Author: Kellye Arning

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Las Vegas Race Advance

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is leading the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to Las Vegas for this weekend’s Kobalt 400. His impressive start to the 2017 campaign through the series’ first two events has led to a four-point lead over the 2017 Daytona 500 champion, fellow SHR teammate and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, in the season standings.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the No. 4 Mobil 1 team securing the top spot in the Cup Series standings is that it has done it while transitioning through the offseason to Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Company as its manufacturer.

The new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point system rewards racing at the front of the field throughout each event and, ultimately, winning stages. The No. 4 team has three stage wins through the first two events of the season and has led 342 of 525 total laps – more than 65 percent of the possible total. The driver who ranks second in laps led is Chase Elliott with 39.

Harvick’s three stage wins have also allowed him to score three playoff points. He ranks second behind teammate Busch and Atlanta winner Brad Keselowski, who each have five playoff points.

The Bakersfield, California native has reason to believe his strong start will continue at the 1.5-mile track in Las Vegas this weekend.

Harvick dominated the Kobalt 400 in 2015 to score his first win of the season and his first at Las Vegas in only the season’s third race. His No. 4 car led five times for a race-high 142 laps en route to his 29th career Cup Series win.

The 41-year-old driver also has two wins in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Las Vegas. His first came in March 2004, when he started 11th, led 14 laps and raced his way to victory by .119 of a second over runner-up Kasey Kahne.

Harvick’s second Xfinity win at Las Vegas came in February 2010. Driving his own No. 33 car for Kevin Harvick Inc., he started second, led 82 laps and beat runner-up Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 1.361 seconds. It was the sixth win for Harvick’s team in the Xfinity Series.

He is still searching for his first Cup Series pole at Las Vegas, but he did win the pole for the Xfinity race in 2007, when he turned a lap at 181.111 mph.

Harvick’s goal now is to score his first win of the 2017 campaign and score his second Kobalt 400 win Sunday on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

 

You got married in Las Vegas, you’ve won a Cup Series race there, two Xfinity Series races, and celebrated your Sprint Cup championship in Las Vegas. Does the city have a special meaning to you?

“I have raced there for a long time but I don’t know that it has that special meaning other than the fact that we got married out there. Usually, DeLana and I eat at the same restaurant, we go to the same places and try to have some fun. It’s definitely been a good racetrack for me. It’s still a place where I have a lot of family and friends and people I enjoy. It’s a busy weekend but, all-in-all, it’s still a fun place to go.”

 

From the driver’s seat how does the new points system change your approach to a race?

“For us, that’s the good thing. For us, Rodney Childers (crew chief) has always been pretty pressing on going out there and trying to get everything you can out of the car in practice, qualifying and at the beginning of the race to try and position yourself for the end as early as possible. That opens up a lot of windows, you know, where your car is, and we’ve tried to race that way for the last three years. When you go back and look at the history, the regular-season points, the segment wins and those types of things have been very good for us and hopefully that trend continues as we move forward.”

Does the new race format and points system fit your driving style?

“I think that fits our team well just to the fact that we’re an aggressive bunch of people. We want to go out and lead laps. We want to go out and try to position ourselves as far forward as we can because you just never know when it’s going to change and what’s going to happen. We’re definitely going to treat it aggressively and try and gain as many bonus points as you can.”

COLE CUSTER – 2017 Las Vegas Race Advance

Event:               Boyd Gaming 300
Date:                 Saturday, March. 11, 2017
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Layout:             1.5-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

