Category: Pre-Race Reports

Gene Haas and Tony Stewart’s Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) organization is still considered the new kid on the block compared to the other Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams it competes against each weekend. So, it might be surprising to learn SHR is celebrating its 10^th anniversary in 2018 and will mark its 1,000^th Cup Series start when all four drivers fire-up their Roush-Yates powered Fords for the April 8 race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

“That makes me feel really, really old,” SHR competition director Greg Zipadelli said with a laugh. “Seriously, a thousand starts is a sign of longevity and that’s an accomplishment. It helps in keeping good people and recruiting good people.”

Since its first season in 2009, the SHR driver lineup has at one time included Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick on a full-time basis while drivers like Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Regan Smith, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Max Papis have served as substitute drivers.

Harvick and Stewart won championships at SHR in 2014 and 2011, respectively, while five drivers have divvied up SHR victories: 17 for Harvick, 16 for Stewart, five for Busch, four for Newman, and Clint Bowyer added his name to the list Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, notching his ninth career victory and first for SHR.

“That’s pretty good company,” said Bowyer, who has also finished second three times since joining SHR in 2017. “Gene Haas and Tony Stewart and all their partners and employees have shown a lot of faith in me. It was so great to be able to celebrate with them in victory lane Monday night.”

The 1,000 starts might seem like a lot, but Hendrick Motorsports and Roush-Fenway Racing own more than 3,000 starts each while Joe Gibbs Racing has more than doubled SHR’s total.

SHR’s winning ways began in May 2009, when Stewart won his only NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Since then, SHR has gone on to accumulate 43 points-paying victories, three non-points victories, 199 top-fives, 378 top-10s, 35 poles and two championships in 996 starts. SHR owns victories at every current track except Kentucky Speedway in Sparta and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

SHR isn’t done. In fact, it might be at its best right now. In 2018, SHR Fords have led 723 of a possible 1,811 laps and won four of the first six races. All four SHR drivers are in the top-11 in the driver standings.

“Make no mistake, all four Stewart-Haas cars have been good all year long,” Bowyer said. “Kevin led that charge when he won three races in a row, but we’ve been ‘Steady Eddie’ with our 14 car and the things that I’ve always been accustomed to. Consistency and things like that I’m starting to see, knowing our strengths, knowing our weaknesses from last year, focusing on those weaknesses and then, all of a sudden, it starts to click in and putting things together, and you have those conversations. You feel confidence.”

Bowyer will drive the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford at the 1.5-mile Texas oval. Like SHR, both Mobil 1 and Rush Truck Centers cite longevity as keys to their business success. Mobil 1 Annual Protection ultimate full synthetic motor oils feature advanced lubricant technology that provides proven protection for 20,000 miles or one full year between oil changes. Rush Truck Centers has transported SHR’s racecars to the track since 2009 and serviced its customers for more than 50 years.

Bowyer hopes to take both Mobil 1 and Rush Truck Centers to victory lane at the 1.5-mile Texas oval, where he has posted three top-five finishes and 10 top-10s in 24 races. In 2006, Bowyer won a Camping World Truck Series race at Texas. In 2017 Cup Series competition for SHR, Bowyer started third at Texas in April and raced as high as fourth in the final stage before finishing 11th. In October he spent 30 laps behind the wall, ruining what was shaping up to be a top-10 finish.

“Texas is one of those big, fast, high-banked tracks – you just have to go,” Bowyer said. “You better be good rolling off the truck. Normally, you can tell in the first few minutes of practice who will be good in the race.”

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What are your thoughts on Texas?

“We’ve been close there a number of times over the years. At Texas, it’s all about having the sheer speed. On those 1.5-mile tracks, you have to have a car that unloads fast. You can be a little bit tight or a little bit loose but, if that car isn’t making grip, making downforce and having the speed on the racetrack, then you are going to struggle. Unloading a fast hot rod right off the truck is going to be so important because you are going to have to qualify well and have that track position to be a contender.” 

