Author: Kellye Arning

An odd, egg-shaped oval – Darlington (S.C.) Raceway – is a track that has been called one of the toughest of all on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, so much so that it earned the nickname “The Track Too Tough to Tame.”

The 1.366-mile raceway’s shape stems from a promise track founder Harold Brasington made to Sherman Ramsey, a neighboring farm owner, that he wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond when the track was built in 1949. As a result, the western half of the track features a tighter radius in the turns.

“It’s a challenging track,” said Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). “It’s probably one of the toughest that we have on our schedule. There are four completely different corners and you’re typically entering them at high speed and usually right up against the wall. There is very minimal room for error, which is how you end up with the famous ‘Darlington Stripe.’ You have to definitely be aggressive and get the most out of it, but you don’t want to hit the wall because that’s a pretty big setback.”

In five NASCAR Cup Series starts at “The Track Too Tough to Tame,” Patrick has earned a few “Darlington Stripes.” Her best NASCAR Cup Series finish at the track is a 22nd-place effort she earned in 2014. In her lone NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Darlington, Patrick started 15th and brought home a 12th-place result in 2012.

When she returns to the track this weekend for Sunday night’s Southern 500, Patrick will be looking to improve upon her record at Darlington, not only for herself and the No. 10 team, but also to help pay tribute to a NASCAR legend.

This weekend, many teams in the NASCAR industry will celebrate the heritage of the sport by running throwback paint schemes. As a part of that effort, SHR will honor 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Robert Yates with a special paint scheme on the No. 10 Ford Fusion Patrick will race on Sunday.

After working in the sport for more than two decades, Yates launched his own team, Robert Yates Racing, in the late 1980s. In 1996, the team expanded to a two-car operation, fielding the No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford for driver Dale Jarrett. The decision by Yates to add a second car to the stable resulted in Jarrett winning the 1999 championship with a paint scheme that Patrick’s No. 10 Ford Credit Ford Fusion will emulate at Darlington.

Ford Motor Credit Company is the financial services arm of Ford Motor Company. The brand was first seen on a NASCAR racecar in 1994, when it sponsored Elton Sawyer in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The sponsorship was very successful, so much so that in 1996 it expanded into the NASCAR Cup Series, which allowed Yates’ operation to become a two-car team.

Jarrett ran the No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford paint scheme from 1996 through 2000, earning 20 wins, nine poles and leading more than 5,000 laps. That tally includes wins at Darlington in the 1997 and 1998 TranSouth Financial 400.

“I’m excited to run a true throwback scheme this year,” Patrick said. “It’s great that we’re able to honor Robert Yates and all he’s done for our sport. Robert and Dale had a lot of success in the Ford Credit Ford, and I hope we can add to that this weekend at Darlington.”

As the series returns to Darlington for the Southern 500, the chance to honor Yates will also be a special one for Billy Scott, crew chief for Patrick and the No. 10 Ford Credit Ford Fusion.

“I grew up a fan of Robert,” Scott said. “Everything I raced from the time I was 5 years old until I finally quit driving myself in my early 20s had a No. 28 on it. I just always idolized what he had done, what his career path was and how he was able to work his way into the sport and work his way up to being a car owner. My first interview when I went to work over there (at Yates Racing) was with the two of them (Robert and Doug Yates) sitting in a room. I remember walking in and being too nervous to talk pretty much as I sat down to interview. I would never trade the time I spent there with them.

“The sport has changed a lot over the years, but this is where our roots are and guys like Robert are the ones who worked so hard to build the foundation that we get to enjoy now. This tribute to Robert is truly deserved.”

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 Ford Credit Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Darlington’s Throwback weekend has really resonated inside and outside of NASCAR. What is your favorite part of the weekend?  

“I like to see the old paint schemes. I don’t know my NASCAR history nearly as well as some others and I’m not really much of a history buff, but I feel like learning about the past is what makes things valuable. It’s what makes something prestigious and what creates legends. For me, the throwback weekend has been a really good way to remind people of where we came from and the history of the sport. It’s also really cool to see the outfits some of the girls walk down pit lane in, whether it’s big, big hair and bell-bottomed pants or the fashion from whatever decade we’re celebrating. It’s a really fun weekend and it’s a great way for us as a series in NASCAR to remind people where we came from and to give back to the history of our sport. I’m excited to run a true throwback scheme this year. It’s great that we’re able to honor Robert Yates and all he’s done for our sport.”