  • Code 3 Associates will be the primary partner onboard Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time this season.Code 3 Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in animal rescue and recovery in disaster areas. Formed in 1985, Colorado-based Code 3 Associates is a national response team that, at the request of local government officials, provides animal rescue and recovery in times of disaster. The organization has evolved from one unpaid volunteer to approximately 75 professional responders and thousands of members around the country, which include animal welfare, law enforcement, fire, EMS and veterinary specialists from the United States and Canada. While its focus is animals and their owners, Code 3 Associates trains its responders to the standards of human rescue, and Code 3 Associates also provides training to conduct thorough investigations into animal welfare issues, all of which is accredited by Colorado State University and the school’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
  • The Boyd Gaming 300 event will mark Custer’s first NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • On Saturday, Oct. 21, 2016, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas, Custer led three laps prior to earning a third-place finish – his only start at the 1.5-mile oval in any series.
  • This weekend, NASCAR is headed West. Custer a Ladera Ranch, California, native grew up racing in grassroots series across the Western United States and, while this will be his first start at Las Vegas in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series, the young gun isn’t a stranger to racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway campus. Custer began racing at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011, earning a victory in the USAC Young Gun division to help him to secure the USAC National Focus Young Gun Championship. Then, in 2012, he became the youngest Late Model division winner at the Bullring, also earning the NASCAR Nevada Rookie of the Year title.
  • 00 crew chief Jeff Meendering isn’t a stranger to success at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Meendering was named crew chief for Bobby Labonte throughout the 2008 season, earning a top-20 finish in his third race with the team. He has come close to victory lane at the West Coast track as a car chief for Jeff Gordon, earning a fourth-place finish in 2005, a fifth-place finish in 2006 and a second-place finish in 2007.
  • As 19-year-old Custer heads into this weekend’s race at Las Vegas, he is already two races into his campaign for Rookie of the Year honors. After an incident not of his own fault at Daytona set him back in the points, he gained ground with a top-10 effort Saturday at Atlanta. He now trails the 2017 Rookie of the Year lead heading into Las Vegas by 11 points over first-place William Byron. Custer has accumulated 17 rookie points this year through the first two races. He has a history of performing well as a NASCAR Rookie of the Year contender, earning third in the Truck Series rookie standings in 2016.

 

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Describe a lap behind the wheel at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It’s pretty much just really fast and you’re wide open. You’re going to start racing around the bottom, but you’ll be able to move around a bit by the end of the day. The biggest challenge is just trying to get used to the edgy feeling that you’re going to have from running wide open.” 

How confident are you going into Las Vegas after your top-10 finish at Atlanta?

“We’re definitely really confident. I felt like we had a really fast car that was maybe even a little bit better than where we finished. We’re really confident just to get going at Las Vegas and see what we have with that same package. I think we’re going to be pretty good and we’re looking forward to it.”

Describe your relationship with Code 3 Associates and what it means to represent their organization in Vegas.

“I’ve always had pets when I was younger so I love hearing that they are helping all kinds of animals after natural disasters. It’s awesome to have a company behind you like that because it’s such a great cause and one that I believe strongly in. I’m just going to go and try to make them proud because they are giving us so much support. Hopefully we can make them proud this weekend with a good run.”

You grew up racing on the West Coast and even at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. What are you most looking forward to about heading closer to home and about racing at Las Vegas?

“It’s definitely going home for me, so it’s cool to see some friends throughout the West Coast swing. I’ve been to Vegas a lot of times, so it’s a familiar territory and it’s awesome to race at the speedway. I definitely ran a lot of races at the Bullring and it was a really fun track to race on. It was neat because I would look at the big track and think about racing there someday, but I was just the smaller guy working my way up back then and hoping to race there one day and now I’m actually racing there. It’s pretty humbling to think I’ve come this far.”

 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are the biggest challenges you will need to overcome on racing at Las Vegas? Does the new package come into play?

“The challenges at Las Vegas are mostly in the track characteristics. It’s pretty bumpy getting into turn one and you can have a hard time setting up the car around that. While some teams are still talking about the new package, honestly, the package change this year doesn’t really come into play as much for us because we’re a new team so everything is new. It’s kind of nice because as far as we’re concerned everything is new and we have the Cup notes to work off of the aero balances and the XFINITY balances are really close to what the Cup aero balances were last year, so we can kind of gauge everything off of that to help with set up right now.”

Knowing that Cole finished in the top three in his only start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, does this give you a level of confidence going into this weekend?

