speedway mile oval, where Almirola finished 11^th.

In Almirola’s Cup Series career at New Hampshire, he’s earned one top-five finish and two top-10s in 15 starts. He looks to improve his average finishing position of 21.3 with the help of crew chief Johnny Klausmeier and the No. 10 Smithfield crew.

Before heading to the Granite State this weekend, Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield team and SHR teammate Clint Bowyer spent Tuesday testing on the new “roval” configuration at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The Cup Series will race on the new Charlotte configuration in October. It will be a cutoff race concluding the opening round of the Cup Series playoffs.

In 19 Cup Series starts this year, Almirola has accrued an average start of 19.3 and an average finish of 13.1, with eight top-10 finishes and 71 laps led. The 34-year-old rounds out the four-driver SHR contingent at 11^th in the point standings.

Almirola has one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at New Hampshire, during which he started and finished in the top-five. The Ford driver has also made five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start as the 1.058-mile oval with two top-10 finishes.

With summer in full swing, fans have the opportunity to celebrate the grilling season by entering Smithfield’s “Hero of the Grill” contest that Almirola and five-time world-champion barbecue pitmaster Tuffy Stone helped launch earlier this year. Fans are encouraged to nominate their favorite grill hero by visiting SmithfieldGetGrilling.com. One “Hero of the Grill” nominee will win $5,000. Plus, the first 10,000 nominees will have the chance to see their name featured on Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in September.

Fans can also 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.

This weekend’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sparta marks the 18^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.

Ford has earned eight wins so far this season with Almirola’s SHR teammates earning seven of the victories for the Blue Oval – five by Kevin Harvick and two by Bowyer. Harvick also captured the non-points-paying All-Star Race win at Charlotte. Ford has 13 all-time series wins at New Hampshire and the manufacturer swept both races at the venue in 2014.

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

What do you like about going to New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“It kind of takes you back to Saturday-night, short-track racing. It’s a mile track but it races like a short track. You go there and see the Modified division there and it makes you feel like when you were a kid and racing Late Models. It’s a fun track to race at, and I’ve had some success there and I’ve run well there in the past. I’m looking forward to carrying the momentum we’ve been building this season into Loudon.”

How do you feel about you chances of making the playoffs and, overall, how your team is doing this season? 

“I’m still pressing to get a win. I want to win for SHR and our sponsors – Smithfield, Ford Motor Company – and everybody who puts their support behind us. It’s important to win, regardless of where we are in the points. I feel confident about where we are, currently, in the point standings. I feel like we’ve consistently outrun most of the cars that are behind us in points. I’m not overly concerned, but you can’t let your guard down. We still have to go out and continue to perform at a high level. We’ve been fortunate this year that we’ve brought fast racecars to the track every week and I don’t expect anything different in the near future. I continue to be impressed with our organization and our team. We keep bringing faster and faster cars each week. For me being the new guy at the team and working with a new crew chief (Johnny Klausmeier) and our whole team being young, we are built to grow. To see the success we’ve had in a short amount of time, it has me really fired up about the potential we have, and the foundation we’ve built keeps getting better and better.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is preparing to make his only trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this year as the team is set for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwood Resort Casino 301.

The realigned Cup Series schedule for 2018 dropped one of the traditional two Cup Series races run each year at the mile oval since 1997. New Hampshire’s typical second race date was in September during the first round of the NASCAR playoffs but was moved to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another racetrack owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., to open this year’s NASCAR playoffs.

The change is significant for Harvick as it marks the first time in his Cup Series career dating back to 2001 that he’ll only make one trip to Loudon.

The Bakersfield, California native has two Cup Series wins at New Hampshire, both coming during the September race weekend which was given to Las Vegas. His first came in September 2006, when he started from the pole, dominated the race by leading 196 of 300 laps and beat runner-up Tony Stewart to the finish line by .777 of a second.

His most recent Cup Series win at New Hampshire enabled the No. 4 team advance to the second round of the playoffs in 2016 after a 20th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet and just before a 37th-place finish at Dover.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion had mixed results at New Hampshire in 2017. In July, he scored a top-five finish but, in September, he was caught in an eight-car accident on lap 150 and finished 36th.

Harvick and the No. 4 Busch Beer team are looking to continue their hot streak during which they have scored two wins, two poles, eight top-five finishes and led 512 laps in the last 10 races.

