Category: Pre-Race Reports

Event: GEICO 500 (Round 10 of 36)

Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 21

Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway

Layout: 2.66-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 188 laps/500 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 60 laps / Final Stage: 68 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts:

– Noah Gragson brings his quiet consistency to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race. The driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing comes into the 10th race of the season with three straight top-20 finishes. While none of those performances will be mounted over the mantle, that kind of solid consistency is key to emerging from Talladega with points in hand as opposed to being in a points hole. The 2.66-mile oval is notorious for sending drivers to an early exit via The Big One, the perfunctory multicar accident that dashes any hope of victory and leaves drivers with just a handful of points and a garage full of mangled parts. In three career Cup Series starts at Talladega, Gragson has two top-20 finishes. His most recent Talladega start in last year’s GEICO 500 ended on lap 190 when he was collected in a seven-car melee.

– Back-to-back top-10 finishes have vaulted Chase Briscoe from 18th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship point standings to 12th heading into the GEICO 500 Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The six-position gain has come via a 10th-place drive April 7 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and a sixth-place run last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. That sixth-place finish in the Lone Star State was Briscoe’s fourth top-10 of the year and his best result in the nine races held so far this season. The driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing is eyeing another solid points tally despite Talladega being a track where drivers often end up pointed in the wrong direction.

– For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Josh Berry and the No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse will take on the high-banked, 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway during Sunday’s Geico 500. The 33-year-old native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, has raced twice during the Cup Series’ NextGen era at Talladega’s sister track, the 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway oval. His first outing at “The World Center of Racing” came with Legacy Motor Club and resulted in a 22^nd-place finish last August. He then kicked off his official Cup Series rookie season in the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing in February’s 66^th running of the Daytona 500. Berry held his position in the lead pack until he was spun on pit road, which relegated him to the tail of the field and out of the draft. He finished 25^th.

– After a solid 12th-place finish last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Ryan Preece carries that momentum to a track where momentum is paramount – Talladega Superspeedway. The sweeping 2.66-mile oval in eastern Alabama hosts the GEICO 500 NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday, and when Preece last turned laps there in October, he finished eighth after leading eight laps.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

How does the chemistry you have built with your teammates off the track help you at a place like Talladega Superspeedway?

“Having good chemistry with your teammates is a really important part of speedway racing, especially on green-flag pit stops. Being able to trust each other and lean on each other to get back up to speed is really important to staying competitive. On track, it can be challenging to stay together, but being able to help each other off pit road is crucial.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Talladega marks the 10th race of the season and you came into this year as the most tenured Stewart-Haas driver. How has it been so far this year with two new teammates in Josh Berry and Noah Gragson?

“It’s been really good. Honestly, it’s probably been my favorite year at Stewart-Haas. All of my teammates are relatively the same age as me. We’re all kind of the same, where we’re at career-wise, and it’s just been a lot of fun from the camaraderie side and just getting to know them better. I just feel like from a teamwork standpoint, we’re way better than we’ve ever been as far as working together. I would say 10 races in we’re farther ahead from a teamwork standpoint, so hopefully we can continue to grow that.”

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Daytona was your first points-paying race with Stewart-Haas Racing and Talladega marks your 10^th race with the team. What’s the journey been like so far?

“It’s been a lot of good times, some bad times, struggled some of the weekends, but overall I feel like we learn from those challenging weekends and it seems like we’ve been able to rebound and put some solid races under our belts. A couple of top-10s, a few 12^th-place finishes, we just want to keep building on that and minimize the mistakes. I’m excited to get down to Talladega. It’s crazy that we’re already 10 races into it.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse

What are your expectations for Talladega, especially considering your strong performance at the track last fall?

“Whenever our team goes to a superspeedway, I feel pretty confident. Racing at superspeedways is like playing a game of chess, and I like to think a lot of us play that game pretty well. At superspeedways, passing and making runs is really tough, so positioning yourself within the first couple of rows is important to have a shot at the end to win. Talladega is also a great opportunity to score stage points, and we see the value in those. We just have to do our best to accomplish those things this weekend because this is a good shot for us to have a really strong result.”

Event: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (Round 9 of 36)

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 14

Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth

Layout: 1.5-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 267 laps / 400.5 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps

TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts:

– Six weeks have passed since the last time the NASCAR Cup Series raced on a 1.5-mile oval. It was March 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Noah Gragson drove his No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing to a season-best sixth-place finish. With another 1.5-mile oval next up on the Cup Series docket with the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Gragson is looking forward to racing in the Lone Star State and scoring another strong result.

– Josh Berry will take on the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for the first time in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks during Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. The 33-year-old rookie has enjoyed success on other intermediate tracks, scoring three of his five NASCAR Xfinity Series victories on 1.5- mile ovals, twice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (fall 2021 and 2022 races) and once at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (spring 2022), all under the JR Motorsports banner. He led a combined 192 of 602 possible race laps in those three victories.

– Despite only having three NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas, Chase Briscoe’s standing at the 1.5-mile oval is solid. He finished 15th in his Cup Series debut at the track in 2021 and then knocked down back-to-back top-10s in his two subsequent races at Texas, finishing fifth in 2022 and 10th last year.

