Author: Kellye Arning

COLE CUSTER – 2017 Phoenix I Race Advance

Event:               DC Solar 200 (Round 4 of 33)
Date:                 Saturday, March 18
Location:          Phoenix International Raceway
Layout:             Mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

  • The DC Solar 200 will mark Cole Custer’s ninth career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first career XFINITY Series start at Phoenix International Raceway.
  • While the DC Solar 200 will be Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Phoenix, it will be his seventh overall start at the mile oval. Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and three NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts at Phoenix. Custer’s best Truck Series finish is third in 2014 and that same year he won the K&N Pro Series race. Custer also has a K&N Series pole at Phoenix, earned in 2013 when he first competed at the track.
  • Since 2015 across eight XFINITY Series starts, 42 Camping World Truck Series starts and 29 K&N Pro Series starts, Custer has five wins, six poles, 13 top-fives, 22 top-10s and 919 laps led at tracks that are a mile in length or shorter.
  • In last Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Custer finished 11th to earn rookie-of-the-race honors. Custer is competing for rookie-of-the-year honors in the XFINITY Series.
  • Custer is currently 10th in the XFINITY Series championship point standings, 37 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.
  • Custer’s best finish in the three XFINITY Series races run thus far is 10th, earned in the second race of the season March 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was his third top-10 finish in eight career XFINITY Series starts.
  • The DC Solar 200 is one of four Dash 4 Cash races on the 2017 XFINITY Series schedule. This means drivers will race for a $100,000 cash bonus. Each of the top-two full-time XFINITY Series drivers from Stage 1 and Stage 2 will become Dash 4 Cash eligible in the final stage.
  • As a Dash 4 Cash race, no full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers with five or more years of experience are entered in the DC Solar 200. This means the only NASCAR Cup Series drivers competing in the DC Solar 200 are Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney. Theoretically, this gives regular XFINITY Series drivers a better chance to win.

 

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A 

 

How do you like racing at Phoenix? 

“The surface at Phoenix is a lot like Vegas. You get a lot of grip and it lays a pretty good amount of rubber. It’s a really flat track so you get a lot of speed. It’s really fun to get around, and there’s that cool dogleg on the backstretch, so it’s definitely a fun place to race.”

You were the highest finishing rookie last week at Las Vegas and you have a successful track record at Phoenix. Does this give you a level of confidence going into the DC Solar 200? 

“For sure. We’re starting to get everything sorted out on our team and I think we’re going to head into Phoenix really strong with a lot of confidence. I’ve done fairly well there in the past, so hopefully that translates to this weekend.”

What do you like most about racing at shorter tracks like Phoenix? 

“It’s always good when you’re all the way out of the gas and you have to use the brake and throttle. There’s a lot more work you have to do, so it’s just more fun to and more natural.” 

What are your expectations for this weekend at Phoenix?

“We’ve been solid the first few races with top-10 cars, so I think we definitely have a shot at continuing these solid runs and progressing. We’re getting better and better each week and sorting everything out so, hopefully, we’ll be in the top-five soon.”

 With fewer NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered at Phoenix, do you see a greater opportunity to run up front and win? Or do you prefer racing against Cup Series drivers so that your learning curve is accelerated?

“I’m definitely a little split on the Cup driver debate. I think it’s great for us young guys to run against the Cup drivers because we can learn a lot, but I can also see from a fan’s point that racing might be a little better without them. I think all of us XFINITY regulars are especially looking for strong runs when they aren’t in the race, but it makes it even better when they are and you’re able to beat them.”

 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

 

What are your overall thoughts as you head to Phoenix?

“Phoenix is a really fun track. I know Cole does well at the shorter tracks like Richmond and Loudon, so I’m confident in his abilities to race well in Phoenix. What’s difficult about Phoenix is that it’s considered a short track with a dogleg in the back and higher speeds since the repave, so you’ve got speeds similar to an intermediate track. We have to set up a car in between the two.”