“I’m really confident. Most of our intermediate setups are carrying over from one track to the next so it’s just fine tuning from there with springs and shocks. I feel like after having that strong run there in Atlanta that momentum should keep carrying over to all of these intermediate tracks.”

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Las Vegas Race Advance

Few people must live up to a number like Clint Bowyer will in 2017.

This year, Bowyer inherited the steering wheel of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion from three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired last season after a 49-win Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and hundreds of other victories in many forms of racing. Since starting Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with co-owner Gene Haas in 2009, Stewart has piloted a car carrying the No. 14 to victory lane 16 times – the most of any driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Stewart selected No. 14 for a good reason.

His boyhood hero A.J. Foyt made the number legendary in open-wheel racing. Foyt’s driving career included four Indianapolis 500 wins among his hundreds of open-wheel victories, plus checkered flags in NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and sportscar racing’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the record, Foyt also drove the No. 14 in 42 NASCAR races, but with that number he was winless with just a single top-five finish.

Stewart lived up to his hero’s standards since taking over the No. 14.

His win at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June last year was the 42nd overall NASCAR Cup Series win for the No. 14 in 1,132 races. In addition to Stewart’s 16 victories, Fonty Flock won 14 races in the No. 14, including the first for the number at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, North Carolina in April 1951. Three other drivers have scored wins in the No. 14: Jim Paschal with seven, Herschel McGriff with four, and Bobby Allison with one.

Bowyer relishes his turn with the famous number and wants to join the group.

“I respect that and love that,” Bowyer said. “Who isn’t an A.J. Foyt fan and loved his attitude and everything he was about? Tony did that number good, too. Tony represented that number every bit as much as A.J. did and there is history behind those numbers. It’s going to mean a lot to me and does mean a lot to me to drive the 14, as well, for those reasons.”

Bowyer is already off to a good start in the No. 14. He finished second in his qualifying race for the Daytona 500 two weeks ago and ran well before a midrace accident left him with a 32nd-place finish in the race. Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 14 started 25th and moved to third late in the race before contact with another car set off a chain of events that ultimately left him with an 11th-place finish.

The Atlanta finish left him, fittingly enough, 14th in points after two races.

This weekend, Bowyer makes his 400th NASCAR Cup Series start when he takes the green flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It marks his 12th start at the 1.5-mile oval where he earned a second-place finish in 2009 plus two other top-10 finishes. Bowyer seeks his ninth career Cup Series victory.

He’d love nothing better than to become the sixth driver to win in No. 14. But, he isn’t the only family member adjusting to the No. 14. His 2-year-old son Cash is making the adjustment from rooting for Bowyer’s past number 15 to the new number 14.

“Lorra (Bowyer, wife) has been working on him all winter long about it’s not 15 in anymore, it’s 14,” Bowyer said. “I think after Daytona qualifying I came around the corner and I had my firesuit on and he’s like, ‘Yay, number 14.’ It clicks. So, last year is behind us and I think he’s dead set on 14 and, hopefully, I can get him in victory lane. There would be nothing neater than to have my family in victory lane.”

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

Did you feel like caged animal during last year’s wait to officially join Stewart-Haas Racing?

“Yeah, I waited a long time on this opportunity. I signed this opportunity about a year and a half ago. That’s a long time. The biggest thing is, I was really excited to get the year started off with a group that I feel like wants nothing more and works for nothing more than race wins and the championship. That’s all they talk about. That’s all they do is win and be successful and, if they don’t, they go back to work and do what it takes to go back and win. Obviously, everybody’s goals are to go out and win, but there are only a select few organizations that truly are set up to know, no matter what the cost or expense or amount of dedication, that’s what they’re there to do and the word no is non-existent. It’s, ‘What do we have to do to win?’”

 

TONY STEWART, Co-Owner of the No. 14 Haas Automation Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How has Clint’s transition to SHR gone?