In addition to the special paint scheme on your No. 10 Ford Fusion, you have another throwback element this weekend. Talk about that.  

“On top of running a true throwback paint scheme this year, I’m actually going to run a paint scheme on my helmet, which I almost never change. It’s just like my very first paint job on my helmet when I raced go-karts. Ironically, it has the same red and white swoops coming from the front and down the back like the No. 10 Ford Credit Ford, so it’s going to match the paint scheme really well. There will be a lot of reminiscing at Darlington.” 

Talk about racing at Darlington.  

“It’s a challenging track. It’s probably one of the toughest that we have on our schedule. There are four completely different corners and you’re typically entering them at high speed and usually right up against the wall. There is very minimal room for error, which is how you end up with the famous ‘Darlington Stripe.’ You have to definitely be aggressive and get the most out of it, but you don’t want to hit the wall because that’s a pretty big setback. It helps to have a good setup to start out with and from there you do your best to keep your bumpers clean so you don’t have tire rubs, accidents and things like that. In the Southern 500, there are usually a lot of cautions and a lot of things happen, so there’s a lot of opportunity for things to change and for you to try something different. It’s definitely our longest race of the year, so you have to be patient and not make mistakes so that you’re still in it at the end.”

Describe the Darlington Stripe and what it’s like to get one.

“I would say that, because my background is in IndyCar, I don’t look at gray areas of the track and think there’s a lot of grip there. I’m not used to driving by a wall. I didn’t grow up racing on dirt and running up on the cushion. The high line is something to me that I have to have a lot of confidence in the car to be able to go there with the kind of speed that needs to be taken. I’ve definitely earned the ‘Darlington Stripe’ and, sometimes, there’s just not much you can do about it. I’ve even gotten it going down the straightaway where the right-rear (tire) catches the wall and pulls the front in. You’ve got to stay focused at all times, especially at a place like Darlington, where you have to be up on the wheel for all the corners because they’re all pretty different. It’s earned through pushing those boundaries of how high you can take the car and how much speed you can take doing it.”

Are you comfortable racing at Darlington, or is that even possible?

“I have found that when the car is comfortable and the car is good, any track can feel very easy, as well as extremely difficult. So, we’ll see how it goes and how good the car is and how comfortable it feels for me. I do always feel like the first couple of laps at Darlington seem like I haven’t been there in five years. Like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the way turn four looks.’ Given the fact that there are so many tracks that we go to twice and many of them are similar and have a typical mile-and-a-half layout, when we go to Darlington, being such a unique track, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve been there.”

ROBERT YATES, 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee and Championship Team Owner and Engine Builder:

The No. 10 Ford team is honoring you with a special throwback paint scheme in the Southern 500 at Darlington this weekend. Talk about what means to you.

“The No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford was definitely a memorable program for our team. We won the Daytona 500 in Dale’s very first race in that scheme in 1996 and went on to win many more races and the championship in 1999. It was incredibly gratifying to have Ford as my sponsor and manufacturer, especially when we beat the competition. Getting to see this scheme run again will bring back many great memories. I can’t thank everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing enough for honoring me and everyone that was on the team during those years.”

BILLY SCOTT, Crew Chief of the No. 10 Ford Credit Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk about what the special Ford Credit paint scheme honoring Robert Yates means to you.

“The paint scheme our team gets to take to Darlington means a lot to me. Not only did I grow up a huge fan idolizing one of our sport’s legends, but I also had the privilege of working for him. It’s a true honor to get to celebrate him this weekend.”

Your NASCAR career started at Robert Yates Racing and you got to work with Robert and Doug Yates. How did all you learned during your time there help prepare you as you moved up the ranks to be a crew chief in NASCAR?

“I grew up a fan of Robert. Everything I raced from the time I was 5 years old until I finally quit driving myself in my early 20s had a No. 28 on it. I just always idolized what he had done, what his career path was and how he was able to work his way into the sport and work his way up to being a car owner. My first interview when I went to work over there (at Yates Racing) was with the two of them (Robert and Doug Yates) sitting in a room. I remember walking in and being too nervous to talk pretty much as I sat down to interview. I would never trade the time I spent there with them. Having Robert in the hauler every week up there bouncing ideas off of us – that’s the kind of passion that this sport was built on and what drove me to work in it. Engine building was Robert’s passion and a majority of what he did, but he was involved on the car side, too. He understood them well, had input, always had new ideas and was never satisfied with what we had. He was always thinking outside the box for different stuff. Getting to be exposed to that is something I treasure. That’s why we pay tribute to him. The sport has changed a lot over the years, but this is where our roots are and guys like Robert are the ones who worked so hard to build the foundation that we get to enjoy now. This tribute to Robert is truly deserved.”