– Ryan Preece heads to Texas after posting a season-best finish of ninth last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He kicked off the weekend with a strong practice session, posting the third-fastest lap. From his 22nd-place starting spot, Preece steadily made his way toward the top-10, finishing the second stage in 14th. After losing four spots on pit road during the Stage 2 break, Preece raced his way forward once again and emerged with his first top-10 of the season. Statistically, he was one of the top-five biggest movers in the final stage.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

The risk versus reward factor is higher at Texas because the speeds are so much higher. Can you explain how fast things happen at Texas and how quickly you need to think and make moves on the track?

“Texas is challenging just because you’re pretty much wide open from the exit of turn two all the way through (turns) three and four, down the front straightaway until you get to turn one. There are two different corners at Texas, and that’s a big challenge on getting your car handling right. Turns three and four are more banked, and turns one and two are more flat and wide. It’s a tough, challenging racetrack, and it’s always pretty hot and slick there, too. It’s easy to get up out of the groove and spin out through one and two. You definitely have to be on your game from the get-go.”

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Miner Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You’ve had a mixed bag of results at Texas Motor Speedway in the Xfinity Series, and now you’re heading there for the first time in the Cup Series. What translates and what doesn’t?

“Texas (Motor Speedway) is a high-grip track and really fast. Each corner is significantly different and takes a slightly different approach, which makes it challenging. But all of the skills from Xfinity I think will translate. Ultimately, my results from Xfinity don’t matter in my mind because I am with a new team, a new car, a new manufacturer, so it’s almost a clean slate, but I am excited for the opportunity to go with Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s obviously our second race on the intermediates but, on the team side, we know that’s where we need to improve the most. It’s a great opportunity to learn and keep improving before we get into the summer months.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse

How would you describe restarts at Texas?

“Restarts at Texas are a little hairy. The speeds are way, way higher, and the risk versus reward is way, way higher. At Texas, I feel like you put yourself in a worse spot sometimes and the car just doesn’t want to do certain things. There are different lanes at Texas, so you can move around, and that makes things hairier.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

It’s been six weeks since the Cup Series last raced on a mile-and-a-half track. What are your thoughts heading to Texas?

“We knew the No. 10 car (of Noah Gragson) was really good at Las Vegas, so we’ve been looking over and working through some of the things they did to ensure we have some of the speed they had there. Heading into Texas, with it being a mile-and-a-half, we’re a lot more optimistic than last year.”

Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 8 of 36)

Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 7

Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

Layout: .526-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 400 laps/210.4 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 100 laps / Final Stage: 220 laps

TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts:

– Josh Berry heads to Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway coming off his best points day of the season at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. He started last Sunday’s 400-lap event from the 30^th position, just like he did in the 2023 spring Richmond race while subbing for the fourth of five races in a row for an injured Chase Elliott, in which he charged to a runner-up finish. Last weekend, Berry once again made a hard charge through the field, finishing ninth in the first stage and second in the second stage before taking the checkered flag 11^th – his best finish of 2024. His determined run moved him to 23^rd  in the Cup Series standings and to the top spot in the rookie standings. He leads Carson Hocevar, the next-best rookie, by nine markers.

– With a 12th-place drive last Sunday at the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Noah Gragson earned his fourth finish of 12th or better in the seven NASCAR Cup Series races held this season. The 25-year-old racer seeks further wealth in the Commonwealth with a second straight dose of short-track racing this Sunday at the .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

– Ticking like a grandfather clock, Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, sets his sights on the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he won his first-career NASCAR Cup Series pole in 2023 and led a career-best 135 laps. Preece has nine Cup Series starts at Martinsville and has completed an average of 92.1 percent of the laps at the historic .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval.

– Chase Briscoe’s best Martinsville race as a NASCAR Cup Series driver came last April when he finished fifth. He started fourth and took the lead on lap 186 and paced the field for the next 71 laps. A series of green-flag pit stops jumbled the running order, but Briscoe came back to take the lead on lap 307 and he stayed out front for another 38 laps to bring his laps-led total for the race to 109, second only to his Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Preece, who led 135 laps.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Coming off of your best Cup Series finish of the season at Richmond Raceway, what are your expectations this weekend at Martinsville – another short track?

“I think it should be another good opportunity for us to build on the success we’ve have had at the short tracks this year. Martinsville has been a good place for me in the past. I feel like if we can continue to carry the momentum we have had at some of the other short tracks this year, there’s no reason we can’t go contend for a win.”

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You’re very successful at Martinsville, winning in both the Xfinity Series and Truck Series, where in nine combined starts there – five in Xfinity and four in Trucks – you have two wins, seven top-fives and eight top-10s. What made you so good at Martinsville in those series?

“I think being able to be disciplined and move your line around and, depending on how the rubber’s being laid down on the racetrack, center exit of the corner, and then your proximity off the inside curb, I feel like there are four or five, maybe six different ways you can run a corner at Martinsville in Xfinity and Trucks and with the old Cup cars. You used to have to mount a run, but now you just downshift, so I’m trying to figure that out, but I used to be really good there.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You qualified within the top-10 for both Cup Series races at Martinsville last season, one of which was a pole position.  Do you expect the momentum and speed to carry over from last year?

“We had a really fast car at Martinsville last season, but we had a speeding penalty that cost us quite a bit of track position. We were able to get stage points and some of those things. We really found ourselves a direction to head in for this year. Going into Martinsville, a lot of things have changed. With some of the changes that we’ve seen, it should be an interesting race, but we’re looking at carrying as much of that momentum and speed over as possible.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

How physical is a race at Martinsville? You’re on the brakes hard at least 800 times, so your lower body gets a workout as much as your upper body.