“The transition with Clint, I think once Homestead was over, you could see an immediate change in his confidence. He was excited all winter. You guys know Clint. It’s like dropping a Super Ball off the top of a building and watching it bounce around nonstop. The only thing we’re trying to figure out is what size shock collar we need to get on him to keep his attention and keep him focused (laughs). His enthusiasm has been really fun to watch at the shop and around all the guys and around Kurt (Busch) and Kevin (Harvick) and Danica (Patrick.) They’re enjoying having him around. I’m enjoying having him around and I know the 14 team is excited to have him in the car. I’ve never seen him this excited. Obviously, last year wasn’t the year that he wanted, by any means, and this is a fresh start for him, so I know he’s excited.”

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Las Vegas Race Advance

It all started with an idea contrived in the No. 41 hauler last Friday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Back at the racetrack for the first time since winning the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the idea came to Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), as he explained to the team that there are just two Harley J. Earl trophies made each year – one each presented to the winning driver and car owner of the Daytona 500. Gene Haas, the listed car owner, shipped his to Haas Automation’s headquarters in Oxnard, California, where it will be displayed.

But Busch wanted to order replica trophies for crew chief Tony Gibson, sponsor Monster Energy and others. Unable to do that, he came up with the idea of sharing his trophy with his teammates and others, as is the tradition with the trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League championship-winning team, The Stanley Cup.

Lord Stanley’s Cup is first presented on the ice to the captain of the winning team after the series-clinching game. Each member of the team then gets a turn to skate around the rink with the trophy hoisted high. For the next 100 days, the championship-winning team gets to keep the Cup in its possession for parades, sponsor functions and other celebrations. Beginning with the New York Rangers in 1994, a tradition also began wherein each member of the winning team is allowed to retain the Cup for a day.

So, Busch begins his self-proclaimed Harley J. Earl Trophy Tour this weekend when he takes it to his hometown of Las Vegas, the site of this Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Thursday, Busch and the trophy’s first stop will be Durango High School, where he will be inducted into the Las Vegas school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Along with his Daytona 500 trophy, Busch will also have a replica of his No. 97 Ford Taurus with which he won the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series championship. A period-correct hood will be raised to the rafters to commemorate the occasion.

On Saturday, Busch will take the trophy to Star Nursery, the sponsor that adorned his car when he drove in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour back in the day. Busch ultimately parlayed his success driving Craig Keough’s No. 70 car into his championship-winning NASCAR career. From there, Busch plans to leave the trophy at Monster Energy’s corporate headquarters in Corona, California, where it will be displayed for employees and customers alike.

Just two races into the 2017 season, Busch is already enjoying the most successful start to a season of his NASCAR Cup Series career. With a seventh-place finish Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch finds himself ranked second in the point standings. He’s looking forward to earning a little more hardware Sunday in the form of his first winner’s trophy from his home track. While he has yet to score a win there, he certainly has put his best foot forward when it comes to qualifying at Las Vegas. Busch has started outside of the top-10 only four times in 15 starts, and has a pair of poles, scored in 2010 and 2016. He’s confident that this year, with Ford horsepower under the hood of his No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Fusion, he’ll be finally be able to find his way to his hometown victory lane.

 

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

Talk a little bit about how the plan came together to take the Harley J. Earl trophy on a Stanley Cup-like tour.

“We came up with an idea Friday morning in Atlanta. I realized that there are only two trophies from victory lane at Daytona, and you cannot get a replica of the trophy. Gene Haas has his from the breakfast afterward and it is now in Oxnard, California, at the Haas Automation headquarters. My trophy is at the race shop right now. All the crew guys have been taking selfies with it and other pictures of it and they had a toast the other night with it. I am going to get the nice carrying case that goes with it and I am going to send it out on a tour. I am going to turn our Harley J. Earl trophy into the Stanley Cup. It will make events here and there. I wanted to get replicas for Ford, Monster Energy, for myself and whomever is significant enough to get a replica. But they only make two. That is what is so significant and powerful about this trophy. The first visit after the SHR race shop will be to Las Vegas, so the fans in my hometown can see it, and then it will go to Corona, California, so it can hang out in the Monster headquarters for a little while.”

 

What does it feel like coming back to Las Vegas?