What role does Mobil 1 play at SHR? 

“Obviously, Mobil 1 is one of the corporate partners that you see on the car and I think everyone understands that role. What you might not know is Mobil 1 helps us out a ton on the competition side. The lubricant technology they bring to us translates into improved speed, fuel mileage and horsepower. Our racing is so close these days that we’ll do anything for just a slight advantage. Because of that, we value the edge Mobil 1 gives us with information as important as what we learn in the wind tunnel or tire testing. Here is the other thing about Mobil 1: they do a lot of on-track testing that leads to new technology developments for race fans. That Mobil 1 Annual Protection – the oil you see Harvick advertising on television – now allows drivers to travel up to 20,000 miles, or one full year, between oil changes. That’s lubricant technology that racing helped create.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is heading to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Martinsville 500 looking to start a fresh winning streak at a notoriously challenging venue.

Harvick has won three of the first five NASCAR Cup Series events of 2018, scoring consecutive wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway near Phoenix. His streak ended Sunday with a 35^th-place result at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Now, the 42-year-old driver is looking to regain his form and start a new streak with a trip to victory lane this weekend at Martinsville.

The .526-mile paperclip-shaped racetrack is the shortest NASCAR Cup Series circuit while its low banking and tight corners provide some of the closest and toughest competition of the year.

Due to its tight quarters, a racecar rarely finishes a race at Martinsville without a tire mark on the door or a few dents in the sheet metal.

What makes it maddening for competitors is that they can race to the front of the field and stay there throughout the majority of the event, only to get shuffled back on a late-race restart if they wind up in the outside lane.

Harvick and the No. 4 team suffered that very fate at Martinsville in April 2016, when he started 19^th, raced to the front and led 72 laps before being stuck in the outside lane on consecutive late-race restarts, ultimately finishing 17^th.

But the madness of Martinsville can work to a driver’s benefit, as well. Harvick found that out in April 2011, when he started ninth, led just six of 500 laps and beat runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the finish line by .727 of a second.

The Bakersfield, California, native scored his first top-five at Martinsville since joining SHR in his most recent visit to the venue in October 2017, but it didn’t come easily. The No. 4 Ford was collected in a last-lap accident and crossed the finish line backwards with the tires smoking. The racecar finally made contact with the outside SAFER Barrier and suffered so much damage that the crew could not load it into the team hauler.

One of the most important things to watch for this weekend at Martinsville will be stage points and stage wins, which can be scored early in the race. Harvick has scored 53 stage points through the first five races in 2018, which accounts for more than 31 percent of his total of 170 points in the driver standings.

Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing claimed the points lead following his win last week at Fontana, while Harvick dropped from first to eighth place in the standings with his 35^th-place finish Sunday.

While Harvick leads the Cup Series with three wins and 11 playoff points through the first five races, he still would love nothing more than to start another winning streak this weekend in Martinsville.

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

Where do you want to be at Martinsville to help you avoid trouble on the racetrack?

“I think the best position to be in at any racetrack is in the lead. You want to be in control of the race and try to get yourself in a position to where you can have a good, clean restart and have as much clear track – especially at Martinsville – just for the fact that there is so much pushing and shoving on the restarts to get to the bottom lane that you want to try to be as far forward as possible.”

When you think of Martinsville, what comes to mind?

“Some guys just have a knack for Martinsville. There are some weekends when I show up and I feel good about where I’m at and some weekends I just feel like I’ve never been there before. You look at this little bitty racetrack and you think it would be so simple, and you go out there and it becomes so hard. We had a decent finish there last time. We finished fifth and ended up on a flatbed – we couldn’t get it on the truck. We were backwards crossing the start-finish line with the tires smoking. There’s nothing better than that, though. At least you finish the race.”

Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion team wrapped up the three-race “NASCAR Goes West” swing Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with a 12^th-place finish for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Three of the four SHR entries finished in the top-15 at Fontana – the lone exception being Kevin Harvick, who was involved in an accident – continuing the show of strength by the four-car entity five races into the 36-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. The strong start for the Ford-backed team has placed all four cars in the top-11 in the driver point standings – Harvick in eighth, Clint Bowyer ninth, Almirola 10^th and Kurt Busch 11^th.

This weekend, NASCAR’s premiere series heads to a completely different style of track. Martinsville (Va.) Speedway is known for its unique surface with racecars competing in very tight quarters, creating exciting racing for the fans. Tempers often flair as drivers vie for one of the most coveted trophies on the circuit – a hand-crafted grandfather clock.

Almirola hits career milestone Cup Series start No. 250 this weekend at Martinsville. The toughness of the sport doesn’t allow for many drivers to stick around long enough to make it to their 250^th start. Almirola first competed in the Cup Series in 2007 as a part-time driver. While the 34-year-old has enjoyed recent success at SHR, he knows it doesn’t come easily. If the current Almirola could give advice to his younger self, it’s interesting what he would say.

“I wish I knew going into all of this how tough it was really going to be,” he said. “I think everybody views things from TV and thinks they’re way easier than they really are. The reason things look easy when you watch on TV is because those people are professionals and they do it for a living. The reason they make it look easy is because they’re really, really, really good at it. I just think as a kid you grow up, and you’re arrogant, and you think you know everything, and you’re awesome. Then, it’s especially the case when you get your first few opportunities and you’ve got people who surround you and they’re pumping your ego up, and telling you that you’re awesome and that you’re going to be the next big superstar. What you don’t realize in those early years is that it’s so tough. You’ve got to want it. Desire and passion don’t do it alone. You’ve got to have the work ethic, the mental stability, all of those things to make a really great racecar driver.”

Almirola eyes this weekend’s event as another opportunity to continue building his relationship with crew chief Johnny Klausmeier and the No. 10 Mobil 1 team. Klausmeier’s alma mater, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, enjoyed success last weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. The relatively unknown school took front and center on the national stage after routing No. 1 seed University of Virginia to move on to the second round, where it was eliminated by Kansas State.

This weekend’s Martinsville event marks the first two-day show of the season for the Cup Series. The condensed schedule means one less practice session for the premiere series as track activity doesn’t begin until Saturday morning.

While most people are familiar with Almirola piloting the white, black and gold Smithfield Ford Fusion this weekend, the No. 10 machine will dawn the Mobil 1 colors of red, blue, and white. The longtime SHR partner is also the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR,” and the partnership with Mobil 1 continues to provide a rigorous and extreme testing ground to improve lubricant technology performance on and off the track.

Statistically, the half-mile, paperclip-shaped Martinsville oval has been one of Almirola’s better tracks. He’s earned one top-five finish and three top-10s with 2012 being his best season at the track with finishes of eighth and fourth. He’s also led a total of 56 laps at the Virginia track and has an average starting position of 20.7 with an average finishing position of 22.4. This weekend in the Cup Series at Martinsville, the native of Tampa, Florida will make his 19^th start in the series. In Almirola’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career at Martinsville, he has an average starting positon of 12.0 and an average finishing position of 11.4.

To this point in the season, Almirola has completed 1,308 laps in five Cup Series events for a completion rate of 99.8 percent. Coming off five top-13 finishes – 11^th at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, 13^th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 10^th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, seventh at ISM Raceway near Phoenix and 12^th at Fontana – Almirola and the No. 10 team have proven their competitiveness at several styles of tracks – a superspeedway, two intermediate ovals, a short track and a fast, 2-mile oval.

Martinsville serves as the final race before the first NASCAR Cup Series off weekend. The series returns to action April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Almirola and the No. 10 team have already visited the 1.5-mile track once, before the season officially started for a two-day test Jan. 9 and 10. It marked the first time the Klausmeier-led team worked together.