With only two races remaining in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season and locked in a battle for one of the final few playoff berths, Clint Bowyer is calling on help from NASCAR legend Mark Martin at Sunday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will sport a Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme nearly identical to the scheme Martin drove in 43 NASCAR Xfinity Series races between 1988 and 1991 for Bill Davis Racing. The Batesville, Arkansas native earned three Xfinity Series victories and scored 11 top-five finishes in the predominantly blue, white and red Carolina Ford Dealers Thunderbird.

“We’ll take advantage of anything we can right now and you can’t do much better than having Mark Martin on your side,” said Bowyer, who trails Jamie McMurray by 58 points for the 16^th and final playoff berth. He needs to make up that deficit or win during the next two races to be part of NASCAR’s postseason that begins Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Bowyer knows the importance of Sunday’s race to his playoff hopes and those of his crew chief Mike Bugarewicz-led team, but he’s aware the Darlington race marks “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” when the industry honors the sport’s history. Last year, 36 Cup Series teams competed with throwback paint schemes in the Southern 500, the most in any single NASCAR event in the sport’s history.

“I think it’s important to remember our legends,” Bowyer said. “This weekend will be all about Mark and the heroes of this sport. When you think about my heroes and the people I really looked up to in this sport, Mark was at the top of the list. He was my teammate in 2012 and it meant so much to me to race alongside him back in the MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) days.”

Martin won 40 times in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, scored 271 top-five finishes and 453 top-10s. He also won 56 poles. His last Cup Series race was at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17, 2013 in SHR’s No. 14 as he subbed for an injured Tony Stewart.

Martin said the Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme has a special place in his heart and in his career.

“The throwback program at Darlington is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of and seeing this car is really a time check, a time stamp for me,” said the 58-year-old Martin, who entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame this year. “The Carolina Ford Dealers was the first sponsor I had that did full-fledged television marketing. They did lots of radio spots and lots of television spots. It was really my first sponsor that I did that kind of work with.”

Bowyer, an eight-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, is in his first year driving SHR’s No. 14 Ford Fusion after replacing three-time champion Stewart, who retired as a NASCAR driver at the end of the 2016 season. The No. 14 has scored the 10^th-most points of any car in 2017 with five top-fives and 10 top-10s.

Bowyer finished 19^th Aug. 19 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, so he needs a good finish at Darlington, followed by similar results at the regular-season finale Sept. 9 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, to enter the playoffs.

He owns only one top-10 finish in 11 races at Darlington. Maybe the presence of Martin will change that this weekend.

“Darlington has always been a big race for our sport, but this playoff race only adds to the intensity,” Martin said. “I’d love for Clint to have a good run or, better yet, win the race. It’s been a while since a Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme visited victory lane, so doing it again in Darlington would be special. It would mean a lot to me and make a lot of people happy, especially Clint.”

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

What is your strategy to gain 58 points in the next two races? 

“We just have to win. A win and the points will take care of themselves.”

What are your thoughts on Darlington? 

“I like the uniqueness of the track. I’ve struggled to have good finishes there but we’ve always raced well. We just can’t seem to seal the deal at the end. Something always goes haywire in the end but, sooner or later, we are going to overcome that and have a good weekend. Doing that this weekend would be perfect.”

Do you remember your first Darlington experience? 

“My first Cup race at Darlington was 2007 and I won the pole. Truth be told, it scared the daylights out of me.”

Event:               Johnsonville 180 (Round 23 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 27, 2017
Location:          Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Layout:             4-mile, 14-turn road course

