Author: Kellye Arning

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Daytona II Race Advance

Kurt Busch returns to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway riding the prized Harley he picked up earlier this year when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series kicked off its season with the Daytona 500.

It’s slick and black and has just enough silver to give it the perfect shine. It’s coveted by everyone in Daytona and turns heads wherever it goes. It’s badass sitting still.

What it’s not is a motorcycle. No, Busch’s Harley is the Harley J. Earl, the trophy given to the winner of the Daytona 500.

In his 17th Daytona 500 back in February, Busch led only one lap but it was the only lap that mattered. A last-lap pass of Kyle Larson in turns one and two of the 2.5-mile oval netted Busch his first points-paying victory at Daytona and his first restrictor-plate win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Busch’s triumph in the Great American Race secured his 29th career Cup Series victory and arguably the biggest of his career.

Now the 38-year-old racer from Las Vegas, Nevada, is back in Daytona for the Coke Zero 400, round No. 17 on the marathon-like 36- race NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

He enters the Saturday night race with six top-10 finishes in his last eight Cup Series starts. While able to feast on his Daytona 500 win from four months ago, Busch returns to his greatest glory since winning the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship hungry for another win.

Tasting victory at Daytona is something Busch was familiar with even before his victory in the 500. He won the July 2012 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona after leading six times for a race-high 23 laps, but had to take the lead from Joey Logano on the final lap. Busch also owns two non-points wins at Daytona – the 2011 Budweiser Shootout and the 2011 Gatorade Duel qualifying race.

Looking back, they were all precursors to Busch’s Daytona 500 win. And as much as drivers look in the rearview mirror during a restrictor-plate race, they must also look forward, and ahead of Busch is another Daytona trophy.

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

 

Coming back to Daytona as a Daytona 500 champion, do you walk into the garage a little taller, a little prouder?

“What’s different about going back there in July is we’re in the repetition and rhythm of the season. But when you prepare for the Daytona 500, there’s so much that goes into the car, you always go there feeling really upbeat and special about the whole week and what lies ahead, and this time we won. It’s been a great feeling with a lot of residual value – how happy Haas Automation was and everybody at Ford, and then Monster Energy’s first race as an entitlement sponsor. It couldn’t have been more of a storybook type of script from Hollywood when we won the Daytona 500. I’m still jazzed about it. Going back there is going to be great. I’m going to go by the museum and see the car in victory lane there. We just have to do our homework again and have everything go our way so we can win again in July.”

Where is the Harley J. Earl trophy and where has it been?

“We had fun with Earl, taking him all around and starting a tradition that’s similar to what they do with the Stanley Cup. We’ve had a blast. Earl went to a lot of different places. I think the most fun we had with him was gambling on the craps table in Vegas along with (wife) Ashley. He visited Haas Automation headquarters, Monster Energy headquarters and Ford headquarters with Edsel Ford and other winners from the Daytona 24 Hours. Earl was tired for a little bit. We went around to a few other places here and there. We took him to a BMX race in South Carolina where the kids got to see a Daytona 500 trophy. And then, as of late, he’s been hanging out in the trophy room bragging about how special he is to the other trophies at my house. He took over. I couldn’t hold Earl back. He wanted to go to a lot of places.”

Was winning the Daytona 500 a monkey off your back?

“The big thing was a win at a restrictor-plate race, which I had been trying to do for many, many years. Not just Daytona and the 500 itself, but Talladega, running a truck race at Daytona and finishing second, running at Talladega and finishing third as much as I have, and then running second as much as I had in the Daytona 500, I thought to myself, ‘Man, there has to be a law of averages here. Maybe one day I’ll have the chance to win one of the restrictor-plate races for points.’ And, I couldn’t be happier, feel more privileged and humbled, that it happened in the Daytona 500. We positioned ourselves well with a good car, and I feel the element of switching back to Ford was a difference-maker in all of it.”

What makes success in restrictor-plate racing so elusive?

“I think being in the right place at the right time is one of the toughest things to do, but you have to have that to be successful. When you have a car built by (crew chief) Tony Gibson and Stewart-Haas Racing, you feel like you have the best bullet possible when you show up for your first practice session. So, I’m thankful to have Tony Gibson on my side when it comes to superspeedway racing.”

You need drafting partners in order to be successful in a restrictor-plate race. How do you pick your dance partners?

“You just quickly digest if they’re around you, in front of you, behind you. Every restart things change, every lap things change, but you’re always keeping them in mind to try and work with them.”

You’re back in the Ford fold in 2017 and the Coke Zero 400 marks your third restrictor-plate race this season. How much teamwork takes place amongst all the Ford drivers and how does Ford encourage everyone to work together?

“We had a nice meeting with Ford and all their executives right before the start of the Daytona 500. It wasn’t like a coaching through fear of, ‘You will work together.’ They just set a nice tone. They said, ‘We’re all in this together as Ford and the blue oval and we want to see you guys working together when you have a chance to do it.’ When you’re on the track, it’s not mandatory, but we want to work as a company, like Ford, like SHR, you have your primary groups of guys and gals that you draft with and everybody knows, though, that at the end of the race, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for your specific car number and you just hope that it does work out that you’re working with a teammate and with Ford.”