Q&A with Rodney Childers, crew chief No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion

HAVE YOU BEEN SURPRISED AT HOW QUICKLY YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE THIS CHANGEOVER TO FORD AND BE SO COMPETITIVE RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE?  “I think we all expected to do well.  We worked really hard over the winter and all of our preparation has been really good, but the biggest thing is just keeping that going over time and our group has done a good job of that the last three years, but we just have to keep it up.  Hopefully, we can keep doing that as the year progresses.”

YOU DID THE ORGANIZATIONAL TEST AT PHOENIX.  WHAT DID YOU THINK GOING IN AND THEN COMING OUT OF THAT TEST?  “Going into it I thought we’d be competitive from his standpoint.  We’ve had a good setup there that last three years, but the test didn’t start out the way we wanted it to.  We struggled the first day and really about half the second day, and then we got going really good at the end of the second day.  We learned a lot out there and look forward to going back and, hopefully, have another shot at the victory out there.”

FROM A CREW CHIEF PERSPECTIVE WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO WELL AT PHOENIX TO BE FAST?  “The biggest thing is just having a car that turns really good.  That’s where we seem to excel is getting through three and four and rolling through the center of the corner the best.  Normally if you can do that, you can kind of get off the corner when there are problems.  That’s what we struggled with out there at the test and just trying to keep the back of the car under him, but have the front end of the car turn.  Like I said, I think we got it a lot better toward the end of the test and, hopefully, we can be even better when we go back.”

WHAT DOES KEVIN LIKE TO SEE IN THE CAR THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM SOME OTHER GUYS YOU’VE WORKED WITH?  “The biggest thing with Kevin is he just understands what it’s supposed to feel like.  We got pretty fortunate when I started the 4 team and we unloaded in 2014 and we were fast off the truck, and we really haven’t had to change a lot since then.  As a group we’ve done a really good job and he gives us the feedback that we need to make the car better during the weekend and all of that has just kind of worked out over the last few years.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT STAGE RACING?  ARE YOU PULLING YOUR HAIR OUT OR JUST WORRYING ABOUT BEING FAST?  “We don’t worry about that side of it.  We’ve done the same thing over the years.  We just try to be as fast as we can and lead as many laps as we can and that has paid off for us in the past.  Hopefully, we can keep that up as the year goes on.”

HAS THE BIGGEST ISSUE DURING THIS TRANSITION BEEN FINDING THE PROPER BALANCE FOR THE FUSION?  “Yeah, I think so.  It definitely feels like the Ford body has more front bias, balance than what we were used to and that’s just something you’ve got to figure out with a few tests and racing it a little bit.  It’s just a change.  It’s not something that’s gonna hurt one way or another, you just have to adapt to it like we adapt to changing tires each week.  Overall, it’s been good and we really haven’t had any issues with it.”

HAS IT HELPED SPEED UP YOUR LEARNING BY BEING ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PHOENIX TEST?  “I don’t know.  I think the guys that didn’t make any changes over the winter are probably in the best shape.  Even though we were fast in Atlanta, I still don’t feel like we’re where we need to be.  We’ve got a lot of things that we’re just getting going and it seems like every body on every car is different right now, just because we’re searching of what’s right and what’s wrong, so, overall, we’re just trying to figure everything out.”

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Phoenix I Race Advance

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina – Growing up in Las Vegas, Kurt Busch spent the early years of his career competing at tracks along the West Coast.

And when he wasn’t behind the wheel of his racecar, the driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) traveled to area tracks to take in races as a spectator. Throughout the 1990s, Busch regularly made the trek to Phoenix International Raceway just to have the chance to watch NASCAR superstars like Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison compete.

Getting the opportunity to race at the mile oval in the desert west of Phoenix – the same track where he had cheered for many of his racing heroes – was a dream come true for Busch. Racing at the track was like a home game for Busch, who also attended college for several semesters at the University of Arizona down the road in Tucson before making it in NASCAR’s big leagues.