“Vegas is different. It’s our hometown and we grew up racing on that little three-eighth-mile bullring that is in the shadows of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Every time I go out there, it reminds me of all the people who helped Kyle (Busch, brother) and I, especially our dad Tom.  But the different Late Model teams, modified teams, the Legend car races, and all the competitors, the Dwarf car days. It’s just fun to come back and reminisce. But, ultimately you’ve got to strap on the helmet and focus on the task at hand. It’s always special in Vegas.”

 

The West Coast swing of races at Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Fontana serves as a pretty good indicator of where a team stands. How important is that slate of races? 

“The West Coast swing is a perfect gauge for how your work went through the off-season, whether it’s the wind tunnel, the chassis dyno, new development, and then the team, as far as how the pit crew is performing. Those races on the West Coast swing really can put a stamp on where you are, what needs to be done, and what weaknesses or strengths we have.”

 

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

“I stay on the West Coast. I call in to the team call-ins. Ashley (Busch, wife) likes to drive to the races out West. So, it’s just a nice, old-school road trip, going from Vegas to Phoenix to Los Angeles and making the best of it. We stop at some of the scenic spots – Grand Canyon, there are the beaches out in L.A. So, it’s a fun, cool West Coast trip.”

 

Of those venues that you mentioned, is there an area of the West Coast that you like to visit, have to visit, when you’re out there? 

“My hometown of Las Vegas, going back there to see family, friends, and restaurants. There’s this old-school place where we always used to go get pizza when I was a kid. It was just great to go back to the roots and reminisce. It gets you back to where everything started, going to Vegas.”

 

You can’t test like you once were able to in January. So how do you, as a driver, adjust to a change like the one that has been made at Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2017 season?

“It’s because the teams have more depth. There is more simulation. The engineering staff has gone through things at a much higher level, whereas it used to be the driver and the crew chief who would go to the track and then come back with a notebook of things. Now, the notebook has been gone through by the lead engineers and they’ve prepared it as best as possible before we show up. Limited track time saves money but, at the same time, you end up spending it on personnel and hiring the key guys to make the cars safer, faster, stronger, and I know we’ve done a great job to transition with Ford because I’ve seen some of the drawings and the way that Doug Yates has the engine set up. We had to change a few of our suspension settings to adapt to the way he had his engine set up, so there might be a couple bugs here or there, but I’m not too worried about it. We’ve got really good, quality people at Stewart-Haas with Yates engines.”

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Atlanta XFINITY Race Report

Event:               Atlanta 250 (Round 2 of 33)
Series:               NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location:          Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format:             163 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/83 laps)
Start/Finish:      12th/4th (Running, completed 163 of 163 laps) 
Race Winner:    Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-40):

  • Started 12th, finished third.
  • Brad Keselowski of Team Penske won Stage 1; Harvick trailed by 2.614 seconds.
  • The No. 41 Ford Mustang suffered a tight-handling condition at the start of a run.
  • He pitted for four tires and fuel following Stage 1. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 41-80):       

  • Started third, finished first.
  • Harvick passed Brad Keselowski for the lead on lap 62 and went on to win Stage 2.
  • He led laps 62-80.
  • The No. 41 team pitted for four tires and fuel following Stage 2. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 81-163):           

  • Started first, finished fourth.
  • Harvick led laps 80-124.
  • He pitted for four tires and fuel under caution on lap 121.
  • The No. 41 team pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment on lap 143 to correct a tight-handling condition.
  • Harvick restarted fourth on lap 147. 

Notes:              

  • Harvick scored his 10th top-five finish and 12th top-10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 16 starts.
  • It is his 179th top-five and 251 top-10 finish in 336 XFINITY Series starts.
  • This is Harvick’s first career NASCAR XFINITY Series start for Stewart-Haas Racing.
  • Harvick is running five NASCAR XFINITY Series races in the No. 41 Ford Mustang for SHR in 2017.
  • Harvick led twice for a race-high 64 laps.
  • He now has led 832 laps at Atlanta in the XFINITY Series – the most all-time.
  • No. 41 crew chief Richard Boswell made his SHR debut.
  • Boswell’s only other series race as a crew chief was with JR Motorsports for SHR teammate Cole Custer at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in 2016. 