While teamwork is a part of restrictor-plate racing, eventually you need to look out for yourself. At what point in the race do you do that?

“You’re looking out for yourself on lap one, but the percentage of it changes throughout the race. You want to work together as much as you can with teammates and other guys and gals that you’ve worked with in the past. But once it gets down to the final set of tires and the final fuel run, you’re really working independently. If it comes down to a late-race restart at Daytona, what goes through my mind is this isn’t going to be the last restart. So you have to be ready to roll with whatever comes your way – what drafting lane you’re in, where your teammates are and what gameplan you have put together with them. There are so many different things going on that it’s kind of like a roulette wheel – when you spin and you’ve got your money laid down, you hope you have your money in enough areas to come out on top.”

How much of what you experienced in the Daytona 500 is applicable to the Coke Zero 400?

“A lot of it. I’m hopeful to go back to Daytona in July and back up our win in the Daytona 500. We finished sixth at Talladega and on the last lap I was almost in the same position as Daytona. I just lost my drafting buddy Aric Almirola on the last lap. He didn’t quite stay on our rear bumper as close as I needed him to give us a shot at the win. That’s all you’re trying to do – putting yourself in position to win, and that’s what we want to do again in July.”

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Daytona II Race Advance

As Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) approach the middle of the season, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams return to the sunny shores of Daytona Beach, Florida for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

With 16 races complete, the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team has earned five top-20 finishes, including a season-best 10th-place result at Dover (Del.) International Speedway earlier this month. Patrick has led a total of seven laps and is currently ranked 28th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings.

When the season kicked off at Daytona in February, Patrick started the Daytona 500 from the 12th position and was scored as high as second near the midpoint of the race. With less than 80 laps to go, the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford was collected in a 17-car accident that ended the team’s day early and left Patrick with a 33rd-place finish.

While the season opener at Daytona didn’t end well for the No. 10 team, Patrick has experienced success at the track in the past, including a history-making performance at the 2.5-mile track in 2013. That year, she became the first woman to win a NASCAR Cup Series pole when she set the fastest time in qualifying for the Daytona 500. Patrick led twice for a total of five laps in that event, becoming the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race, as well as the first woman to lead a NASCAR race under green-flag conditions. She finished the race eighth, setting the mark for the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the “Great American Race.”

The following July, Patrick added an eighth-place finish in the Coke Zero 400. In 10 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Daytona, those two eighth-place efforts mark her top results at the track. Patrick has also started seven NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Daytona and scored her best finish of 10th in July 2011. She won the pole for the February 2012 event.

When the NASCAR Cup Series teams return to the high banks of Daytona for Saturday night’s race, the weather forecast for the beach town predicts temperatures nearing 90 degrees Fahrenheit. As the summer heat cranks up in Daytona, Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team will be ready to have a fun night at the track and hope to close out the race by celebrating a top finish in the Coke Zero 400 with an ice-cold Coca-Cola.

 

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

 

Your team was a part of the Daytona test earlier this season. Was there anything that was tried at the test that might come into play as you return?

“There wasn’t really anything racing-wise that moved the needle, but there were some things that were tried to make the cars lift off less easily if they get spun around backwards, so that was fine. It didn’t really change anything, so I wouldn’t be surprised if those kinds of changes were implemented for speedway racing. But, other than that, the racing was all very similar and, like we all said, there were five of us. You can go out in a pack of 15 and still not really know before the race, and then you get into the race and then you know. It’s pretty hard to really have a race-like scenario. You don’t even want a race-like scenario at a superspeedway unless you’re actually racing because it’s risky. There’s a chance for big accidents and that’s just silly in practice, but I think it was still somewhat productive – as productive as a superspeedway test could go.”

What is it about Daytona International Speedway that you like? 

“I think I’ve always had the good fortune of driving for good teams that have good cars. I also think that my IndyCar background is very similar to the style of racing that the superspeedways bring to NASCAR. That was full-speed, flat-out, don’t-lift-if-you-don’t-have-to racing where you have to keep your momentum up and lots of big-pack racing. For me, that was a big comfort zone when I came over to NASCAR, that it was a lot like the IndyCar days of driving on mile-and-a-half speedways. It’s all about having an awareness of what’s around you, making good decisions and trying to stay out of trouble until the end.”

 

 

Describe the intensity of restrictor-plate racing.

“It’s super easy to drive around the track flat-out by yourself. It’s not hard at all. When you put all of the other cars around you, it’s not necessarily about how the car feels on the track, although that can be an issue, for sure, at times. It’s more about what everyone else is doing around you. You’re constantly looking at what’s happening in front of you. You’re also looking at what’s behind you. Probably more important than what’s happening in front of you is what’s happening behind you – who’s coming, who’s following you, who’s helping you move forward. There have been plenty of times that I’ve gone to the bottom and complained, ‘Where’s my help?’ It seems like I’ll slot in on the bottom line and then everyone behind me disappears. You really have to have people behind you, pushing you. The race is constantly evolving and you and your spotter have to be on it. It’s a big race for spotters, so having a really good one that you trust is very important.”

What are three words that describe restrictor-plate races?