Cole Custer Notes of Interest 

• The Johnsonville 180 will mark Cole Custer’s 27^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Road America.
• Custer comes into Road America with only two road-course starts in the XFINITY Series, both of which came this year at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, respectively, with a best finish of 12^th at Watkins Glen. However, Custer has a total of 13 road-course starts spread across the XFINITY Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East/West. His best road-course effort came in 2016 when he won the pole for the Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and led a race-high 39 laps before finishing second to John Hunter Nemechek by just .034 of a second in a door-banging, tire-smoking run off the final corner to the checkered flag. 
• Custer’s best finish in the 22 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 12^th top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his career-best finish.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 22 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned twice – April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Custer has 15 top-10 starts and five top-five starts this season.
• Last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Custer ran in and around the top-five for the majority of the race and earned his 10^th top-10 of the 2017 season. He was the highest finishing rookie in Stage 1 and the highest finishing XFINITY Series regular in a Ford.
• Custer has earned four top-five finishes, 10 top-10s and has led 29 laps so far in the 2017 XFINITY Series season.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 55 points behind leader William Byron and nine points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
• Custer is sixth in the XFINITY Series driver standings, 274 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.
• Custer will also compete Sunday in the Road America 100 ARCA Series race prior to the Johnsonville 180. It will mark Custer’s sixth ARCA race since 2015.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What are the challenges of running a road course?  

“In road-course racing, the competition is more on the driver’s shoulders compared to your traditional oval-styled track. You’re on the edge of your seat for the entire race and even the smallest mistake could take you out of the race. I enjoy road-course racing and challenging my skills as a driver. This is our last road-course race of the season, so I’m hoping to drive my Haas Automation Ford Mustang to a solid finish.”

With the playoffs approaching, has your strategy changed at all? 

“Yeah. I think we’ll focus more on earning stage wins to put us in a good spot for when the playoffs start. A win would really set us up well so, hopefully, we can put together a strong car and I can run us up front here in the next couple of races.”

How has your first season at Stewart-Haas Racing been so far?

“It’s been a dream come true. At the beginning of the year, we started with an empty shop and a lot of work to do. We got off to a rocky start, being collected in a few accidents, but we’ve made a good comeback. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to earn a handful of top-fives and top-10s and battle our way to the playoffs. For a first-year team that started with nothing, we feel that we have definitely met our expectations.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

After a solid run at Watkins Glen and unfortunate luck at Mid-Ohio, how are you and the team positioned for Road America? 

“Last week was just full of bad luck, but we were able to run back out there in the second stage and took some more notes. I think we’ll have a good run this weekend with all of the notes we took from Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. We’re focused on earning a win or stage wins to set us up better for the playoffs.”

As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the high banks of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Kevin Harvick will be in the outdoors hunting for his second win of the season and his second straight win in the night race at “The Last Great Colosseum.”

The No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will feature the Busch Outdoors paint scheme this weekend at Bristol.

Busch Beer has embodied the spirit of the great outdoors since its inception in 1955. This fall, Busch Beer will launch an evolution of past fishing and hunting programs: The Great Outdoors program, which will celebrate this rich history with outdoor pursuits.

From Sept. 4 to Dec. 4, Busch and Busch Light packaging will be converted to Great Outdoors packaging featuring bold colors, varied wildlife and the iconic stream. During this time, consumers who find a gold trophy will have the chance to win an epic outdoors trip by visiting www.Busch.com.

Those who find a gold trophy can are able to enter Busch Beer’s Great Outdoors contest. Busch fans can submit a picture of their gold trophy can on social media using #TrophyCan and #Contest for a chance to win weekly prizes, or the grand prize: a trip to Big Cedar Lodge, America’s premier wilderness resort, with pro angler Kevin VanDam.

The Busch Beer Great Outdoors program will officially launch Sept. 4, but fans at Bristol for this weekend’s race will get a preview of Busch’s new Great Outdoors Packaging on Harvick’s No. 4 Ford.

The background of the car will mimic the Great Outdoor cans featuring a blaze orange and silhouettes of trees and common game. The driver and passenger sides will display an image of the coveted gold trophy can.

Harvick is likely to do well in his outdoor pursuit at the .533-mile high-banked oval.

In August 2016, Harvick scored his second win of the 2016 season, when he started 24^th, led 128 laps and beat runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 1.933 seconds. The win was his second in NASCAR’s top series at Bristol. He scored his first win at the .533-mile oval in April 2005, when he started 13^th and led 109 of 500 laps and beat Elliott Sadler to the finish line by 4.652 seconds.

In fact, Harvick is one of five drivers to win at Bristol in all three of NASCAR’s top touring series – Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. The other four drivers are Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Mark Martin.

Harvick has five Xfinity Series wins at Bristol with his most recent coming in March 2009, when he started 13^th and led 46 laps to beat runner-up Carl Edwards by .798 of a second. He also visited victory lane at Bristol in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in August 2011, when he started sixth, led 103 of 200 laps and beat Johnny Sauter by .434 of a second.