Also important for Harvick this weekend and the six 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 and win the Busch Pole award. Harvick’s 27 playoff points heading to New Hampshire rank him second to Kyle Busch, who leads the series with 30. Martin Truex Jr. also worked to close the gap to Busch last Saturday at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, when he scored both stage wins and the race win lift his playoff point total to 25, just two behind Harvick.

The “Big Three” of Harvick, Busch and Truex has accounted for 14 of the 19 race wins in 2018 and 65 percent of the total playoff points accumulated – 82 of 126 playoff points available through 19 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 the Granite State in 2018.

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

What makes the fans in Loudon so intense and so loyal?

“I’ve had a little bit different of an experience and I’ll go outside of Loudon a little bit. I was fortunate to go up and experience the Oxford 250 in Oxford, Maine and that’s really where you see those grassroots fans. I went up there in 2007 and, to this day, I still see a lot of those competitors and people who come by and say hello at Loudon. It’s just fun to be able to have met those people. We were fortunate – looking back on it now, it was fortunate – but we might not have thought it was fortunate at the time, but to sit around in the rain for two days and talk to the folks, see where they were from and find out what they’re about was a pretty cool experience. It’s a great region for us in terms of fans and competitors, and really a big racing community.”

What does it take to be successful at Loudon?

“I’d say the most important thing at Loudon is track position, just because it’s hard to pass. You want to be up front and on the right strategy no matter what you do. If the caution flag falls in the wrong spot and you lose track position, it usually becomes a longer day than it could have been.”

Event:               Lakes Region 200 (Round 18 of 33)
Date:                 July 21, 2018
Location:          New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon
Layout:             1.058-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• • • The Lakes Region 200 will be Cole Custer’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
    • While the Lakes Regions 200 will be Custer’s first Xfinity Series start at New Hampshire, it will be his sixth overall start at the 1.058-mile oval. In addition to his Xfinity Series start there, Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and one NASCAR K&N Pro Series start at New Hampshire. In his five starts at New Hampshire, he has two wins, two poles, four top-10s and has led 208 laps.
    • In Custer’s first start at New Hampshire in 2013, he captured his fourth career K&N Pro Series win from the pole after leading 60 laps.
    • In 2014, Custer made his first Truck Series start at New Hampshire. It proved memorable as he won the pole and then the race for his first career Truck Series victory. At 16 years, 7 months and 28 days, Custer became the youngest race winner in NASCAR national series history.
    • Last weekend at Kentucky Motor Speedway in Sparta, Custer earned his and Stewart-Haas Racing with Biagi-DenBeste’s fourth-career pole award. He held the lead for the first 14 laps and piloted the Haas Automation Ford Mustang to his seventh top-five of the season.
    • Custer’s best finish in the 17 Xfinity Series races this season is second on May 26 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
    • He has earned four poles, seven top-five finishes, 13 top-10s, and has led 128 laps this season.
    • Custer has one win, four poles, 15 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and has led 430 laps in 55 career Xfinity Series starts.
    • He is third in the Xfinity Series driver standings with 605 points, three behind leader Elliott Sadler.
    • Custer has qualified inside the top-five at six of the last seven races this season. He has earned 12 top-five starts and 13 top-10 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series season.
    • Thursday, Custer will make an appearance at the Lowell (Mass.) Spinners Minor league baseball game to throw out the first pitch, sign autographs and partake in a Q&A session with fans. The Lowell Spinners are a Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
    • Among the last 10 races, Custer has earned the most pole awards (3), the most championship points (357), and has the highest average finish (7.5).

   

  Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

  
  

• Describe the feeling you had after winning your second race at New Hampshire, where you became the youngest winner in national series history.  
  
  
  “It was so special because it was a special place for our team with a lot of crew guys from the Northeast. We came there with a fast truck and we were fast in the K&N car the year before that. It was just phenomenal to get my first win there and it kind of solidified my (presence) in that series. It was definitely a day to remember. It probably put my name out there a bit more and gave me more confidence going forward.”

  What does it take to run a successful lap around New Hampshire?

  “You just have to try to max out your entry speed and roll through the center to get a decent exit. It’s tough when your car isn’t perfect. Our cars have almost been perfect all season. We should have a solid run.”