“Three words that describe plate racing would be: crazy, fast and risky.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Daytona II Race Advance

Remember comedian Jeff Foxworthy’s joke about the famous last words of a “redneck?”

“Hey y’all, watch this!”

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is certainly an expert on racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and, admittedly, he’s witnessed his fare share of redneck behavior in his lifetime, the kind referred to by Foxworthy. So, take Bowyer’s word when he says that what the world’s best stock car drivers will do during Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 presented by Coca-Cola at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway isn’t nearly as easy as it looks.

“I saw something on Twitter after that wreck that we had in Kansas with Aric Almirola and Danica (Patrick) and Joey Logano, and it was captioned, ‘Do you still think that you could do this just like you’re driving down a highway?’” Bowyer said with a laugh. “I mean, people forget that we’re going upwards of 200 miles an hour on racetracks and that it is very dangerous.”

Bowyer, who finished the 2007 Daytona 500 upside down, on fire and uninjured, said the exponential advances in safety might be luring people into believing the sport has become 100-percent safe. But accidents like he described in Kansas and the hard hits suffered by Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray at Pocono remind you that danger element is never far away.

Apart from the danger, it’s also a physically demanding job.

“You don’t see that week-in and week-out, and maybe every week you don’t see that, but when you do see it, it reminds you just how dangerous this sport is,” Bowyer said. “And then the heat element of it, the duration of it, the endurance of the races, everything that goes into it. Hey, do we have to go out and run a marathon or bench press 500 pounds to do what we do? No, but you do have to be conditioned just like any other athlete does for his or her profession.”

Given the danger and demands, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bowyer and others shy away from the sport after a while.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “I wouldn’t want do anything else in life. My life is either racing, talking about racing, watching racing or traveling to racing.”

Saturday’s race is one of four restrictor-plate events held each year and often results in the multicar accidents sure to make ESPN’s SportsCenter or local news highlights in the days following the race. A 17-car accident on lap 127 triggered by other drivers ended Bowyer’s bid for a Daytona 500 victory this season end with a trip to the garage, leaving him with a 32nd-place finish.

The Daytona 500 in February marked his debut with SHR, replacing three-time champion Tony Stewart. Since the debut, Bowyer enjoyed mostly good times at SHR, posting three top-five finishes and six top-10s, including a second-place finish last weekend on the road course at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The No. 14 Ford team, led by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, is 11th in points. The team’s goal is a victory to earn one of 16 berths in the NASCAR playoffs that begin in September.

Bowyer has good chance to do that Saturday night at Daytona. He’s earned three top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and has led a total of 153 laps in his 23 career Cup Series starts at Daytona. The Emporia, Kansas native also won the July 2009 Xfinity race there. While he hasn’t won at Daytona in a Cup Series race, he has won two races at Daytona’s sister track Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Hopefully for Bowyer and his team, that victory will come Saturday night.

Who knows, he might even make it look easy.

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

 

Do you get mad when you are in an accident? 

“There is a lot of emotion in our sport. Again, the sport’s dangerous. Tracks are different. We have short tracks. We have mile-and-a-half tracks. We have restrictor-plate tracks where we see cars flying through the air like lawn darts. You just have a different variety of situations you’re in all the time throughout the year, so sometimes the level of – I guess call it – fear, call it whatever you want, changes your emotion as you get out of a wreck or something like that. If it was something that somebody put you in harm’s way, that honestly could have hurt you badly or even potentially killed you, the level of anger and emotion is definitely different.”

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Sonoma Race Report

Event:               Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile road course)
Format:             110 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/60 laps)
Start/Finish:      12th/1st (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
Point Standing: 3rd (548 points, 111 out of first) 

Race Winner:    Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner:             Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):

  • Kevin Harvick started 11th, finished 25th.
  • The Mobil 1 Ford surrendered the third position on lap 15 for four tires and fuel. Harvick returned to the track in the 13th position.
  • Came to pit road on lap 23 before the end of Stage 1 for four tires and fuel. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):

  • Started 10th, finished 20th.
  • Stayed out under caution on lap 32 to remain in the top-10.
  • Came to pit road from the second position on lap 48 for four tires and fuel.
  • Stayed out at the conclusion of Stage 2.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-110):

  • Started 10th, finished first.
  • Raced his way into the top-five by lap 59.
  • Passed the No. 18 car for the lead on lap 64.
  • Surrendered the second position to come to pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 71.
  • Claimed the lead on lap 89 and led the final 21 laps en route to his first victory of 2017. 