“It’s really hard. I probably didn’t realize how hard it was until the last time we were there in the fall. For whatever reason after the race, I couldn’t even bend over to take my shoes off. I had to have my wife help me because my back was in so much pain from all the braking we were doing. It’s a really hard place to run, and even mentally it’s a place where you’ve got to be on your game. So Martinsville is probably overlooked a lot of the time, the physicality of it, just because the speeds and the G-forces are what we would have at other places. There’s a lot that goes on with your body at those races so you definitely feel it the next day. Martinsville’s definitely gotten a little more challenging with the NextGen car because, before, you would leave it in fourth gear and just run the whole time in fourth. Now, we’re downshifting every single corner, and then upshifting down the straightaway, so you’re just busier inside the racecar. It definitely has made Martinsville more physical overall. Your arms are getting more of a workout, your feet are doing a lot more with the pedals and things like that, so there’s just a lot going on at Martinsville in a very short lap.”

Event: Richmond 400 (Round 7 of 36)

Time/Date: 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 31

Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway

Layout: .75-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 400 laps/300 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts:

– Short-track racing is where Noah Gragson’s career began. The Las Vegas native owns victories in two of the United States’ most prestigious Late Model races – the 2017 Winchester 400 at the half-mile Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, and the 2018 Snowball Derby at the half-mile Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

–  The next race on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Richmond (Va.) Raceway and the 33-year-old Cup Series rookie Josh Berry has turned laps there in the NextGen car. Making his Cup Series debut at .75-mile oval last year subbing for an injured Chase Elliott, Berry qualified 30^th before driving through the field to take home a runner-up finish, leading 10 laps along the way. Coincidentally, Berry’s spotter this season is Eddie D’Hondt, Chase Elliott’s former spotter who helped him navigate the Richmond traffic to his runner-up finish last year.

– Chase Briscoe comes into Richmond (Va.) Raceway on a streak of quiet consistency that emulates his overall history at the .75-mile oval. The driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing has had three straight finishes of 13th or better. He finished a season-best ninth March 10 at Phoenix Raceway and 13th March 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway before earning another 13th-place drive last Sunday at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. The runs have placed Briscoe a respectable 17th in the championship standings, just three points and one position away from the top-16 – the cutoff spot for the 10-race championship, which is still 20 races away. In the marathon that is the NASCAR Cup Series, consistency is key, and just as Briscoe has shown top-15 reliability in the early races of 2024, he’s been similarly reliable at Richmond across both the Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

– With Richmond’s worn-out asphalt and low-banked, 14-degree turns, the track echoes characteristics of the Northeast venues where Ryan Preece honed his skills on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Preece underscored those parallels during a Modified Tour event at Richmond in 2021 when the Berlin, Connecticut-native scored a dominating victory. It was the 25th of his 26 career wins on the Modified Tour.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang

The tire wear we saw in the last short-track race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway – did you like it or dislike it?

“I don’t really know how I feel about it, to be honest. I thought that it was definitely unique. I did like the fact that there was a little more strategy involved. And I even felt like, on the driver’s side, it put a little more in your hands instead of whoever had the best car was going to be really good. We probably don’t need it as drastic to where they just blow out, but I do think a good mix of that would be really cool to have, especially for the short-track races, for sure.”

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Superior Essex Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Would you like to see that kind of tire fall-off at Richmond?

“I would like to see the tire pace slowed down as you run rather than the tire wearing out all the way to the cords. I think there are two different ways. At Bristol, the tread wore all the way off to where you didn’t have grip and that’s why you had to pace off your runs. Personally, I’d like it if they’d slow down on the grip loss the harder you push on a tire, just being able to lose grip rather than the tread depth of the tire.”

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 SUNNYD Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Richmond is another short track that you’ve called one of your favorites. What are your expectations of yourself this weekend?

“I think Richmond is one of the tracks that we expect to run well at. Stewart-Haas as a whole has been good on short tracks and has a good program, and I have had success there in the Xfinity Series, as well as in the Cup Series last year in the No. 9 car. I think it’s one of the places that we circle on our calendar knowing that I have a long history in short-track racing, and Rodney (Childers, crew chief) comes from that same background. I think it will be a strong showing, we just have to go execute to the best of our ability and there is no reason we can’t go run in the top-10.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse

What are your thoughts on tire wear at Richmond? Could we see something like what we saw at Bristol?

“Richmond is a large short track, but it’s still a short track. The track surface is worn out, so tire heat and falloff is a real thing at Richmond. Turns one and two, and turns three and four are completely different corners, so being disciplined in hitting your marks and having a car with good balance is important at Richmond. If you’re fighting a car that’s too tight or too loose, the issue will only be exaggerated the longer the run goes.”

Event: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (Round 6 of 36)

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 24

Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas

Layout: 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course

Laps/Miles: 68 laps/231.88 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 15 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 38 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts:

– Briscoe has 19 career road-course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with five top-10 finishes spread across COTA (sixth in 2021), Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (sixth in 2021), Watkins Glen (ninth in 2021), the Charlotte Roval (ninth in 20222) and the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (sixth in 2023).

– Across the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR K&N Series, Gragson has made a total of 37 road-course starts – three in Cup, 21 in Xfinity, two in Trucks, one in ARCA and 10 in K&N – amassing four wins, 16 top-fives and 27 top-10s with 161 laps led.