While he was coming up through the ranks, Busch made a number of race starts at Phoenix, competing in series such as NASCAR’s Southwest Series tour. Then, in 2000, Busch took to the track for the first time as a competitor in NASCAR’s top touring series, competing in both the Camping World Truck Series race in March, in which he finished fourth, and then in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in November later that same season, when he finished 29th.

Since his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix, it has been a track where Busch has performed consistently. He only has one win in Cup Series competition at Phoenix, but he also owns seven top-five finishes and 17 top-10s in his 28 starts there. He has an average finish of 13.1, which is the third-highest finishing average for Busch at any active track on the Cup Series schedule.

While competing and winning at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway is considered the ultimate accomplishment for NASCAR drivers, the mile oval in the Arizona desert outside Phoenix is often thought of just as highly by young racers growing up out West. While Busch is certainly proud of what he’s been able to accomplish at Phoenix, he’d like nothing more than to score another win there not only for the personal pride, but also to better his position for NASCAR’s playoff. Drivers earn five playoff points for every regular-season race win, which they will carry through the 10-race run for the championship.

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

 Talk a little bit about heading to Phoenix this weekend. 

“Phoenix has done a great job over the years of continuing to upgrade the facility and the racing there, I think, is great on that flat 1-mile track. With (baseball) Spring Training in town during our race, I hope to match up and go out to Mesa, Arizona, where the Cubs play. They’re World Champions. I’ve been a Cubs fan my whole life and it would be great to go and shake their hands and congratulate them on a job well done. We’ll see if that matches up, but as far as the Phoenix race and the atmosphere there and the changes that they’re making, they’re going all in. It gives you this impression that (Bryan) Sperber, the track president, is doing what he needs to do to position himself to be our year-end finale and to see his track host the final Cup points race.”

What do you feel you need to work on at Phoenix to continue the success you’ve had there?

“It seems like, each time we go back to Phoenix, the asphalt is getting a little bit older. It’s starting to get a little bit slicker, yet it still seems like you can stay out forever on tires. You are out there a long time on tires and the air pressures build up. We are going to work this time around on keeping the air pressure down and trying to make our long-run speed better.” 

What makes Phoenix such a unique racetrack?

 “It’s got a great atmosphere there with turns one and two being much tighter than turns three and four. They reconfigured the dogleg on the back straightaway, which is a huge corner now. It opens up the ability to go way below the yellow line. Sometimes you see cars five-wide on the back straightaway. That is definitely a wild card in the mix there.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Phoenix I Race Weekend

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes the second stop on its three-race West Coast swing Sunday when the green flag drops on the Camping World 500k at the ultra-fast Phoenix International Raceway mile oval.

The 2017 season marks a time of change for both the iconic desert racetrack and No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion driver Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer has climbed into the driver’s seat vacated by retired, three-time champion Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), where the four-car team switched to Ford Performance in the offseason. The changes have returned Bowyer to the front of the field with 10th- and 11th-place finishes in the last two races. The No. 14 Ford is 12th in the season standings and is expected to contend for victory Sunday.

“I’m going there with a new team in Stewart-Haas Racing and a new manufacturer in Ford, so going to Phoenix will be like a whole new world for me,” said Bowyer, who has enjoyed success on the Arizona oval that’s surrounded by the Sierra Estrella Mountains. He owns two top-five finishes and six top-10s and has led 22 laps at Phoenix.

“Right now, we are really just trying to figure out these Fords, figure out my guys, and get that communication down that everyone knows is so important. I’m looking forward to the challenge of Phoenix. My teammate (Kevin Harvick) is really good out there – five victories (in the last seven races) – so I’ll be leaning on him. He represented SHR at the Phoenix test in February, so hopefully with what he learned all of us will be good when we go back there this weekend.”