Notes:

  • This was Harvick’s first NASCAR Cup Series win of 2017, his first at Sonoma and the 36th of his career. It was his 13th Cup Series victory since joining Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014.
  • The victory secured Harvick’s spot in the 16-driver, 10-race playoff which begins Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
  • This was Harvick’s second NASCAR Cup Series win on a road course. Harvick earned his first road-course win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in 2006.
  • This was Harvick’s first NASCAR Cup Series win with Ford. He became the 83rd different driver to win a Cup Series race in a Ford.
  • Harvick led twice for 24 laps to bring his laps-led total at Sonoma to 60.
  • This was the 38th points-paying Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win for SHR and its second at Sonoma.
  • This was SHR’s second straight win at Sonoma. Last year, SHR co-owner Tony Stewart won the Save Mart 350k to take his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory.
  • SHR teammate Clint Bowyer finished second to secure the third 1-2 finish in SHR history. SHR’s last 1-2 finish came on April 26, 2015 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway when Kurt Busch beat Harvick by .754 of a second.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 12 laps.
  • Twenty-three of the 38 drivers in the Save Mart 350k finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Larson continues to lead the championship standings with 659 points and has a 13-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I’m so excited. I think as you look at it, getting our first win with Ford, this has been a great journey for us as an organization and team – Kurt (Busch) winning the Daytona 500, and we’ve run well; everybody from Busch, Jimmy John’s and Mobil 1, Outback, Hunt Brothers. It’s a great day. It finally all came together and we were able to not have any cautions there at the end. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) had great strategy and I was able to take care of the car and get out front. I felt like the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was the car we had to race, and then he had problems, and from there we were in control.

“Right off the bat, I think you knew you were going to have some fenders caved in. That is just how it is going to go with the short stages trying to get points. I felt like our car was good enough to not chase stage points and go after the win today, and it all worked out.

“This is a bunch of great people that believe in each other. The last three years and even this year have shown that. I love every one of them and we are in this journey together, and it has been a lot of fun.

“It means a ton to finally check this one off the list. I feel like we have been close a couple times but never put it all together. Being so close to home and having raced here so much, this was one that was on the top of the list, and today we were able to check that box.”

Next Up:  

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday, July 1 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Sonoma Race Report

Event:               Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile road course)
Format:             110 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/60 laps)
Start/Finish:      17th / 7th (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
Point Standing: 14th (389 points, 270 out of first)

Race Winner:    Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner:             Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):

  • Kurt Busch started 17th, finished 21st.
  • Worked way into the top-15 by lap nine despite saying he was loose on forward drive, then “tight to the right with no forward bite.”
  • Wedge and air-pressure adjustments on first pit stop while under caution on lap 15 helped the handling issues.
  • Restarted in 27th position and fought his way up to 14th.
  • Came into the pits on lap 23, but Busch saw the red “closed pit” light illuminate just as he committed to the pit lane. He had to roll through without stopping, returning to the race in 23rd. Picked up two spots by the end of the stage.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):

  • Started 30th, finished 23rd.
  • Made further wedge and air pressure adjustments that again helped handling issues.
  • Worked his way all the way up to sixth place nearing the end of the stage, then called into the pits on lap 47 for tires and fuel.
  • Resumed in 23rd and held that position to the stage’s end. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-110):

  • Started ninth, finished seventh.
  • Steadily worked his way up to third when called to the pits for his last scheduled stop on lap 70. Resumed in ninth.
  • Was back in the top-five on lap 81 and up to fourth on lap 93 when Busch reported the left-rear tire was going down. The unscheduled pit stop for four new tires dropped Busch to 17th.
  • Picked off 10 positions over the final 17 laps to salvage a seventh-place finish. 

Notes:

  • This was Busch’s 17th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Sonoma and his 592nd career start.
  • Busch’s seventh-place finish in the Save Mart 350k was his ninth top-10 at Sonoma and his eighth top-10 this season.
  • Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick won the Save Mart 350k to score his 36th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Sonoma. Harvick crossed the finish line ahead of second-place and fellow SHR teammate Clint Bowyer as the race ended under caution, giving SHR its third 1-2 finish in company history.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 12 laps.
  • Twenty-three of the 38 drivers in the Save Mart 350k finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Larson leads the championship standings with 659 points and has a 13-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Had a left-rear question, if it was going down or not, and I went through four right-handers trying to make the call if the left-rear was going to go down. I don’t know, I might have messed up a Stewart-Haas 1-2-3. I’m happy for Kevin and Bowyer. We were about a third-place car. We were hanging with Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) most of the day, but I had to pit just to make sure. We went from 17th back up to seventh. It was a good charge at the end. I just couldn’t get that top-five we needed for Monster Energy, Haas Automation and Ford. But those guys, love them to death, and we’re going to keep plugging away.”

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday, July 1 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Sonoma Race Report

Event:               Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile road course)
Format:             110 laps, broken into three segments (25 laps/25 laps/60 laps)
Start/Finish:      6th/17th (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
Point Standing: 28th (196 points, 463 out of first) 

Race Winner:    Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner:             Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):

  • Danica Patrick started sixth and finished 37th.
  • After contact with the No. 88 car at lap 14, the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion team sustained front-end damage. Crew chief Billy Scott called Patrick to pit road on the following lap to make repairs and get fresh tires.
  • Patrick worked her way back up to the 21st position before the team made a scheduled, green-flag pit stop at lap 22 for tires and fuel.
  • The No. 10 team ended Stage 1 in the 37th spot. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):

  • Started 20th and finished 34th.
  • While a number of teams pitted between stages, Scott had Patrick stay out, and she started Stage 2 from the 20th position.
  • The No. 42 car went three-wide with the No. 88 car and Patrick at lap 30. The ensuing contact sent the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford spinning, and Patrick was then hit by the No. 17 car.
  • Scott called Patrick to pit road for fresh tires and repairs, and she restarted in the 36th spot at lap 33.
  • Once again the team pitted just before the end of the stage at lap 47, and Patrick ended Stage 2 in 34th. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-110):           

  • Started 18th and finished 17th.
  • Patrick ran as high as fourth as the field cycled through green-flag pit stops. Scott called her to pit road at lap 80 for tires and fuel.
  • After the pit stop, Patrick was scored in the 28th position. In the closing laps she was able to race her way back up to the 17th spot. 