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

“I want to thank everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing for our first race out, leading laps and racing for the lead there all day was quite a credit to the team. We got really tight the next to last set of tires. It was like the race track went away from us and kind of came to everybody else. We made it better the last run. I want to thank everyone from Textron Off Road, Ford Performance and Hunt Brothers, everyone that is putting this Mustang on track this year. It was a great opening week for us. I wish we could have won, but all in all I think it was a great week for us.” 

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Boyd Gaming 300 on Saturday, March 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 4 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1. Harvick’s next race behind the wheel of the No. 41 Ford Mustang will be Saturday, April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway.

COLE CUSTER – 2017 Atlanta Race Report

Event: Atlanta 250 (Round 2 of 33)
Series: NASCAR XFINITY Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format: 163 laps, broken into three stages (40 laps/40 laps/83 laps)
Start/Finish: 8th/10th (Running, completed 163 of 163 laps)
Point Standing: 13th (36 point, 34 out of first)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-40):

  • Started eighth, finished sixth.
  • Brad Keselowski of Team Penske won Stage 1.
  • Custer raced consistently in the top 10 making his first pit stop during the Stage 1 break where the team changed air pressure adjustments to help a free-handling condition.
  • The Haas Automation crew had a fast pit stop picking up a position during the Stage 1 break.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 41-80):       

  • Started fifth, finished eighth.
  • Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick won Stage 2 in the No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang.
  • Custer noted a vibration and a free-handling condition coming off of the corner in Turn 4.
  • The Haas Automation team took four tires, made significant air pressure adjustments and added tape during the Stage 2 pit stop maintaining their position for the Stage 3 restart. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 81-163):           

  • Started eighth, finished 10th.
  • During the lap 118 caution period, Custer came down pit road for track bar adjustments picking up two positions on pit road.
  • The Haas Automation crew received a penalty for too many men over the wall and Custer had to start at the tail end of the longest line.
  • Green flag racing resumed on lap 123. Custer was shuffled back on the restart but rebounded back into the top 15 by lap 138.
  • The Haas Automation crew elected to pit during the lap 143 caution for four tires and track bar adjustments to help a free-handling condition.
  • Custer restarted in the 13th spot with 16 laps remaining in the event.
  • Custer raced his way back into the top 10 by lap 160 ultimately finishing the race in the 10th spot. 

Notes:              

  • The Atlanta 250 marked Custer’s seventh career NASCAR XFINITY Series start, and his first at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
  • Custer tied his career-best NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying effort on Saturday by advancing to the final round and clocking in with a time of 30.461 seconds at 182.003 mph in the eighth position. In 2016, he had previously qualified and started eighth at Kentucky Speedway.
  • The Haas Automation driver raced consistently in the top 10 logging 148 laps inside the top 15 before ultimately finishing 10th.
  • Custer earned a driver rating of 92.2 at Atlanta.
  • Custer’s 10th-place finish was his third top-10 in seven career NASCAR XFINITY Series starts and his first top-10 finish of 2017. 

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

“We had a really good Haas Automation Ford Mustang and we just started out really good and went forward, got up to sixth and then we just didn’t have the short run speed from there. We got that penalty which set us back a little bit and fought hard to get back up there. We end up 10th, so it was a solid day. I want to thank Gene Haas, Haas Automation and everyone that has worked extremely hard at Ford and Stewart-Haas, it has been an awesome start of the season for us and I think it will go up from here.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule is the Boyd Gaming 300 on Saturday, March 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FS1.