The Phoenix racetrack is undergoing a resurgence of its own.

In January, it announced a $178 million renovation project that will be completed by November 2018. It includes: a new pedestrian tunnel to the infield and the relocation of the start/finish line to the current dog leg, grandstand seating capacity for 45,000, upgraded and new suites, new escalators and elevators, new souvenir areas, as well as multiple new restrooms. Also included is a new Fanzone in the infield, a new midway, new NASCAR Xfinity Series garages, new guest services and ticketing buildings along with a new public address system, plus increased Wi-Fi availability for fans.

Bowyer said making race venues more attractive to the fans will pay dividends in the long run and not just for the 52-year-old Phoenix track, but all of NASCAR.

“Phoenix has always been a great racetrack, but I think it’s getting older,” he said. “It was nothing to roll into Phoenix for testing and see a rattlesnake curled up in the corner of the garage. The fans are just awesome out there, so giving them a little bit better atmosphere in the infield is the biggest deal of everything they are doing there.”

Phoenix weekend marks a busy time of the season for all NASCAR Cup Series teams. After spending 10 days in Daytona, then traveling to Atlanta for the March 5 race, the teams raced in Las Vegas last weekend. After the race, they exchanged their primary and backup Las Vegas cars for the primary and backup cars they’ll run this weekend. After Sunday’s race, they’ll repeat the effort, swapping the Phoenix cars for the cars they’ll race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., next weekend.

Bowyer said being thousands of miles away from home for three consecutive weeks requires extra planning to take care of both people and racecars.

“Logistics are such a big thing on that West Coast swing,” he said. “You can’t come back and totally reboot and rebuild racecars. What you’ve got out there is what you’re going to have until you get home and get a chance to re-baseline and figure out where you’re at, where you need to work. You just don’t have time to logistically get any better.”

“I mean, hey, let’s face it – people have families, so it’s tough on everyone. It’s a long time being gone, so you better be ready and you better be prepared.”

 

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

 

What are your thoughts on Phoenix International Raceway?

“It’s always fun to go to Phoenix. It’s a cool racetrack, one of my favorites. It was my first racetrack where I made a start in the NASCAR Cup Series. I started with Richard Childress Racing and Bill McAnally, so it is always special to go back there. I think the new downforce package is going to be exciting. Obviously, since the repave, that place is pretty slick and the tires are hot, so I think it is going to be pretty good.”

What is the key to success at Phoenix?

“The key to success at Phoenix is just having a good neutral racecar. Both ends of the track are quite different with turns one and two being a pretty tight arc and turns three and four being a pretty open, sweeping corner. So, there’s really no perfect setup. You have to find a happy medium with good balance, then find a middle ground. After that, it’s track position that’s important. You have to qualify well and make sure you stay up front.”

What is the biggest challenge at Phoenix? 

“Since the repave, the track has changed quite a bit, so your driving has to also change. I was probably better with the old, worn-out surface and softer tires. Now, with the harder tires, the new repave and new construction off turn two, plus the difference in the track – it’s been a challenge for me. But again, this is a new world, with new equipment. I’ve learned already, in just a short amount of time, things here at SHR seem to be easier.”

 

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Phoenix I Race Advance

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is considered a favorite nearly every time he visits Phoenix International Raceway, but Sunday’s Camping World 500k Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race marks a new beginning behind the wheel of a Ford Fusion for the first time at the mile oval in the desert.

Harvick has an unmatched and impressive list of accomplishments at Phoenix headed by a series-high eight NASCAR Cup Series wins, including five of the last seven and six of the last nine. He is the only Cup Series driver to win four consecutive races at Phoenix. He won the November 2013 race, swept the 2014 races and won in March 2015 before ending the streak with a second-place finish in November 2015. Only five drivers have won consecutive Cup Series races at Phoenix and Harvick is the only driver to win consecutive races twice. He swept both races in 2006 to go with his back-to-back wins in 2014.