Notes:              

  • This was Patrick’s fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Sonoma and her 170th career start.
  • Patrick’s 17th-place finish in the Save Mart 350k marked her career-best NASCAR Cup Series finish at the 1.99-mile road course and her fifth top-20 result of the season.
  • Patrick earned 20 points in Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway, which puts her at 196 total points for the season thus far. She is ranked 28th in the driver point standings.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 12 laps.
  • A total of 23 of the 38 drivers in the Save Mart 350k finished on the lead lap.
  • Kevin Harvick won the Save Mart 350k to score his 36th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Sonoma.
  • Kyle Larson leads the championship standings with 659 points and has a 13-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr. 

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

“It definitely wasn’t the day the Code 3 Associates team was expecting, but we were able to battle back to a decent finish. The car was just awful in the final laps of the last two runs, but we made the most of it at the end.” 

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday night, July 1 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Sonoma Race Report

Event:               Save Mart 350k (Round 16 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (1.99-mile road course)
Format:             110 laps, broken into three stages (25 laps/25 laps/60 laps)
Start/Finish:      13th/2nd (Running, completed 110 of 110 laps)
Point Standing: 11th (427 points, 232 out of first)

Race Winner:    Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-25):

  • Clint Bowyer started 13th, finished 10th to earn one race point.
  • Crew made air adjustments to all four tires during a pit stop to make the car turn better.
  • Climbed as high as seventh and overcame a quick spin after contact with Brad Keselowski. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 26-50):

  • Started 25th, finished 31st.
  • Suffered significant left-front damage on lap 36 after contact with AJ Allmendinger, who spun in the middle of the hairpin.
  • Suffered a speeding penalty on lap 47.
  • Made several stops for repairs in the final laps of the stage. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 51-110):

  • Started 32nd, finished second.
  • Started at the back of the field but moved to 22nd in the first 10 laps of the stage.
  • Made his final stop of the race on lap 69.
  • Climbed to 10th on lap 82 by turning some of the fastest laps in the field.
  • Closed within a few seconds of winner Kevin Harvick but never threatened. 

Notes:

  • This was the 38th points-paying Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), its second of 2017 and its second at Sonoma.
  • This was SHR’s second straight win at Sonoma. Last year, SHR co-owner Tony Stewart won the Save Mart 350k to take his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory.
  • This was Harvick’s first NASCAR Cup Series win with Ford. He became the 83rd different driver to win a Cup Series race in a Ford.
  • Bowyer finished second to secure the third 1-2 finish in SHR history. SHR’s last 1-2 finish came on April 26, 2015 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway when Kurt Busch beat Harvick by .754 of a second.
  • This was Bowyer’s third top-three, seventh top-five and ninth top-10 in 12 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Sonoma.
  • Bowyer earned his third top-five and sixth top-10 of 2017 with his second-place finish at Sonoma.
  • Bowyer finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point.
  • There were six caution periods for a total of 12 laps.
  • Twenty-three of the 38 drivers in the Save Mart 350k finished on the lead lap.
  • Kyle Larson leads the championship standings with 659 points and has a 13-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Martin Truex Jr.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Ford Fusion featuring Cars 3 for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I wish we could do this day over again. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time a couple of times. The car was really fast, but she got beat up. The guys fixed it up and we were pretty sporty there at the end. To get second place considering where we came from is pretty cool. We were hoping Lightning McQueen would strike twice, but we still gave him a pretty good run.”

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday, July 1 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.

COLE CUSTER – 2017 Iowa I Race Report

Event: American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen (Round 14 of 33)
Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location: Iowa Speedway in Newton (.875-mile oval)
Format: 250 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/130 laps)
Start/Finish: 38th/24th (Running, completed 249 of 250 laps)
Point Standing: 7th (322 points, 180 out of first)

Race Winner: William Byron of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Brendan Gaughan of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

  • Started 38th, finished 19th.
  • Qualified 24th, but had to start at the rear of the field after sustaining a flat right-rear tire in qualifying.
  • Battled a tight-handling racecar at the beginning of the stage, particularly in the middle of the corners.
  • Pitted for four tires and fuel with chassis adjustments at the end of the stage. (Right-rear tire was losing air pressure prior to stop.)

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):     

  • Started 15th, finished 13th.
  • Despite changes, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang remained tight in the middle of the corners.
  • Caution on lap 114 allowed Custer to pit for four tires, fuel and tire pressure adjustments.
  • Stayed out at the end of the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-250):          

  • Started 13th, finished 24th.
  • Cracked the top-10 with 96 laps to go.
  • Ran as high as sixth by lap 155.
  • Running seventh when caution came out on lap 163. Stayed out to maintain track position.
  • Made scheduled, four-tire pit stop under green-flag conditions on lap 219. But caution came out during pit stop, trapping Custer on pit road and putting him a lap down. Restarted in 24th position on lap 230.
  • Tight-handling condition persisted through the end of the race.