ARIC ALMIROLA, Driver of the No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How much are you looking forward to going to Martinsville, the first real short track of the season?  

“I really look forward to going to Martinsville. Every time we go there, it’s just fun racing. It’s a love-hate relationship with Martinsville Speedway because it’s tight quarters and it’s easy to get frustrated. You kind of beat and bang with all of your competitors but it’s so cool. It’s one of the coolest places to watch a race, as well. I’m excited, it’s my 250^th Cup start. Who would’ve ever thought I’d actually be in the series that long? I know I didn’t. It’s going to be a fun weekend.”

What do you have to get right at Martinsville to be successful?  

“Martinsville is no different than any other racetrack. You’ve got to have a good car, good brakes, good pit stops, you’ve got to have everything. You can’t win at this level in the Cup Series and have a weak link. Martinsville just really exposes a few of those areas more than others. You’ve got to have a good-turning car and good mechanical grip because the tires wear out so fast. Aerodynamics is not overly important, but aerodynamics are still important. We show up to Martinsville and guys still get tight behind other cars and, if your spoiler falls off, you’ll still spin out and wreck.”

Can you describe how difficult pit road is at Martinsville, especially coming off of pit road when drivers are playing games with each other?

“Martinsville’s pit road is probably the most treacherous pit road of any track we go to. It’s very, very tight quarters. You don’t have a lot of room to work and the pit crews don’t have a lot of room to work. Then, leaving pit road is very narrow, so you run into issues with guys pulling out of their box and you’re already two-wide and you either have to give way to them, or you run the risk of getting your left-front fender cleaned off. You see wrecks on pit road a lot at Martinsville Speedway, and then the games everyone plays at the end of pit road. They’re checking up to try and make sure that they’re going to restart on the inside lane, because the inside lane is usually – nine out of 10 times – the preferred lane at Martinsville.”

When you were growing up, did you ever think you’d be at this point in your career with 250 Cup Series starts?

“I wanted to be dirty and work on racecars. I didn’t care if I made $200 a week, or $200,000 a week. It honestly made no difference to me, I didn’t care. I just wanted to make a living, to be able to wake up in the morning and be a racer. To be able to do it at this level, and to have stayed in the Cup Series for this amount of time and have this opportunity in front of me, it’s incredible to think about my 250^th start. I now realize when I look in the mirror and I see the gray hair in my sideburns and in my beard, it all makes sense.”

Kurt Busch loves the West Coast. He loves the desert, the dry, hot weather and the motor racing facilities in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana, California.

But, it’s time to look east, specifically toward Martinsville Speedway located in Southern Virginia, for Sunday’s Martinsville 500.

And what a history Martinsville has considering it opened for business in 1947, two years before NASCAR came to be. Every series champion including Busch has competed at the track, which has hosted Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events twice a year since 1950.

Martinsville is the shortest track on the NASCAR schedule and, viewed from the air, its looks like a paperclip as its long straightaways lead into tight, flat turns. The racing there can be described as “give-and-take,” with drivers giving some bumps and taking some bumps as dozens of cars constantly fight for space in its tight confines.

So, no matter how good a driver’s car is, one does need a bit of luck to win at Martinsville. Several drivers have been leading late in the 500-lap race, only to be nudged out of the way in the closing laps. A good vehicle is needed, but also that stroke of luck.

Should Busch win this weekend, he’ll once again score one of the most unique and coveted trophies in NASCAR – the Ridgeway Furniture Company’s grandfather clock that’s given to race winners at Martinsville Speedway.

The tradition of giving the famous grandfather clock to the winner of every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville got its start in 1964. Henry Clay Earles, who founded the short track, was inspired to use the grandfather clock as his trophy when Curtis Turner told him he had to start finding storage room for his trophies, and give some away, as well. It was then that NASCAR’s most iconic trophy was born.

Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), already has a pair of grandfather clocks for winning the fall Martinsville race in 2002 and the spring race in 2014 – the latter win for SHR. He also won the pole position for the fall race in 2006.