KEVIN HARVICK – 2017 Atlanta Race Report

Event:               Folds of Honor 500 (Round 2 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format:             325 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/155 laps)
Start/Finish:      1st/9th (Running, completed 325 of 325 laps)
Point Standing: 1st (90 points)
 
Race Winner:    Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

  • Kevin Harvick started 1st, finished 1st.
  • The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford led 82 of 85 laps.
  • Harvick pitted on lap 37 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help a loose-handling condition.
  • Harvick picked up 2.6 seconds after his lap-37 stop for new tires.
  • The Freaky Fast driver held a lead of approximately 3.573 seconds over second place at the end of Stage 2.
  • After Stage 1 the Jimmy John’s crew won the race off pit road with an 11.77-second stop for four tires, fuel and wedge adjustments.
  • Earned a playoff point for prevailing as the victor in Stage 1.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):     

  • Started 1st, finished 1st.
  • Harvick led 71 of 85 laps.
  • The Jimmy John’s team pitted from the lead on lap 129 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to correct a loose-handling condition.
  • Harvick finished Stage 2 with a 5.398-second lead over second place.
  • The Freaky Fast driver collected a playoff point for his victory in Stage 2. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-325):          

  • Started 1st, finished 9th.
  • Harvick pitted for four tires, wedge and fuel at the conclusion of Stage 2, restarting the race in the top spot yet again.
  • The Freaky Fast driver maintained the lead on the Stage 2 restart and went on to lead 139 of 154 laps in the final stage.
  • A pit-road speeding penalty on his last stop dropped Harvick back to 18th for the final restart on lap 315.
  • Harvick picked up nine positions in the remaining 10 laps to finish ninth.

Notes:                          

  • Stewart-Haas Racing is 1-2 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Harvick leads by four points over SHR teammate Kurt Busch.
  • Harvick scored two playoff points for winning both the first and second stages.
  • He led four times for a race-high 292 laps to bring his laps-led total at Atlanta to 971.
  • Harvick scored his 12th top-10 finish in 27 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta.
  • It was his 285th top-10 in 576 career Cup Series starts.
  • The No. 4 Ford started from the pole position after a fast lap of 29.118 seconds at 190.398 mph in Friday’s qualifying session.
  • NASCAR’s new lower downforce package made its race debut today at Atlanta. Compared to 2016 regulations, this year’s rules feature a spoiler height decrease from 3.5 inches to 2.375 inches, a 3-inch reduction of the outboard regions of the splitter, and a tapered rear deck fin to match the spoiler’s height.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing: 

“This place, for whatever reason, I just feel like I’m snake bitten. It’s my own doing today. I really didn’t think I was even close on pit lane. It gets to bouncing around, I thought I was being conservative, apparently I wasn’t. I want to thank everyone on our Jimmy John’s Ford for everything they did this weekend. I was just pushing it too hard.

“I just made a mistake that I preach all the time that you don’t need to make and beat yourself and then you go out and make it yourself instead of following all the things you preach. That part is hard for me to swallow. The good part about it is our Ford has been really fast. We didn’t know what we were going to have when we got here, and we had a great weekend the whole time. Man, I just, one way or another I have figured out how to lose races here at Atlanta after being so dominant. We will pick ‘em up and start again next week.”

 

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

KURT BUSCH – 2017 Atlanta Race Report

Event:               Folds of Honor 500 (Round 2 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 
Location:          Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format:             325 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/155 laps)
Start/Finish:      13th/7th (Running, completed 325 of 325 laps) 
Point Standing: 2nd (86 points, 4 out of first) 
Race Winner:    Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

  • Kurt Busch started 13th, finished 12th.
  • Ran as high as fourth, but handling that was tight entering the corners and loose exiting hindered his ability to stay up front.
  • Made a pit stop during green-flag conditions on lap 33 for four tires and fuel.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 1 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):

  • Started 15th, finished 12th.
  • Made a green-flag pit stop on lap 126 for four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.
  • Struggled with a loose-handling condition entering and exiting the corners while tight in the banking.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 2 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-325):

  • Started 11th, finished seventh.
  • Struggled with a loose-handling condition entering and exiting the corners while tight in the banking.
  • Ran as high as fourth in the closing laps, but faded to seventh when the checkered flag waved. 