Notes:              

  • This was Custer’s first NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Iowa Speedway and his 19th career XFINITY Series start.
  • There were nine caution periods for a total of 65 laps.
  • Nineteen of the 40 drivers in the American Ethanol E15 250 finished on the lead lap.
  • William Byron won the American Ethanol E15 250 to score his first career XFINITY Series win. His margin of victory over second-place Ryan Sieg was 1.140 seconds. Byron led five times for 78 laps, including the final 21.
  • Elliott Sadler leads the championship standings with 502 points and has a 25-point margin over his nearest pursuer, Justin Allgaier.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:           

“The car didn’t start our great, but we worked hard to make our Haas Automation Ford Mustang better throughout the race. We had a top-10 car, just had back luck on pit strategy. Nothing we could do about it.” 

Next Up:          

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 on Friday, June 30 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Sonoma Race Advance

Kurt Busch was a 19-year-old aspiring racecar driver when he first competed in a stock car at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in 1998. He was a rookie on the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour and in just his 13th career start and first on a road course, he finished third after qualifying 19th for Yahoo! Sports 200.

A year later, Busch was back at Sonoma working to exchange his rookie-of-the-year title for a championship crown. He qualified third, led 31 of the 64 laps and promptly won his first road course race amid a six-win season that earned him the 1999 Southwest Tour championship.

It was a pivotal victory, for it happened on a rare companion weekend with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Car owners and crew chiefs in NASCAR’s top division were on hand to witness Busch’s impressive drive, and one car owner in particular took notice.

Jack Roush, the veteran Ford team owner, decided to host driver auditions for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. Busch’s Sonoma performance, combined with a run of four straight victories in the Southwest Tour’s final six races, earned him a spot in what became known as “The Gong Show”. Busch wound up winning the competition and, only months removed from his Southwest Tour championship, was a rookie again in the Truck Series driving Ford F-150s for Roush.

Busch began that 2000 season by scoring a second-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in his first Truck Series start. He scored his first Truck Series win July 1 at The Milwaukee Mile and then added three more victories before the year was out, including two from the pole. In his rookie season, Busch finished second in the championship standings.

Although it was only one season, Roush saw all he needed to know that Busch was a star. Less than a year after hiring him to race in the Truck Series, Roush announced that Busch would succeed Chad Little as driver of his No. 97 Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series. Barely a year after running Late Models on the Southwest Tour, Busch took over for Little in the final seven races of 2000 as he prepared for a full-time Cup Series effort in 2001.

Twenty-nine wins, 21 poles and one NASCAR Cup Series championship later, Busch returns to Sonoma as a 17-year Cup Series veteran intent on adding to each one of those statistics.

The Save Mart 350k Sunday at Sonoma will mark Busch’s 17th Cup Series start at the 1.99-mile road course and his 592nd career Cup Series start. At Sonoma alone, the driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing has a pole (2006), a win (2011), four top-threes, seven top-fives and eight top-10s with a total of 197 laps led.

Busch’s seven top-fives at Sonoma are the most of all active Cup Series drivers, and his 2011 victory was dominant as he led four times for a race-high 76 laps, including the final 23 with a whopping 2.685-second margin of victory over second-place and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon.

Busch has remained strong at Sonoma earning two top-twos, four top-fives and five top-10s in his last six starts. His only finish outside the top-10 was 12th in 2014.

That Busch is successful at Sonoma is not surprising. The Las Vegas native has proven adept at road courses throughout his career.

Between Sonoma and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International – the series’ second road-course stop – Busch has 32 road-course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. Collectively, he has two poles, a win, 10 top-fives and 15 top-10s with 262 laps led (197 laps led at Sonoma and 65 laps led at Watkins Glen). Busch has completed 3,092 of the 3,213 laps available, earning a lap completion rate of 96.2 percent.

Busch swept the poles for both road-course races during the 2006 Cup Series season. He won the pole at Sonoma in June to score his fifth career Cup Series pole and kept his quick pace at Watkins Glen in August to earn his sixth career pole.

Additionally, Busch has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Watkins Glen (2006, 2007 and 2011). He started first in each of them, won two of them (2006 and 2011) and finished third in 2007. In these three races, Busch led 98 of the 250 laps available (39.2 percent). He also has two Truck Series starts on road courses – Portland (Ore.) International Raceway and Watkins Glen. Both starts came in 2000, with Busch finishing 11th at Portland and second at Watkins Glen.

This road-course success was sown in Sonoma, and while Busch’s career has grown immensely since that crucial Southwest Tour triumph 18 years ago, he returns in 2017 with the same hunger that drove him to that first checkered flag.

 

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

 

We just came from Michigan International Speedway where terms like aerodynamic downforce and clean air versus dirty air were often heard. How much are you looking forward to a road-course race where those terms aren’t really a factor?

“I really enjoy the road courses and yes, there’s not much of an aerodynamic problem as far as clean air and dirty air goes at Sonoma. It will be great to go left, go right, go up and down the hills and shift gears, then at the end of the race it’s just all-out chaos.”

How has road-course racing changed over the years?