– Ryan Preece’s most recent road-course outing resulted in an 11th-place finish last October on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval and he is poised to navigate both right and left turns again this weekend at COTA. His best road-course finish in the Cup Series was his ninth-place effort after qualifying sixth on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course in February 2021, driving for JTG Daugherty Racing.

– Josh Berry and the NASCAR Cup Series field heads to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, for the first road-course race on the 2024 schedule. It will be Berry’s first Cup Series start on a serpentine-style track, but he has made two starts at COTA in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Most recently, the 33-year-old Cup Series rookie notched a top-10 result in his JR Motorsports entry in the Xfinity Series race there last March, crossing the finish line eighth in just his second start there. Berry has 15 starts on road courses in the Xfinity Series, nabbing four top-five results, nine top-10s, an average starting position of 14.4 and an average finish of 12.3.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

How would you rate yourself as a road-course driver?

“I feel like I’m above average. I’ve definitely had way more success in the lower series compared to Cup, where I’ve been kind of hit-or-miss. We’d run really, really good, or we were just off. Truthfully, I feel like the NextGen car has definitely hurt me quite a bit on the road-course side. I feel like the old car with just how badly it drove, you were always slipping and sliding around, it didn’t want to stop. I feel like this NextGen car certainly has closed up the gap. The guys who were typically off on road courses are definitely closer because the NextGen car is just easier to drive on the road courses – it stops better, it turns better, it just does everything better. I feel like I’ve been good on road courses from a speed standpoint, just need to find that little bit more to finally seal the deal on a road course.”

Event: Food City 500 (Round 5 of 36)

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 17

Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway

Layout: .533-mile, concrete oval

Laps/Miles: 500 laps/266.5 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 125 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 250 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR Fast Facts: 

– Chase Briscoe enters the high banks of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on a high after scoring his highest finish of the season last Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Briscoe wheeled his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse to a strong ninth-place drive in the 312-lap race around the 1-mile desert oval, putting the Mitchell, Indiana, native at .500 for the year when it comes to top-10 finishes. Briscoe scored a 10th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 and, four races into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Briscoe is 19th in the championship standings.

– Josh Berry heads to his home state this weekend for Sunday’s 500-mile race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. It will be the NASCAR Cup Series debut on the high-banked, .533-mile oval’s concrete surface for the native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, located some 295 south and west of Bristol on the outskirts of Nashville. Berry does have one Cup Series start at Bristol, albeit in last year’s April race subbing for an injured Chase Elliott when the concrete surface was covered with dirt.

– Sunday’s Food City 500 returns to the concrete of Bristol Motor Speedway and Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing, is poised for a breakthrough performance on the half-mile, high-banked oval in Eastern Tennessee. Preece has competed in three different racing divisions at Bristol – the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – for a total of 17 starts and 4,877 laps, or the equivalent of 2,600 miles, roughly the same distance between Preece’s hometown of Berlin, Connecticut, and Phoenix Raceway, site of last Sunday’s Cup Series race.

– With three finishes of 12th or better in the four NASCAR Cup Series races run this season, Noah Gragson is rolling. The driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Ranger Boats/Tracker Boats & ATVS Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing has an average finish of 15.8, with his only blemish being a 36th-place result in the year’s second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he was collected in a multicar accident on just the second lap. In his 39 career Cup Series starts prior to this season, Gragson has never had such a stretch of front-running consistency. Now, the 25-year-old Las Vegas native turns his attention to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Food City 500, where he will make his first Cup Series start on the concrete-clad, .533-mile oval.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Are you happy to see the spring Bristol race return to concrete, or are you one of the guys who enjoyed the dirt race?

“I’m all about just going to Bristol, in general, but I definitely loved the dirt race. I feel like the Cup Series needs to have at least one dirt race. Truthfully, the first year was not the greatest race, but the last two years I thought was a really, really good race. I was kind of bummed to see it leave. That was obviously a race I always looked forward to and one that felt like I could go to and run up front at every year we did it. It’s kind of bittersweet getting rid of it, but at the same time, Bristol on the concrete is always one of the more fun races on the schedule. Maybe one day we can go back to dirt racing, but, yeah, I’m definitely going to miss it. ”

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 SUNNYD Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You’re heading to Bristol Motor Speedway in your home state of Tennessee, and you have a deep history in short-track racing. Do you feel any kind of pressure as one of the drivers to watch this weekend?

“Bristol is a short track but it’s its own animal. It’s unique in how it races when compared to a Martinsville or Richmond layout. I think for us, we are going to keep preparing the same way we have each week. We try to prepare for as many scenarios as we can each week no matter the track. I think if we qualify well and have a clean day on pit road, the finishes will come and that’s all we can really do at this point.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Do you feel that Bristol is one of the best opportunities for you and the team to potentially capitalize on with a strong finishing position, based on your past success at the track?

“It’s certainly been a track that has been good to me. It’s one of the stronger racetracks that we go to, so the confidence is pretty high. We’re building toward being consistent, and hopefully we can show up and have that speed.”

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Bass Pro Shops/Ranger Boats/Tracker Boats & ATVs Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You’ve never raced a Cup car on the concrete at Bristol, so you’re a Cup rookie in regard to Cup racing at Bristol. How challenging is that and what have you been doing to prepare for it?