  Are you more confident at tracks that are a mile in length or shorter?

  “I think we’ve had really good cars in the past at short tracks and I think it’s more natural to me than a mile-and-a-half. It’s probably like that for most guys. We just grew up running short tracks and didn’t have to deal with aero as much. We took a lot of good notes from New Hampshire last year that we’ll build on.”

  You’re throwing the first pitch at the Lowell Spinners game Thursday. When was the last time you threw a baseball?

  “It’s probably been five years since I’ve thrown a baseball, so I’m hoping it’s something you don’t forget how to do – like riding a bike. I’m definitely not going to promise a strike. I’m going to focus on just not skipping it across the plate.”

   

  Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

  
  

• Talk about the car you’re bringing to New Hampshire. 

  “We are bringing Chassis No. 1044 to New Hampshire. We last ran it at Dover this year and had to start from the rear after we had to fix the jack bolt from scraping the ground in qualifying. Cole managed to race it back into the top-10, but it was tough to make up that ground at a track like Dover. Hopefully, we’ll have a good qualifying run and not have to battle back through the field. I think it’s a good car – it just hasn’t seen its full potential, yet.”

If one remembers the Boston Breakers, then that smart person has one solid memory. And we’re not talking about the women’s soccer team that played as the Boston Breakers from 2007 to 2017.

The Boston Breakers were formed in 1983 during the inaugural season of the United States Football League (USFL). They played at Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University and were coached by Notre Dame alum Dick Coury. Despite going 11-7 in 1983, they missed the playoffs and left town for New Orleans in 1984 and then eventually to Portland, Oregon in 1985.

The USFL ended after the 1985 season and now the Breakers are just a memory.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was living in Las Vegas during the USFL years and was quite young when the Breakers were in Boston.

But he has always enjoyed going back to New England and he’ll make his 35^th trip to Loudon, New Hampshire for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resorts Casino 301.

Busch has three wins, two second-place finishes, seven top-threes, eight top-fives, 14 top-10s and has led a total of 541 laps in his 34 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at New Hampshire.

Busch’s three NASCAR Cup Series wins at New Hampshire is tied for most among active drivers with Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

And while every win is cherished, those first two New Hampshire triumphs carry significant importance.

Busch swept the Cup Series races at New Hampshire in 2004, becoming only the second driver to accomplish that feat – Johnson being the other, having swept the 2003 events. Busch overcame a 32^nd-place qualifying effort in the July race to lead twice for 110 laps en route to his first Cup Series win at the track. In September, he led three times for a race-high 155 laps en route to victory lane.

Busch’s September 2004 win at New Hampshire also was historic in that he became the first driver to win a race in NASCAR’s playoffs, which debuted that year. The victory placed Busch in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for first place in the championship standings and he went on to win the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Busch’s most recent victory at New Hampshire came in July 2008 in a rain-shortened race. He only led 10 laps, but they were the final 10 of the 284 contested.

Heading back to New England, Busch is hoping to score victory number four at New Hampshire and that will “break” him into the NASCAR playoffs.

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

Your record at New Hampshire is pretty stout. Why is that?

“It’s a track that has been pretty good to me since I started racing in the top series of this sport. I raced there for the first time in the Truck Series and won that race. Then, it’s a track where I have three wins in the Cup cars and, when you’re able to go to a track where you’ve had that kind of success, it just gives you confidence. Because of the wins and everything, it’s a place we go to where I feel like I especially know what it takes from the car and the driver to be successful.” 

Are the challenges at New Hampshire the same as always, or does the track change from year to year?

“It seems like it has changed a little bit toward the end of the race with a lot of aggressive restarts. That is when you gain positions, or it’s easy to lose positions. Everybody is out there elbows out, pushing hard, and you hope to not have trouble.”

What do you need your car to do really well at New Hampshire to have a chance to win? 

“It’s got to be able to cut in the center of the corner, cut underneath guys, look to get to that bottom lane and drive up off the corner and get side-by-side with guys. That way, you have position on corner exit.”

– more –

Monster Energy/Haas Automation Racing Advance – Foxwoods Resort Casino 301                                                    Page Two

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (continued):

With New Hampshire being a tight and flat mile oval, it has some short-track characteristics in that there’s close racing and sometimes contact is made. If you inadvertently get into someone, do you try to right that wrong so it doesn’t come back to bite you later?