“The way that we respected each other on road courses early in my career is out the window. It feels like it’s rip and gouge and take all you can get at any moment. In a way, it’s a shame that some of the respect and putting on a bit of the collared shirts and class is gone, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to win.”

Are road courses the new short track when it comes to tight racing and short tempers?

 “It definitely seems like it’s easier for payback at the road courses.”

We used to see supposed road-course ringers show up at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, but that’s pretty rare now. Why do you think that is?  

“If you’re a good driver and you want to be in the top tier of NASCAR, you’ve got to drive well everywhere. The road courses were a bit more of a specialty back in the day and you used to be able to take advantage of the guys that didn’t put forth the full effort in the road courses, but not anymore.”

You’ve proven to be a pretty good road-course driver. Was it something you took to right away or did you really have to work at it to enjoy the success you’ve had?

“I really enjoyed it right off the bat. I thought it was fun and different and I worked at it to develop the skills that I have in Legends car races and Late Model races. I even went to the Bob Bondurant Driving School. My first professional type of road-course race was in the Truck Series. I jumped right in there. (Greg) Biffle won that day and I beat Ron Fellows.”

You mentioned that racing Legends cars was how you were first introduced to road-course racing. Where did you race?  

“Legends racing was big in the mid-90s in the desert southwest and they would let us run on the infield road course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as well as the exterior road course there. We also ran road-course races at Buttonwillow (Raceway Park) and they had a street-course race in Los Angeles and they raced up in Sonoma. I was just kind of thrown into the fire with road-course racing, but I loved it from the first time I jumped on track.”

You won the 1999 NASCAR Southwest Tour race at Sonoma. Was that your first road-course win in a stock car? Was it a pivotal victory considering NASCAR teams were there and you were able to showcase your talents to Cup Series car owners and crew chiefs?  

“That was my first win in a stock car at a road course. I’ve always believed that Saturday race was the most important stage to stand on because there wasn’t a Truck Series race or an Xfinity Series race. Back in the day, the Southwest Tour race was the support race, and my race was live on ESPN. I’ve always thought Sonoma helped springboard me into the spotlight, and I’m very thankful for that chance.”

How important is it to have a positive mindset when you come into a road-course race?

“I love road racing and I think it’s fun. It’s important to have appositive mindset everywhere, but it’s not problem for me at the road courses.”

What do you like best about road-course racing?

“I just like the rhythm. I like how you use one corner to help you in the next corner. You have to be thinking three corners ahead.”

Is there more opportunity on a road course because mistakes are magnified and because the race is more in the driver’s hands?

“Everything seems to have a larger consequence because track position is so important. So as soon as you have a flat tire or a fender rub or you go off track, it’s very difficult to get back the track position you once had.”

You have a history of success on road courses. Stewart-Haas Racing has a history of success on road courses. What are your expectations for this weekend at Sonoma?

“We hope that we can win. The No. 14 car won last year with Tony Stewart. I know (Clint) Bowyer is really excited for the weekend and so are we. We could’ve won this race two years ago and I finished second to my little brother Kyle in the first Busch one-two finish, and last year we just burned the rear tires off of the car. We just have to get a hang of the tires that are constantly changing to get our Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford where we want it to be.”

 

 

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Sonoma Race Advance

Kevin Harvick will drive the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for the third time this year as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the first of two road-course races on the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series schedule – Sunday’s Save Mart 350k at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

The demands on both man and machine throughout a road-course race can test even the most talented drivers and sophisticated mechanical equipment. Thankfully, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion has an equally impressive partner in Mobil 1, which is known for standing up to the toughest challenges.

Mobil 1 is the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR” and the Mobil brand of lubricant products are the “Official Lubricants of NASCAR.” Mobil 1 engine oils have long been the lubricant of choice for race teams competing in the most demanding and popular motorsports series around the globe.

The history of Mobil 1 in motorsports dates back to rally competition during the early 1970s. However, its involvement in racing became more official in 1978 through sponsorship of the Williams Formula One team and the 1987 sponsorship of Rusty Wallace’s No. 27 car in NASCAR.

From that time, the presence of Mobil 1 on racetracks and circuits has grown by global proportions. Today, Mobil 1 is relied upon for its ability to deliver exceptional engine performance and protection even under some of the most extreme conditions. Automotive technicians, racecar drivers, team owners and the world’s leading automotive manufacturers can all testify to the advanced technology delivered by Mobil 1 lubricants.

This weekend will be the third of six races with Mobil 1 as the primary partner on the No. 4 Ford in 2017. Mobil 1 also appeared on the No. 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and again at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. It will appear as the primary partner of the No. 4 Ford for three additional races starting July 31 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, followed by appearances Sept. 24 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and Nov. 5 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Harvick, ranked fourth in Cup Series points, also knows how to stand up to the demands of road-course racing. While he is still searching for his first trip to victory lane at Sonoma in the NASCAR Cup Series, he first visited victory lane at Sonoma in the K&N Pro Series West in 1998, when he started third and beat Brandon Ash to the finish line by .154 of a second, leading only the last lap of the race.

Harvick is slated to make his first K&N Pro Series West appearance since 2007 and his first West Series appearance at Sonoma since 1998 this weekend, when he drives the No. 4 Fields, Inc. Ford for Jefferson Pitts Racing.