“I’ve spent a lot of time in the sim getting ready for Bristol. I like that track a lot. I feel like I know where I need to be around that track, at least in an Xfinity car and a Truck. Going there in a Cup car, it’s going to take constant learning and being aware all day and seeing how we can improve from the start of practice, qualifying, the race, and then, hopefully, when we go back there for the night race in the fall we can be even better and fire off with more confidence. But we’re going into it pretty open-minded right now.”

Event: Shriners Children’s 500k (Round 4 of 36)

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 10

Location: Phoenix Raceway

Layout: 1-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 312 laps/312 miles (502 kilometers)

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 127 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS

Josh Berry takes on the second leg of the West Coast swing Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where he’ll be bringing back the bright colors of SUNNYD to his No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing for his second career NASCAR Cup Series start at the desert mile oval. The 33-year-old rookie has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Phoenix, which resulted in one top-five finish, three top-10s, an average starting position of 9.6 and an average finishing position of 13.2. He finished outside the top-15 just once in Xfinity Series competition at Phoenix. His lone Cup Series start came last March, when he was subbing for an injured Chase Elliott. He started that race 17^th and finished 10^th.

From the ashes of a 36th-place finish in the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway that nullified a strong ninth-place drive from the season-opening Daytona 500, Noah Gragson rose like a Phoenix last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing scratched and clawed his way from 30th on the grid to finish an impressive sixth at the end of the 267-lap race. It was his first step out of the points hole that left him last in the championship standings after Atlanta. Gragson’s Las Vegas exploits allowed him to climb eight spots in points to 34th heading into this weekend’s Shriners Children’s 500k at Phoenix Raceway.

Briscoe’s best result at Phoenix is the best kind of result – a victory, and it wasn’t just any victory. In his 40th career NASCAR Cup Series start and just his third at Phoenix, Briscoe held off Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain and the all-time winningest driver in NASCAR history at Phoenix, Kevin Harvick, to win his first Cup Series race. Briscoe had earned the right to fight for the win even before some late-race teeth gnashing brought on by a green-white-checkered finish. Briscoe started sixth and led three times for 101 laps before taking the checkered flag with a .771 of a second margin over runner-up Chastain. In addition to the triumph being Briscoe’s maiden Cup Series win, the native of Mitchell, Indiana, also became the 200th different race winner in Cup Series history.

Ryan Preece and his NASCAR Cup Series counterparts head to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for the Shriners Children’s 500k NASCAR Cup Series race. Sunday’s 312-lap contest around the 1-mile oval debuts a new short-track rules package, as Preece’s No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing will be outfitted with a simplified rear diffuser and a higher rear spoiler compared to last year’s specifications. The aim is to put more of the race in the driver’s hands, where nuanced throttle control will be key to maintaining grip and managing tire wear. The updated package is a welcome one for Preece, who honed these exact traits on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – NASCAR’s oldest division and the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Preece won the Tour championship in 2013 and properly leveraged that title and his 26 Tour victories into additional opportunities across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Josh Berry, No. 4 SUNNYD® Ford Mustang Dark Horse

The restarts at Phoenix can get a little crazy – how do you manage your level of aggression and your positioning on the track, especially late in the race?

“It’s hard and so much can happen that is out of your control. The biggest thing for me is to study those restarts and see which moves are good and which aren’t. Not every restart is going to be perfect, especially if you’re in the pack, but it’s just important to have the right mentality about making those moves and also keeping your car clean, especially early in the race.”​

Noah Gragson, No. 10 SERVPRO Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You only have one NASCAR Cup Series start at Phoenix, but you still have plenty of experience there with eight Xfinity Series starts, three Truck Series starts and one K&N West start. Talk about your career progression at Phoenix – how you’ve learned and developed overall, and what you’ve learned by making laps at that track.

“I first started going there in 2015 for the K&N West championship race. Didn’t run great there, thought I hated the place, and then ran pretty good in the Trucks, and didn’t run too good there in Xfinity, but started running really good and ended up winning a race there in Xfinity and got a lot of second-place finishes, third-place finishes there. The Cup Series race was really bad there last year. Looking forward to how the No. 10 SERVPRO Ford Mustang drives there at Phoenix. It’s a fun track, it’s a challenging track, and it always seems like it’s different, the way the sticky stuff is sprayed down in the corners. But it always puts on a good show for the fans.”

Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse

You earned your first career NASCAR Cup Series win two years ago at Phoenix. Describe the race, what you did to win, and what it was like to take the checkered flag.

“It was obviously a super special day and one that I’ll certainly never forget. I remember truthfully going there that weekend not super excited. Phoenix had never been a track that I necessarily looked forward to going to. I looked at it as one of my three worst racetracks. I remember going there that weekend trying to be optimistic, but kind of knowing it could potentially be a weekend of struggle. I put a ton of work in trying to get better at Phoenix, but I still felt I had a long way to go. I remember practicing and qualifying and being extremely happy with my car and I felt like Sunday I definitely was going to be in the mix as far as a top-five goes. I didn’t necessarily feel like I had winning speed, but felt I had a car capable of being up front. I was able to slowly creep our way forward all day until we found ourselves in the lead and I just remember it not being an easy one to seal the deal. I had to hold off Chase Elliott for like 60, 70 laps, and our pit crew did an amazing job keeping us out front, and they actually got me the lead again on pit road. I remember having a restart with, I want to say 18 or so to go, and starting on the front row with Kevin Harvick at Phoenix going for the win, which was really cool to go heads-up against not only my teammate, but also a guy who had done it all there. It was just a really cool day, and I felt like I definitely had to go and earn it. I think we had a restart with four or five to go, too, and it was me and Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick and we were all going for our first win at the time. It was a really hard one to win and one of those races where you really had to keep your elbows up and just a really cool day overall.”

Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Phoenix isn’t necessarily a short track as it’s a mile in length, but it features qualities that are similar with its minimal banking and relatively flat straights. What approach are you and the team taking into this race?

“I feel like last year, our strength as a company was at the short tracks. Phoenix falls under that category to us. In the last race at Phoenix, I felt like we had a top-15 car. My hope for this year, with the improvements that have been made, is that we can continue to take steps forward and consistently be where we want to be on performance. We’re excited for the short tracks coming up and want to kick off the first one by running a clean race with a car that is able to do everything right.” 

Event: Las Vegas 400 (Round 3 of 36)

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 3

Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Layout: 1.5-mile oval

Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400.5 miles

Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps

TV/Radio: FOX / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS

Josh Berry heads west to the Nevada Desert to take on the first true intermediate track on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule for Sunday’s Las Vegas 400. The 33-year-old Cup Series rookie is no stranger to speed at the 1.5-mile oval, hitting the jackpot and visiting victory lane twice in his six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts there. In September 2021, Berry started 15^th, led 38 circuits, and took the checkered flag 4.398 seconds ahead of runner-up Justin Algaier. Berry’s second victory came in October 2021, when he started 12^th, led 65 laps and beat now-Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Cup Series teammate Noah Gragson by 1.125 seconds.

Noah Gragson is a Las Vegas native and the Las Vegas 400 NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway serves as a homecoming for the 25-year-old racer. After beginning his 2024 campaign with a strong ninth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, where he was the highest-finishing Ford driver, Gragson is seeking a rebound at Las Vegas. In the series’ prior race last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gragson was caught up in a 16-car accident on just the second lap of the 260-lap contest, leaving him with an undeserved 36th-place finish and dropping the Stewart-Haas Racing pilot from 15th in the championship standings to 27th.

After finishing 10th in the season-opening Daytona 500, Chase Briscoe had momentum rolling into the year’s second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was on the cusp of his second career NASCAR Cup Series win last Sunday at Atlanta, consistently running among the top-five, oftentimes running side-by-side for the lead. But Briscoe’s bid for victory came undone 21 laps short of the finish when a struggling racecar ahead of him bunched up the cars around Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Mustang, sending Briscoe spinning into the outside retaining wall. After qualifying ninth and running strong throughout the race, Briscoe was left with just a 31st-place finish.

Preece overcame an incident-filled race during last Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to bring home a 16th-place finish, exceeding his previous best Atlanta finish of 24th achieved last July. In a display of resilience reminiscent of his performance in the season-opening Daytona 500, Preece confronted early adversity once again. He was collected in a multicar incident on just the second lap, emerging with significant damage to the nose of his racecar. Preece pitted for repairs and returned to the race and soldiered to the finish, avoiding numerous accidents along the way to score the best result for Stewart-Haas.

Our Weekly Wraps:

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Josh Berry, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil1/Take 5 Ford Mustang

Since you’ve raced in the NextGen car and the Xfinity car at Las Vegas in the same weekend, can you talk about the difference in the level of competition between the two series?

“The Xfinity car just handles different than the NextGen Cup cars, and the competition is a lot tighter. You have the best of the best racing every weekend and that is something that is an adjustment. These guys are really good at what they do, and we all have a spot at NASCAR’s top series for a reason, so adjusting to that is also something that will take time to get used to.”

Noah Gragson, Driver of the No. 10 Fanttik Ford Mustang

What does it mean to race in your hometown of Las Vegas?

“It’s exciting to go back to Vegas. It feels different. For me, it’s always been special and I feel like it’s a different special because it’s home for me. I probably don’t get excited about the things that other people who aren’t from there get excited about just because it’s normal, but I get excited just because I get a ton of support from the hometown crowd and a lot of friends and family come out to the race. I try to go out there a couple of days ahead of time and spend time with my friends and family before it’s time to get to work. And I enjoy the Vegas track, regardless of it being in Vegas, and have always run well there, which is a good thing. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get to our true test of where we’re at in speed on the kind of track that we’re going to race on the majority of the year.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

Will Las Vegas be the first true test as to where teams stack up in relation to one another?

“For sure. Vegas is going to be where you finally figure out, not only as a manufacturer but certainly as a race team, where you’re going to stack up for the next couple of months and where you’ve got to get better. I would say Vegas is certainly the racetrack where 90 percent of the garage has circled as the one they’re most looking forward to in order to see if what they did in the offseason will come to fruition.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang

What does it take to have a good day at Las Vegas?

“Speed. You can’t drive a slow car fast. That’s something that I feel like we’ve all been working toward by communicating with the crew chiefs about what we need out of the car, and the crew chiefs communicating to the aero department on what we need in order to optimize everything to get the car to go faster on mile-and-a-half tracks. This is what the two-and-half months of work during the off-season has been building toward. When we left Phoenix last year and began working toward 2024, we circled all the mile-and-a-half tracks and said, ‘If we’re going to compete this year, we need to be better here.’”