As the second half of the 2017 season continues, Harvick and the No. 4 Busch Outdoors team are ranked fourth in points with a win to their credit and eight playoff points. The goal moving forward is to score as many playoff points as possible in the remaining three regular-season races.

The best way to gain playoff points is to win races and win stages. Harvick and the No. 4 team will attempt to do both this weekend in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol as he continues his march toward a second NASCAR Cup Series championship.

For more information on Busch or its involvement with NASCAR, visit www.Busch.com, https://twitter.com/BuschBeer or www.Facebook.com/Busch.

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

What did you take away from your win last August at Bristol?

“For me, I was excited that you were able to use the bottom of the racetrack, and the lapped cars had an option. You just didn’t get pinned up high. Really, I just want to applaud the racetrack for the effort they made to really get that bottom groove working so we had multiple grooves of racing, and I think, as a driver, you had a lot of options to make your car work and maneuver through traffic and make up positions. We started 24th and pretty much drove through the field because of that.”

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you get asked about the Bristol Night Race?

“The Bristol night race is just intense. And, for me, it’s a place I love going to race because it reminds me a lot of my home track and the rhythm and things that you used to do there, running around the bottom of the racetrack. That changed for a while, when they changed the racetrack. But, since the changes and with the addition of the VHT and things, with the groove coming back to the bottom you’ve kind of got those memories rekindled with the rhythm that used to be for me at Mesa Marin.”

Event:               Food City 300 (Round 22 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 18, 2017
Location:          Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
Layout:             .533-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest:

• The Food City 300 will mark Custer’s 27^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his second XFINITY Series start at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• While the Food City 300 will be Custer’s second XFINITY Series start at Bristol, it will be his seventh overall start at the .533-mile oval in eastern Tennessee. Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and two NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts at Bristol. Custer’s career-best Bristol finish is sixth in the 2016 Truck Series race.
• Custer’s most impressive performance at Bristol was the 2015 Truck Series race, despite his 16^th-place finish. He started fifth and led twice for a race-high 111 laps, holding off a handful of veterans including Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter and Kyle Busch. But when Custer was coming up on Spencer Gallagher to put him a lap down less than 40 laps from the finish, Gallagher spun right in front of Custer. With nowhere to go, Custer collided with him, all but ending his race.
• In Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Bristol in April of this year, he began the race from his career-best starting position of third and ran as high as third in the final stage before getting collected in an accident with less than 40 laps to go.
• Since 2013, across nine Camping World Truck Series starts and two K&N Pro Series starts, Custer has one pole, one top-five finish, four top-10s and 226 laps led at half-mile tracks currently on the NASCAR circuit.
• Custer’s best finish in the 21 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 11^th career top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his best finish.
• Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 59 points behind leader William Byron and seven points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer is sixth in the XFINITY Series driver standings, 258 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.
• Custer has earned nine top-10s, four top-fives and has led 29 laps thus far in the 2017 season.
• Bristol added a chemical compound to the inside portion of its track surface to enhance the lower racing groove. This will mark the second year Bristol has applied the chemical to improve grip on the bottom of the racetrack.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

You had a strong start in your first XFINITY Series race at Bristol but were caught up in an accident with less than 40 laps to go. What can we expect in the Food City 300? 

“Bristol was definitely one of our strongest runs this year and it was a shame to get caught up in a wreck at the end. We have some great notes to look at and we think we can make our Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang even better this time around.”

Explain the difference between running in the day compared to night racing at Bristol.  

“Honestly, I would just say it’s the atmosphere that’s different from day to night at Bristol. The track doesn’t change a ton, but Bristol is definitely one of the most intense night races of the year.” 

Your first XFINITY Series race at Bristol was a Dash 4 Cash race, which limited the field to full-time time NASCAR Cup Series drivers with five years of experience or less. With seasoned veterans like Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. running with you this weekend, do you think the competition level will change? 

“Earlier in the year, there were still some pretty good Cup guys in the race and we ran hard with them, so we’re looking for the same this weekend. I expect to run the Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang up front like we did last August. In my opinion, it helps us XFINITY drivers learn more when we have to battle with the Cup Series veterans.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What will be the key to earning a solid finish in the Food City 300 at Bristol?

“Cole’s been great at short tracks his whole career. I like the idea of enhancing the bottom groove, so the track has more options for passing. We’re coming back to Bristol with more notes than we had before. We found top-five speeds there in April but, unfortunately, got caught in an accident when we were at the front of the field. As long as we stay out of trouble, I think we’ll have a good shot at it.”