The Bakersfield, California native recorded his best Cup Series finish at Sonoma in 2007, when he finished second to Juan Pablo Montoya by 4.097 seconds. He finished third at Sonoma in 2003 and 2010, and fourth in 2015.

Harvick scored his only Cup Series road-course win at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in 2006, when he led 28 laps and beat SHR co-owner Tony Stewart to the finish line by .892 of a second. However, he scored back-to-back road-course wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2007 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal and Watkins Glen.

This weekend, Harvick is looking to match his road-course prowess with that of Mobil 1’s to score his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2017 at the 10-turn, 1.99 mile Sonoma circuit to secure his spot in the Cup Series playoffs.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion:

What is the first thing you think of when you think of Sonoma?

“The first thing I think of when we are going to Sonoma is that we are going road racing. It’s definitely the first road race of the year and Sonoma is a very technical, slower-type road course. I’ve been fortunate to race there for a long time and look forward to going there every year.” 

Sonoma is one of only two road courses on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule and it’s widely regarded as the more technical of the two. What are the big differences between Sonoma and Watkins Glen?

“I think the biggest difference between Sonoma and Watkins Glen is that the speeds are drastically different. Sonoma is a much tighter course with sharper corners and a lot less speed, where you don’t really even use fourth gear, unless you’re saving gas. It’s a much slower track than Watkins Glen and the tires fall off a lot more than they do at The Glen. So, you’ve got to get your car to technically be very good as it turns the corner, but also keep track of the forward grip as you go through a run.”

What can you tell me about your days in the late 1990s running in the West Series?

“I guess it was the middle of 1997, I went to work for Wayne and Connie Spears to basically be a mechanic for about $24,000 a year. I just wanted the opportunity to race something. We had kind of gone through the point of all of our family stuff and where we were on that stuff because we couldn’t really afford to keep going racing cars and doing all the things that we were doing. I went to work there as a mechanic hoping I would get a shot to drive. I got the shot to drive my first race in Bakersfield (California) in the Winston West Series. Then I got to drive in the Truck Series at Louisville (Kentucky). I think the track in Louisville was nine turns and a jump. That was the coolest racetrack. Every time we showed up, there would be 15,000 people packed around this little D-shaped racetrack. It was one of those racetracks that you never got full throttle. You’d wait for the jack stub to hit in the last corner, then you’d jump toward the finish line. I only went there a couple years but, every year I went there, someone would back into the fence in qualifying trying to get to the start-finish line. If you drove it to the finish line, you’d back into the fence in turn one. Mike Wallace can vouch for that because I remember seeing him back it into the fence there.

“That all led into the 1998 season. I drove the second half of the Truck Series season for Wayne and Connie Spears. So we decided going in to 1998 that we were going to start off running the full truck series schedule and the first part of the Winston West schedule. I think we started (the K&N Pro Series West season) off in Tucson (Arizona). We had a good run there. We wound up going to Las Vegas and winning the race. The next thing we know, we are two or three races into the season and leading the points. So Wayne – you just have to know Wayne to be able to understand his enthusiasm for racing and the way that he approaches things, he’s a cool old dude – he said, ‘Alright, we’re going to run them both.’ So I’m like, ‘Perfect.’ I was 21 or 22 years old and I was going to go run the full Truck Series schedule and the full West Series. We wound up winning the third (West Series) race of the season in Las Vegas. I think we won five West Series races that season – we won in Las Vegas, Altamont Raceway, Pikes Peak – which is one of the coolest racetracks I’ve ever raced at, Sonoma, and probably the biggest win that we had that year was at California Speedway. I got to race against Ken Schrader. It was the first time I’d ever been around his car close enough on a racetrack to even see what was on the back bumper, the side of his car or what the front bumper looked like, because he won pretty much every Southwest Tour race, Winston West race and he ran pretty much every type of race you could run in the country. It was just one of those years where we had fun everywhere we went.

“So we get done with the second or third race of the season and Wayne decides we are going to run the whole schedule, but he said he had some rules about what we have to do in order to get to that. He told me he wasn’t buying another truck and trailer and you only have one car. I was like, ‘OK.’ We were all pretty enthusiastic about the things we were doing. Well, he told us there was a 1977 Winnebago that sat outside for 15 years. He told us that was our tow vehicle and there was a 28-foot trailer and that’s all you get on the weekends, where there is no truck and trailer that’s gone racing trucks. So we went out back and we fixed this 1977 Winnebago to get it running. That’s what we traveled up and down the road with when the truck hauler was gone. It had green shag carpet throughout the whole thing and the tires were literally buried halfway up. We had to put all new tires on this thing. It wouldn’t run. We got it running and had a lot of fun going up and down the road. We won some races and had a lot of good stories.

“We ended up winning the West Series championship in Las Vegas. We had gone out and had too much fun the night before and I apparently showed up to the racetrack the next day still hung over, so we qualified that morning and they sent me back home to take a shower. Then we came back and won the championship on that particular night. This was 20 years ago, so don’t hold that against me. Things have changed and we’re more responsible these days, but that was a time. Riding in the Winne.”