Busch knows he will have a good Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion from crew chief Billy Scott this weekend. He’s also hoping for a stroke of luck, as well.

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

What is the toughest part about racing at Martinsville? 

“To me, the toughest part about Martinsville is you just never have a moment to breathe. You have to be on your game nonstop for 500 laps because somebody’s on you, or you are on top of somebody the whole time, and there’s just no room for error.” 

How much does pit strategy become a factor at Martinsville? 

“It’s definitely something that comes into play. You may gamble early to pick up some positions on the track, especially if you’ve had trouble in qualifying. It’s just one of those things, though, where you always hope you’re on the right one (strategy) and, if you get caught on the wrong one, then you’re kicking yourself the whole time.” 

How much more important is track position at a place like Martinsville? 

“Track position is everything, everywhere, but at Martinsville it is just so easy to lose it. It doesn’t take much to find yourself going backward, whether it’s a situation with someone bumping you out of the way or you get too high on the track and up in the marbles. Then, deal with what that does to the tires and, boom, next thing you know, you may have had a 10th-place car and now you are 18^th. It’s a goal all day to work your way forward and then just to have smooth pit stops to carry you through those midpoints of the race. Then, at the end, when everything is on the line, you have to be aggressive and you can’t be afraid to use the fenders on people to get that solid finish.”

Clint Bowyer jokes about his love-hate relationship with Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series holds its sixth race of the 2018 season Sunday. Sometimes he really likes the flat, half-mile, paperclip-shaped track in Southern Virginia and, at other times, not so much.

Right now, Bowyer is in love with Martinsville. That’s probably because he battled for victory last October before finishing third. In last year’s spring race, Bowyer drove the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Ford to a seventh-place finish.

But, he hasn’t always been a fan of the place.

“When I first raced there, I was terrible, I hated it – every aspect of it,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “Now, we feel pretty good about our Martinsville program. We had two pretty good runs last year and we’re pretty pumped about going there this weekend. We aren’t going to be happy until we bring home a grandfather clock.”

Bowyer has come close at Martinsville, but he’s yet to add a clock to his trophy case. He owns five top-five finishes and 14 top-10s and has led 356 laps on Martinsville’s concrete surface. He led 154 laps during the fall 2012 race amid a string of five consecutive top-10s there.

Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Bowyer ran in the top-10 most of the race until a tire problem in the final laps left him with an 11th-place finish. Bowyer is ninth in points heading to the Cup Series’ first short-track race of the season. SHR arrives at Martinsville on a historic roll with all four drivers in the top-11 in the standings.

Martinsville is a historically good track for the Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization. SHR owns three victories – Ryan Newman in April 2012, Tony Stewart in October 2011 and Kurt Busch in March 2014 – eight top-five finishes and 20 top-10s in 54 starts at Martinsville, and SHR cars have led 504 laps there.

While he’s feeling good heading into this weekend, Bowyer knows there’s always the fickle nature of Martinsville that could turn him back toward not liking the place. But, he said that’s part of the track’s allure to fans and television viewers and a welcome relief from the high-speed, aerodynamic-dependent tracks the series has visited thus far in 2018.

“This type of racing is what put this sport on the map, and it’s been a while since we’ve been that, and it’s a breath of fresh air to get back to a short track where it can breed some of that and put on a show for the fans,” said Bowyer, who makes his 439th career start Sunday. “I know I was entertained by the racing last year and I expect we’ll see the same thing again this weekend.”

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford will sport a bit of a different look at Martinsville as Haas Automation, the largest CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine-tool builder in North America, will highlight Demo Day 2018 that will be held May 9 at local Haas Factory Outlets (HFOs) nationwide.

The annual event provides HFOs an opportunity to feature the latest CNC machines, innovations, and technology from Haas Automation. Showcased will be machine-cutting demonstrations and educational seminars to explain how the latest Haas machines and options can help make current Haas users, potential customers, and anyone in the manufacturing industry learn how the latest Haas machines can help a business be more productive, efficient, and profitable.