According to NASCAR loop data, Harvick is the only driver to score a perfect 150.0 driver rating on three different occasions at Phoenix. Harvick scored his first perfect rating at the mile oval in November 2006, when he started second and led 252 of 312 laps on his way to victory lane. He accomplished the feat a second time by winning the November 2014 race, which he started third and led 264 of 312 laps. His third perfect score came in March 2015, when he won the pole, led 224 of 312 laps and beat Jamie McMurray to the finish line by 1.153 seconds.

Harvick scored his first and only Phoenix pole in NASCAR Cup Series competition in March 2015 with a lap of 25.577 seconds at 140.751 mph.

In addition to the Cup Series, Harvick has five other NASCAR touring series wins – four in the Camping World Truck Series and one in the Xfinity Series. The 2014 Cup Series champion won the Truck Series events at Phoenix in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009. He scored his lone Xfinity win at Phoenix in 2006.

Luckily for Harvick and the No. 4 Jimmy John’s team, they were able to participate in the NASCAR test session at Phoenix on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. It was the team’s first outing with the No. 4 Ford Fusion and allowed valuable track time in preparation for this weekend’s event.

Harvick and the Jimmy John’s team hope to return to their winning ways at Phoenix this Sunday and secure their position in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. A win Sunday would be their first of the 2017 campaign and would extend Harvick’s series-best win total at Phoenix.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What makes racing at Phoenix unique?

“Phoenix is a really flat racetrack where you want to have the freshest tires possible, but track position is really important. A lot of what happens at Phoenix depends on the weather and how hot it is – how much (tire) fall-off and how you have to manage track position throughout the day. The cooler the day is, the more you have to manage your track position. The hotter the day, the more you have to manage the fall-off. Better-handling cars will have a little easier time getting through the field.”

You’ve had great success at Phoenix but, on top of a new aero package there this season, does your team have to adjust to a whole new car with the switch to Ford?

“I think those were some of our biggest questions when we went to the first test of the year at Phoenix. We had to run down some checklists of really basic things to try to figure out exactly where we need to be, what we need to do, what we need to work on. The main thing is that we now have a starting point to work from. There’s not a lot of guessing anymore. We know what’s going on and where we are at and going around a racetrack is what we needed to be doing, so we know where to work from here.”

Did the Ford Fusion feel similar to what you were expecting or compared to what you’ve run in the past?

“Yes, there was really no surprise with the way it felt. The things we worked on are very similar to what we have worked on in the past. I think this particular aero package – with the spoiler and splitter – is very similar to a lot of the things we fought last year at the end of the season. Now we can dive into the problems and try to solve those issues, but they are very similar to the things we’ve had in the past.”

When you went to the test, did you notice much of a difference in the balance of the car?

“The drivability of the Ford Fusion is not that big of a difference, but the balance of the car is definitely different than what we’ve had in the past. I think there is just not one reason for that, though. I think that’s a bit of where we are right now. We have to look at it and say, ‘Is it the balance of the car? Is it the balance of the new aero package?’ But that doesn’t matter – you know what the problems are that you’re going to fight there. It’s irrelevant what it is really, at this point. We just have to address the handling and make it better at this point.”

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Las Vegas Race Report

Event:               Kobalt Tools 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      29th/36th (Accident, completed 246 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 30th (37 points, 95 out of first) 
Race Winner:    Martin Truex, Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Danica Patrick started 29th and finished 29th.
  • The No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion dropped to the rear to start the race after the team was forced to change the gearbox following final practice on Saturday.
  • Patrick pitted twice during the stage and crew chief Billy Scott tweaked the car looking to improve entry and exit with slight adjustments in both rear corners.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):     