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  3 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 5

●  Location:  Phoenix Raceway

●  Layout:  1-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  312 laps/312 miles (502 kilometers)

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 127 laps

●  TV/Radio:  NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

Who owns Phoenix Raceway? NASCAR or Kevin Harvick? NASCAR owns the facility, at least on paper, but Harvick owns the track. The driver of the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has won a record nine Cup Series races at the desert mile. No other active Cup Series driver has won more than three races at Phoenix. Former fulltime Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson is the closest to Harvick with four wins at the track.

Aric Almirola:

This weekend’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway will be a bittersweet one for Aric Almirola. Last weekend, the 39-year-old announced via social media that he would officially step away from the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Cup Series entry at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and is excited for his next adventure. More than a year ago, Almirola announced he would retire from fulltime cup series racing to spend more time with family. Through the course of the year, he discovered a new balance between his passion for racing and dedication to his family. His wife Janice, and kids Alex and Abby, joined him on most race weekends, oftentimes enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experiences together as they traveled the country. When SHR and sponsor Smithfield Foods asked him to reconsider, he did. This time around, the Almirola family is ready for the next adventure.

Chase Briscoe:

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), returns to Phoenix Raceway for the final race of the 2023 season. Phoenix is the site of Briscoe’s first Cup Series win, earned in the March 2022 event, which was the first at Phoenix in the NextGen car. Since then, the 28-year-old driver has finished no worse than seventh at the 1-mile oval.

Ryan Preece:

Sunday’s race will mark Preece’s ninth Cup Series start at the Arizona track. His first came in 2015 and his 12th-place finish in March, after starting 25th, is his best Phoenix finish. In his eight previous Cup Series starts at Phoenix, Preece has completed 95.6 percent of laps attempted. He has also made three starts at Phoenix in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a best result of fifth from the fifth starting position in the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing in November 2018

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

Wrapped up one last time. @StewartHaasRcng.  pic.twitter.com/YuKy2rcjyU

— Stewart Haas Racing (@Interior) Nov 1, 2023

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light HARVICK Ford Mustang:

Phoenix marks your final race as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. What’s it like to leave while still at the top of your game?

“That’s really one of the things I’m most proud of. Somebody asked me when did I ever feel like I’ve made it. This is really the only time that I’ve ever felt like I’ve made it because I got to choose how I ended it. I know that that’s rare, and as you look at it, I got to plan my last year and say this was it, and then we were still competitive, and then we went out and did what we were supposed to do. It’s really the first time I felt comfortable saying that I’ve made it.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

This is the last race of your fulltime Cup Series career. How do you want to be remembered in the series?

“Just as a genuine person, honestly. The wins and all of that stuff, that’s all temporary, it really is. I had to learn this the hard way, but you don’t gain happiness and satisfaction from going to victory lane. You gain momentary joy, but it’s not long-lasting. As soon as that weekend is over, you immediately are focused on the next week and wanting to go do it again and, if you don’t, the next week if you finish 25th you’re mad and you’re bummed out and you’re disappointed and so that cycle of emotions I’ve come to realize is very temporary. But what is lasting is friendships and people you care about and doing things that you enjoy with people you enjoy. And so, for me, that’s what I want to keep doing. I want to keep working. I want to get up in the morning with a purpose. I want to go do something. I want to try and make somebody else better. For 40 years of my life, I’ve focused on just me. I’ve served myself and worried about what’s best for me and what’s best for my career and all of those things, so as I look to the future, I want to make sure that I’m focusing on trying to help others achieve their goals. From what I’ve heard in talking to a lot of people and reading a lot of books about people’s next chapter in life, that’s typically how you get the most satisfaction, trying to figure out how to serve others.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:

Sum up the 2023 season for the No. 14 team.

“This year has been really trying for the No. 14 team. We had some really low moments and we’ve come back from that. I think we’re a lot stronger for it and, even if the results don’t show it, we are on the right track to finding the success that’s expected of us. There is still a long way to go. Everyone in this sport is always pushing and looking for new ways to find speed. We have to keep working to match that and eventually get ahead. It’s a never-ending fight to get better and we’ll keep working until we’re back to running up front every week and getting wins.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

What is one thing you can take from your first fulltime season in the Cup Series with SHR and implement heading into next season?

“Our short-track program has been our bread and butter. We’ve been really strong at those tracks and that’s where I feel like we’ve really shown progress. The exciting thing is that we have really improved all around this season. Our mile-and-a-half program got so much better throughout the season and we worked hard on that. We’ve always emphasized the short tracks on the schedule because that’s where I have a lot of confidence, but the mile-and-a-halves and the superspeedways and those 2-mile tracks, we’ve seen improvement. We’ve been in position to have solid days and we have had solid days, just always needed a little more. A lot of times, by the time we made the adjustments that worked best for me as a driver, we just needed some more laps in the race to get into those top-10 and top-five positions. Those improvements are what make next season really exciting for us. We have all worked so hard. This is about the whole team, it’s not just me. It’s about the people, I’ve always said that. We really are a team and we have busted our butts every week and it’s going to pay off.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES OVERVIEW:

●  Event:  Xfinity 500 (Round 35 of 36)

●  Time/Date:  2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 29

●  Location:  Martinsville (Va.) Speedway

●  Layout:  .526-mile oval

●  Laps/Miles:  500 laps/263 miles

●  Stage Lengths:  Stage 1: 130 laps / Stage 2: 130 laps / Final Stage: 240 laps

●  TV/Radio:  NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

SHR FAST FACTS:

Kevin Harvick:

  Baseball’s postseason has reached its homestretch with the World Series beginning this Friday. And the same way hitters crack the bat and put the ball in play, Kevin Harvick has proven to be a heckuva cleanup hitter at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, site of Sunday’s Xfinity 500 NASCAR Cup Series race. Harvick is batting well over .400 when it comes to finishing among the top-10 at Martinsville. The driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has made 44 career Cup Series starts at the .526-mile oval and recorded 20 top-10s, the third-highest tally among active Cup Series drivers. Only Denny Hamlin (24 top-10s) and Kyle Busch (21 top-10s) have more.