The 2018 Demo Day celebrates the 30th anniversary of Haas Automation’s very first vertical machining center – the industry-leading VF-1. The “V” in the model name stands for vertical – an industry-standard designation for a vertical mill – and company founder Gene Haas added “F1” to unofficially designate it as the company’s “Very First One.”

Introduced in 1988 in Chicago, the Haas VF-1 established an industry milestone by being the very first American-built vertical machining center to sell for less than $50,000, an unheard-of price at that time. With a published price of $49,900 – another industry first – the Haas VF-1 quickly became the industry benchmark for affordable CNC technology.

Today, the Haas VF-1 still sells for less than $50,000 – in fact, it’s only $46,995 – and Haas Automation is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of CNC machine tools, with an extensive lineup of more than 100 high-value, high-performance products.

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

What are your thoughts on Martinsville?

“I’ve run really well at Martinsville and there have been several times when I thought we were the fastest car, especially in 2012 and 2013. I look forward to it every year and it’s one track I feel like I can win at, especially if the equipment is underneath me and we make good calls and I make good decisions and take care of the car on the racetrack. I want to bring one of those clocks home. I love going to Martinsville. It’s a great racetrack with a lot of history. Martinsville has been hosting races for half a century and all the greats have raced there over the years. It really is a throwback in a lot of ways. It’s a flat short track like most of us grew up racing on. It’s tight, flat and fenders definitely get used. It always puts on an exciting show for the fans and there isn’t a bad seat in the house. As a fan of the sport, I don’t know how you can’t like Martinsville. And, in a lot of ways, it’s almost turned into the new go-to track for action and excitement. It doesn’t have the high banks like Bristol, but the racing, bumping, banging and all the fun stuff the fans look for has been every bit as good as anywhere we’ve gone the past few years.”   

Martinsville seems to be the most difficult track for drivers to figure out. Why is that?

“It’s a short track, but it’s not like any other short track you’ve ever been to. It goes against everything your tendencies tell you to do. You have to back the corner up and let the car roll way around the corner before you get back on the gas. Your tendencies are to get in the corner as deep as you can and get back on the throttle as fast as possible. Those are two things that are catastrophic there, so you’ve got to discipline yourself and stay disciplined throughout the race.”

Is there anything you would change about Martinsville?

“Why we don’t race there at night is beyond me. We should definitely utilize those lights for something other than a green-white-checkered finish like we had last year. It was pretty damned cool under the lights last fall.”

Event:               California (Round 5 of 33)
Date:                 March 17, 2018
Location:          Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California
Layout:             2-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The California 300 will mark Cole Custer’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series start at his hometown track, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
• Custer was born and raised in Ladera Ranch, California, where he began his racing career turning laps at local short tracks including Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino and I-10 Speedway in Blythe.
• Custer is no stranger to winning at California tracks where he has never competed. In 2012, Custer won his first start at I-10 Speedway in the Late Model Stock Car division.
• In 2005, Custer won six races in the Jr. Novice Series at Pomona Valley on his way to winning the Quarter Midget championship in the Jr. Novice Series. Custer would go on to win Quarter Midget championships in the Senior Honda and Senior Stock divisions four years later.
• In 2011, Custer became the United States Auto Club National Young Gun champion, winning 15 of 22 races.
• Custer has earned two top-10 finishes this season – earned consecutively at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• In Custer’s only Xfinity Series start at Fontana, he ran consistently inside the top-10 until he was involved in an accident on lap 106.
• Custer is 11^th in the Xfinity Series championship standings with 100 points.
• The No. 00 Haas Automation Mustang will run a special check donation decal on the deck lid this weekend. The Gene Haas Foundation announced a $7 million dollar Scholarship donation to STEM CNC machining schools Tuesday.
• During the week leading into the California 300 at Fontana, Custer’s scheduled included a visit to Loma Linda Children’s Hospital, racing at the K1 Speed Go Karting complex with students from the Lefty’s Kids Club, and joining fans during a hauler parade at 6 p.m. Thursday at the track.
• Custer will be welcomed home with a special ticket package. The Welcome Home Cole Custer ticket package includes a $10 ticket to the California 300, a free No. 00 hat and signed hero card, and admission to a Q&A with Custer in the Fan Zone. Tickets can be purchased by visiting AutoClubSpeedway.com/Cole.
• Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool manufacturer in North America and sponsor of Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang, is headquartered just two hours from Auto Club Speedway in Oxnard, California. Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation Inc., first opened for business in Sun Valley, California, in 1983 machining parts for the electronics and aerospace industries.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Are you excited to return to your home track with some experience under your belt? 