  • Patrick started 29th and finished 28th.
  • The team made a long green-flag run to open the stage and Patrick climbed inside the top 20 before making a pair of pit stops late in the stage. Patrick reported the car felt better, but it remained tight on exit causing the nose to take off.
  • At the conclusion of Stage 2, the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team pitted for tires, fuel and a small wedge adjustment to help balance the car through the corners for Patrick. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):          

  • Patrick started 28th and finished 36th.
  • She continued her rhythm from Stage 2 making consistent laps despite being two laps down to the leader early in the stage. The team needed a caution to gain back a lap, but that never came. The green-flag run continued for 58 laps before Patrick pitted for four tires and fuel making a green-flag stop on lap 224.
  • Patrick spent the next 20 laps working to climb back inside the top 30 before a mechanical failure caused her to lose power on lap 250. She drove the car to the garage where the crew assessed the mechanical failure.

Notes:              

  • Patrick earned 1 point in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, which gives her a total of 37 points for the season thus far. She is ranked 30th in the driver point standings heading into next weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. 

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

“It was another day where my Aspen Dental Ford team worked hard to get me better throughout the race. There late in the race, we finally got the car to a place where I think we could have got a little more racy with it, especially if we would have caught some breaks, but then it just flattened out.  I just rode around the top in case something happened. Unfortunately, it did and having a teammate behind me was not ideal for the timing of it. We’ll just move on to Phoenix and see if we can keep improving.”  

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Camping World 500k on Sunday, March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX.

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Las Vegas Race Report

Event:               Kobalt 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      13th/10th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps) 
Point Standing: 12th (73 points, 59 out of first) 
Race Winner:    Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Started 13th, finished 19th.
  • Battled loose-handling car throughout Stage 1.
  • Pitted during the lap 19 caution period, but lost several spots when another car slowed Bowyer on pit lane.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):     

  • Started 19th, finished 14th.
  • After several adjustments, the car’s handling improved, but was still loose.
  • Bowyer gained two spots in the stage’s final four laps after restart.

 Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):          

  • Started 17th.
  • Started turning top-six lap times midway through the final stage.
  • Restarted the race in 11th with nine laps remaining.

 Notes:              

  • Bowyer scored his first top-10 finish of 2017.
  • It’s also Bowyer’s first top-10 finish since joining SHR.
  • Bowyer’s previous high-water mark at Las Vegas was a second-place result on March 1, 2009.

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

“It was a struggle. To be truthful, we weren’t the best all weekend, but we just kept digging. Buga (Mike Bugarewicz) didn’t give up on the box and kept adjusting on it and got me pretty good, the best we’d been right there at the end. It’s a top-10 and gives us some momentum. It’s our third race together and we got a top-10, so we’ve got to keep digging.”

 Next Up:          

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Camping World 500k on Sunday, March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Las Vegas Race Report

Event:               Kobalt 400 (Round 3 of 36) 
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      17th/30th (Running, completed 263 of 267 laps) 
Point Standing: 7th (93 points, 39 out of first)
Race Winner:    Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Kurt Busch started 17th, finished 12th.
  • Busch was scored as high as 10th during Stage 1.
  • Battled a loose-handling condition for much of the Stage.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 1 for right-side tires, fuel and chassis adjustments. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

  • Started 15th, finished 17th.
  • Experienced an electrical issue that forced him to shut off everything but the fan for the rear gear.
  • Made a pit stop during green-flag conditions on lap 126 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.
  • Struggled with a tight-handling condition at the beginning of the run but loose as the laps clicked off.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 2 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

  • Started 18th, finished 30th.
  • Struggled with a tight-handling condition.
  • Forced to pit on lap 201 to replace batteries under green-flag conditions. Lost four laps. 

Notes:

  • Busch made his 16th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at his home track.

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

“We went through a lot today. Obviously it wasn’t the day we were hoping to have with our Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion. We didn’t have the long-run speed or the balance, and we had an electrical issue that forced us to change batteries on pit road. We kept battling, we didn’t give up. I hoped to have a better run here in front of the hometown fans.”