Notes:

  • Stewart-Haas Racing is 1-2 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Kevin Harvick leads by four points over Busch.
  • This was Busch’s 12th top-10 finish in 26 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Atlanta, and it was his second straight top-10 this season. Busch won the season-opening Daytona 500.

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

“It seemed like the stages really caught other teams off guard. We did a middle-of-the-road approach. I liked it, because we didn’t quite have the speed in the car to attack for those points but didn’t want to sacrifice tires and be caught at the end with fresh tires. We managed the stages, were just missing the handle. The 4 car was insane how good they were. We were really loose in, really tight in the center and loose off. We just had a lack of grip. The pit crew got us toward the top-five and we hung on to seventh. Nothing spectacular today, just need to fix what we have going wrong.”

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

CLINT BOWYER – 2017 Atlanta Race Report

Event:               Folds of Honor 500 (Round 2 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format:             325 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/155 laps)
Start/Finish:      25th/11th (Running, completed 325 of 325 laps) 
Point Standing: 14th (46 points, 44 out of first) 
Race Winner:    Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

  • Started 24th, finished 15th.
  • Drove from 25th to 12th in the first 32 laps.
  • Bowyer said car was a little loose on first run and tight on second.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):     

  • Started 13th, finished ninth to earn three race points.
  • Reported car was too loose with no rear grip, pitted on lap 126.
  • Passed three cars in the final 10 laps to finish ninth. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-325):          

  • Started ninth.
  • Climbed to third with 85 to go, but Bowyer was shuffled to seventh on a race restart with 55 laps to go.
  • Suffered fender damage on the next restart that resulted in a cut tire and crash with 45 laps to go.
  • Crew repaired damage enabling Bowyer to drive from 15th to 11th. 

Notes:              

  • Stewart-Haas Racing is 1-2 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Harvick leads by four points over Busch.
  • Harvick won both Stage 1 and Stage 2. 

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

“Really fast Haas Automation Ford today, but we got hit and put in the wall on a restart, then we had a cut tire and got the wall pretty good. Really disappointing because I think we had something for them today. We made a good comeback to finish 11th. I’m disappointed, because we were getting better and better throughout the race.”

Next Up:          

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.

DANICA PATRICK – 2017 Atlanta Race Report

Event:               Folds of Honor 500 (Round 2 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location:          Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Format:             325 laps, broken into three stages (85 laps/85 laps/155 laps)
Start/Finish:      24th/17th (Running, completed 325 of 325 laps)
Point Standing: 22nd (36 points, 54 out of first)
Race Winner:    Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-85):

  • Danica Patrick started 24th and finished 17th.
  • The No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team pitted at lap 35 for tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.
  • Patrick was scored as high as 16th during Stage 1. She radioed to the team that the car was “a little tight in the center,” so crew chief Billy Scott called for wedge and packer adjustments in addition to fuel and tires when the field pitted between stages at lap 89. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 86-170):     

  • Patrick started 17th and finished 17th.
  • The team pitted under green-flag conditions at lap 125 for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.
  • Patrick went a lap down to the leader during the cycle of green-flag pit stops.
  • At the conclusion of Stage 2, the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team pitted for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help tighten the car up for Patrick. 

Final Stage Recap (Laps 171-325):          

  • Patrick started 15th and finished 17th.
  • She battled a loose-handling car for the first half of the stage and went a second lap down to the leaders during a long green-flag run.
  • The team pitted twice during the stage for tires, fuel and adjustments to help tighten up the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford for Patrick.
  • In the final segment of the race, Scott had Patrick stay out twice under caution and take the wave-around to get a lap back. This put her on the lead lap for the end of the race. 

Notes:              

  • Patrick earned 20 points in Sunday’s race at Atlanta, which gives her a total of 36 points for the season thus far. She is ranked 22nd in the driver point standings heading into next weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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

 “I have to thank my Aspen Dental Ford team for all of their hard work today. The car was all right there at the end. We got off to a good start and ended well, but the middle got a little rough. The car was just way too loose. Billy (Scott) and the guys made solid changes throughout the day and helped put us in a better position at the end.” 

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Kobalt 400 on Sunday, March 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.