“It depends upon the circumstances but, yes. Usually, you’re trying to keep your eye on the main prize, which is victory lane at the end of the day. If you have a run-in early in the race, that guy is going to be trying to find you or you’re looking over your shoulder. So if you can sort of hit a reset button and right a mistake, you do that, but not at the expense of taking yourself out of position for the win.”

Clint Bowyer grew up in rural Kansas but, when he walks into the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this weekend, he’ll feel like he’s arrived at  his second home. That’s because few places have shown Bowyer hospitality like the “Magic Mile’” has over his 14-year Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

Two of Bowyer’s 10 career triumphs and one of his two poles have come on the flat track, including his first Cup Series victory in 2007.

Bowyer calls the New Hampshire track “a big Martinsville.” That’s an affectionate term considering Bowyer led 215 laps and won the race when the Cup Series last raced at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March.

“I love New Hampshire,” he said. “That place just fits my driving style. We don’t get up to that part of the country a lot, so it’s good to see the race fans there. They have so many tracks and they love their racing, from Modified to Late Models, to our stuff. The support races they put on at New Hampshire are some of the best of the year. Man, do they like to party there!”

A look at Bowyer’s record makes it easy to understand why he likes racing in the Granite State.

During the September 2007 race weekend, Bowyer earned his second career pole Friday, then led 222 of 300 laps Sunday to win the first Cup Series race of his career. Attrition played no role in the victory as, for the first time in the sport’s modern era, the entire 43-car field finished the race.

Fast-forward to September 2010, when Bowyer started second and led the most laps before fading back. A series of caution periods put him behind now-boss Tony Stewart over the closing laps. With both drivers trying to nurse their sputtering fuel tanks to the finish, Bowyer found himself in position to pounce when Stewart’s tank ran dry a lap from the checkered flag.

It was Bowyer’s turn to run out of gas with two laps remaining in the September 2011 race at New Hampshire, giving the victory to, coincidentally, Stewart.

“We still laugh about running out of gas and giving each other the victories,” Bowyer said. “Whether its fuel mileage or those late restarts where everyone starts beating and banging, it seems like there is always an interesting finish there.”

Bowyer has made quite the impression on New Hampshire, as well.

Then Gov. Maggie Hassan declared Sept. 5, 2013 “Rockin’ with Clint Day” in New Hampshire. Bowyer took her for a burnout, used a 250-foot crane to dig up a personalized, 7,500-pound rock at a local quarry, and took part in a rock-climbing race.

“There aren’t many states where I’ve gotten to do burnouts with the governor,” Bowyer said with a laugh.

Bowyer hopes history will repeat itself this weekend when the Cup Series visits New Hampshire for Sunday’s Foxwood Resorts Casino 301 and he adds to his 516 laps led and chalks up a third victory there.

He arrives in New Hampshire after a 12^th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

The 2018 season has been a year of resurgence for Bowyer and the No.14 team led by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. The combination has posted two victories, six top-fives and 10 top-10s while climbing to sixth in the Cup Series point standings.

There’s no better place to add to those numbers than New Hampshire.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation VF-1 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is the most important thing to get right at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

“It’s the middle of the corner. If you want to win, you have to roll the middle of the corner and that’s so tricky. About the time you get that thing rolling really well, you are too loose in or too loose off. There’s no perfect balance there and you have to be able to find a happy medium. You have to roll the middle without getting out of the gas on exit.”

Are you a different person when you sit in that car, tighten those belts, strap that helmet on and put your gloves on – are you a different Clint Bowyer?

“I think so. Well, I think I’m different in people’s eyes from what they see on the camera. Everybody has personality, but then everybody has their driving personality behind the wheel.”

Do you ever remember laughing or smiling or enjoying a moment behind the wheel?

“I can honestly tell you I haven’t until I got out of the car, or thought back on the situation, or whatever the case may be. That’s when I kind of got to chuckling or something. You might laugh under caution or something like that, but never when you’re racing. It’s total focus. You’re focused on hitting your lines, you’re focused on what you need to do to be faster. Do I need to trail throttle more? Do I need to wait on it longer? How can I make this car faster? Literally. That’s your job and you’re there to win and you want that more than anything. I guess that’s the competitiveness I’ve had since I was a little kid.”