Aric Almirola:

 In April, Almirola and all of Stewart-Haas Racing executed their best Cup Series race as a team at Martinsville. After Ryan Preece earned the pole in the No. 41 Ford, Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick ran inside the top-five during the race and three of the four cars led laps. Almirola started third and crossed the finish line sixth – his second-best finish of the year.

Chase Briscoe:

Briscoe has earned three straight top-10 finishes at Martinsville dating back to the March 2022 race. He scored ninth-place results in both 2022 events, the second one in the October race, the third and final race of the Round of 8 of the Cup Series Playoffs in which he was eliminated from championship contention. This past April at Martinsville, Briscoe finished fifth in the first stage and second in the second stage, and led twice for a total of 109 laps en route to a fifth-place result.

Ryan Preece:

Sunday’s race will mark Preece’s eighth Cup Series career start on the .526-mile, paperclip-shaped oval. When the series last visited Martinsville in April, Preece had a career-best weekend. He won his first career Cup Series pole and led a race-high and career-high 135 laps. A mishap on pit road forced Preece and his No. 41 Ford Mustang to restart from the rear and he ultimately finished 15th. Aside from Preece’s experience at the track in the Cup Series, he also has quite the resume there in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Preece has six Modified Tour starts at the track, the first coming in 2007. He has one win (2008), two top-fives, two top-10s, 423 total laps led, an average start of 7.8 and an average finish of 13.5 in those six races.

OUR WEEKLY WRAPS:

Paint schemes for the Paperclip. @StewartHaasRcng. pic.twitter.com/YuKy2rcjyU

— Stewart Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 25, 2023

WHAT OUR DRIVERS ARE SAYING:

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang:

Are you compartmentalizing your emotions as your final season winds down?

“I feel like that’s something that, throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to be pretty good at. You just go and do what you’re supposed to do no matter what the surrounding situation is, whether it’s chaotic, or you’re running good, you’re running bad, you ran into somebody, last year, first year, it’s just been one of those things that I’ve been fortunate to be able to do – just climb in the car, put the window net up, and it’s just what you do. No matter the magnitude of the scenario, it’s just part of the next step to get to where you want to be. Going into the year, obviously we knew that we’d planned out the last season of what we wanted to do and it’s just part of the plan. For me, we’re definitely structured planners, so you just execute that plan and then you go to the next one. I know at the end of the year it’ll obviously look different but, on the flip side, I’ve been very fortunate to be successful at what I do. I’ve basically lived out my childhood dream to do what I wanted to do, and now it’s time to move on. It’s time to do something different after we go to Phoenix and race there for the last time, and for me, that’s exciting.”

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang:

You drove from 30th to ninth last weekend. How good did it feel to have something go your way after such an up-and-down season?

“It’s exactly what we needed. We missed it big in qualifying. I made a mistake on pit road and got us behind, but a caution came out and finally went in our favor for once. All year, I feel like we have been on the bad side of luck, so that caution kind of got us back in the game where I could restart 12th and pass some cars. I love Homestead, running up on the wall and just having options to pass cars. Track position was definitely important, but we made an air-pressure adjustment at the end that was exactly what we needed.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang:

There are a lot of guys who grew up racing asphalt Late Models and who had a goal of racing on tracks like Martinsville. As a dirt racer, is a win at Martinsville as coveted to you as it would be to them?

“Martinsville is a very iconic track. The trophy is probably the one that everybody wants. So, from that standpoint, yeah, it definitely is. I feel like if you win at Martinsville, you’re respected as a really good short-track driver and, as a guy who didn’t do any of that growing up, it’d be cool for me to be able to win there. There is a list of guys who are just incredible short-track racers, and that’s not something that I grew up doing, so if I could add my name to that, it would be really cool.”

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang:

You’re back at Martinsville Speedway this weekend for some short-track action. You won the pole there in April. What will it take to do that again?

“We’re once again putting a huge emphasis on qualifying this weekend. The focus will be on practice and seeing where our car stacks up. I think we’re going to be fast right out the gate and, from there, we’ve got to be strong in qualifying so we can start up front again. At a track like Martinsville – we’ve seen it at the other similar tracks this season – you don’t want to start in the back. That’s obvious from what happened to us in April. We started on the pole, led a ton of laps but when we had to restart at the rear, it was just so hard to get back to the front. It’s so hard to pass and move up front when you’re back there at these smaller tracks. So, we just want to qualify up front and stay there for the entire race this time. I like Martinsville a lot and I’ve got a Grandfather clock from a Modified race, so I’m looking forward to adding another one on Sunday.”