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Camping World 500k on Sunday, March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Las Vegas Race Report

Event:               Kobalt 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format:             267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)
Start/Finish:      19th/38th (Accident, completed 68 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 8th (91 points, 41 points out of first)
 
Race Winner:    Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):

  • Kevin Harvick started 19th, finished 38th.
  • The Mobil 1 pit crew gained one position on pit road during the lap 20 caution and restarted 10th.
  • Harvick was able to get a strong restart after the first caution period racing as high as fifth by lap 26.
  • He reported a loose-handling condition throughout the majority of Stage 1.
  • Harvick cut a tire on lap 68 which saw him make significant contact with the outside wall, ending his day.

 Notes:                          

  • This is the first race Harvick has not finished at Las Vegas.

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

“It started vibrating about four or five laps there and I was just trying to ride it to the end of the stage.  Obviously, it didn’t make it. All in all, our Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford was running good. We were just too loose right there. It’s not like we were even tight, so it either just cut the tire, or came apart or melted the bead.” 

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Camping World 500k on Sunday, March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Las Vegas Race Advance

Fresh off of a 17th-place effort last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) enter Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to gain momentum to help propel them to greater successes through the rest of the year.

Patrick started the season with a 33rd-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, but the result wasn’t indicative of her No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team’s overall performance during Daytona Speedweeks. Patrick earned finishes of fourth and sixth in the Advance Auto Parts Clash and Can-Am Duel, respectively, and she was scored as high as second in the Daytona 500 before her solid performance ended prematurely due to a multicar accident.

Last weekend in Atlanta, Patrick started 24th, was scored as high as 15th and came back from being two laps down to finish on the lead lap in the 17th position. While the results of the first two race weekends haven’t been as good as Patrick would like, they have put her and the No. 10 team well ahead of where they were at this point last year. In 2016, Patrick entered the race in Las Vegas ranked 29th in the driver point standings. This weekend she heads to the track 22nd and hopes to continue to improve.

While Patrick has yet to finish inside the top-20 at the NASCAR Cup Series level at Las Vegas, she is no stranger to success at the 1.5-mile track. In 2011, she brought home a fourth-place finish in Xfinity Series competition. That effort marked the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by the late Sara Christian in a NASCAR Cup Series race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

As Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team return to Las Vegas this weekend, they plan to improve upon her NASCAR Cup Series results at the track in an effort to continue building momentum.

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

 

Are you a fan of going to Las Vegas?  

“I have to say I’m not a gambler at all. However, I am definitely a huge foodie and I love checking out great restaurants. Las Vegas has a ton of great options, so I do enjoy going out there to check out some of the great food the city has to offer.” 

There are a lot of logistics involved in the West Coast swing. What do you do? Do you stay out West or do you commute like you would to other NASCAR races?

“I stay out on the West Coast. I lived in Phoenix full-time for 10 years. My house is there, so I base in Phoenix and it’s perfect. Those are long trips, back-and-forth, from the West Coast. Those are four- and five-hour plane rides each way, so it definitely functions logistically a lot easier to just base myself on the West Coast and I think more and more people are doing that. I think it’s smart.”

Coming out of Daytona, we hit a stretch of the season that includes Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. How important is that slate of races?

“The first five races of the year are super-critical for the points championship but, in particular, they’re a good indicator of how the rest of the year is going to go from a performance standpoint. With those tracks, you’re covering all the bases with a short track, being Phoenix, a mile-and-a-half with Atlanta, a mile-and-a-half with Vegas – with Vegas being high-grip and Atlanta being low-grip – and then you go to Fontana, which is a 2-mile, flat, wide oval, so you’ve got a lot of different challenges. If we can perform well as a team at all of those tracks and have the mechanical handling that we need, and good understanding as to what we need there to balance out the aerodynamics – which, hopefully, aero-wise, we’re in good shape – then we’ll have a great start to the year.”