It all started on September 24, 2000 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Kurt Busch, who was just 22 years old, drove the No. 97 John Deere Ford Taurus for Roush Fenway Racing in the MBNA.com 400. It was his first career start in NASCAR’s top series.

At Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor (Tenn.) Speedway, Busch will make his 600th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start. And for the driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), there is no better place for it to happen than at Bristol.

Busch has five wins, nine top-five finishes and 16 top-10s at the .533-mile concrete oval and has led 1,062 laps in 33 career starts there.

He scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol in March 2002. He started 27th and led 89 laps en route to that maiden victory. It was only his third visit to the .533-mile, high-banked oval, making him the only driver to record his first win at Bristol in fewer than four attempts.

His five Bristol wins – March 2002 and 2003, August 2003, March 2004 and 2006 – tie him with his younger brother Kyle Busch as the winningest active NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Bristol.

Busch even completed the Bristol sweep in 2003, winning both the spring and fall NASCAR Cup Series events. He started ninth and led 116 laps in March while starting fifth and leading 121 laps in August. In March 2004, Busch went on to record his third consecutive win at Bristol when he started 13th and led 119 laps on his way to victory lane.

He is one of four drivers to win three or more consecutive Cup Series races at Bristol. Fred Lorenzen won three in a row starting with the fall race in 1963, followed by a sweep of both 1964 events. Cale Yarborough won four in a row with sweeps in 1976 and 1977. Darrell Waltrip won seven in a row, including sweeps in 1981, 1982 and 1983, then a win at the March 1984 race.

Busch has led laps in 15 of his 33 career Cup Series starts at Bristol and he has led more than 100 laps four times, including three consecutive races – 116 in March 2003, 121 in August 2003, and 119 in March 2004.

But on that day at Dover 17 years ago, the young Busch started 10^th and finished a solid 18^th with Jeff Hammond as his crew chief.

His current team owner Tony Stewart won the race, while Johnny Benson and Ricky Rudd were second and third. Of the 43 drivers in the field, only Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Busch are full-time in the series this season.

Busch’s current crew chief Tony Gibson refers to everyone as “Old Man.” But Busch doesn’t feel like an “Old Man,” and this week at Bristol, he’s hoping he can add to his Bristol – and NASCAR – legacy.

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

You’re making your 600^th NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series start at this week’s race at Bristol. Can you talk about that?

“It’s a fun number. You don’t think about it when you’re racing. You don’t have it as a goal when you start out racing. I love that fact that it’s at Bristol. The 600^th start happens to be at a milestone track for me because I won my first race there and I’ve won my most races there. It’s been a special place for me over the years. It’ll be nice to celebrate it there. I never thought I’d see 600, you don’t really think about it. It almost feels like 400 to me. I still feel like there is plenty more to do, more races to win. I haven’t won at Darlington or Indianapolis and those are ones I want to check off the list. But it’s a proud moment for myself. And a time to say thanks to my dad and all the different car owners I’ve raced for and raced with. And all the sponsors. It’s been a great ride. But it also feels like there is more left.”

What do you remember about your first career start at Dover?

“I was in way over my head (laughter). It was at Dover for my first-ever start and I think I qualified 10^th. And they dropped the green flag and guys like Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Dale (Earnhardt) Sr., just went blowing by me. And I’m flat out. And I was like, ‘What’s the rush? I thought this was 400 miles?’ I literally fell back to last place and I remember radioing in and said, ‘Am I last yet?’ and they said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Good.’ And I took a deep breath and just started passing them one at a time and I ended up 18^th and two laps down in my first race.”

And who was your crew chief during that first race?

“It was Jeff Hammond, who works for FOX now. And I also had Matt Chambers, who was my Truck Series crew chief. He was coming up to take over the duties. And that was a unique situation, too, coming straight from Trucks straight into Cup. And only 12 months earlier I was running Late Models in Las Vegas.”

How tough was the challenge to go from Late Models to Trucks to Cup in that little time?

“I had the luxury of testing a lot. They don’t have the same testing rules now for rookies. The car side of it seemed OK, until about lap 200, and then I was falling out of the seat (laughter). The Cup races were just really long.”

What does it take to be successful at Bristol?

“I like how you can attack the track in certain situations. And then you have to cruise in other situations. You always have to know your surroundings at Bristol. When someone is on your rear bumper or if you are really trying to pressure somebody hard, is there a reason to be doing such? You have to be one with the track and then just digest where the other cars are around you.”