“I can’t wait to hit the track this weekend and see what we can put together. Last year, we had a great car and the Haas Automation team found a lot of speed. We just have to stay out of trouble and be there in the end this time. A win here would be special to me because I’ll have a lot of friends and family out at the track cheering me on. It’s also Haas Automation’s home track, so getting a win in their backyard would be incredible.”

How cool is it to have a ticket package named after your return home to California? 

“It’s just cool to be a part of something like this because it shows how much support you can get from your local community. It’s only $10 and you get a ton of free things and a great experience. It gives me extra motivation to get out there and bring the Haas Automation Ford to victory lane for my hometown fans.”

You were a part of a huge donation to STEM CNC machining schools with the Gene Haas Foundation. What was that like?

“It was an amazing experience because we were able to give back to something that directly impacts students trying to apply themselves to STEM-related jobs. The Gene Haas Foundation donated $7 million to STEM students and schools. Being a Haas CNC machinist seems like an incredible opportunity in the workforce and it’s great to be able to say you had a hand in helping students steer their paths in that direction.” 

Talk about growing up in Ladera Ranch, California, where racing wasn’t exactly on the main stage. 

“A lot of the kids my age didn’t know a lot about racing, so it was kind of weird because you couldn’t relate to people, sometimes. I was pretty much the only person in my whole school who liked racing, so it was out of the ordinary, but I always had my dad who was really into it. A lot of people supported what I was doing because it was so different, but you always looked forward to going back East and seeing all those guys where racing was big. You have a lot of great drivers who come out of California, so it wasn’t a bad place to grow up.” 

Do you attribute your success to growing up around the local tracks in California?

“A little bit. There were a lot of great Quarter Midget tracks and short tracks that helped me learn, and I’ll always appreciate that. It’s all about what you do with it, what you make of it and what opportunities you get, so growing up in California was definitely a great thing for me.” 

Besides racing, what was life in California like? 

“I loved hanging out with my friends and doing average things outside of racing. I grew up playing football, baseball and soccer, so I always had friends through that, as well as friends in racing. Other than having to travel so much, I lived a pretty normal life. Those are things you can never experience again, so I’m thankful to have been able to grow up that way.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

Are you more confident this time around heading to Cole’s home track?

“I’m confident because we had a great setup there last year and now we have a full season under our belts. Last year, we were still developing our program. He had a lot of speed in the car last year but got caught in an accident. I think we’ll go out there and contend for a win.”

Kevin Harvick will attempt to become the first driver to win four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in a row since Jimmie Johnson did it in 2007.

The driver of the No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads to Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, for the final race of the three-race “NASCAR Goes West” swing looking for a sweep. In fact, Harvick has upped the ante by already winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway one race before the swing.

The last three weeks, Harvick has visited victory lane at Atlanta, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway near Phoenix. He also has an Xfinity Series win at Atlanta, which makes it four wins in the last four races he’s entered. To add a fourth consecutive Cup Series win would put him in elite company. In the modern era, only eight drivers have won four consecutive Cup Series races – Cale Yarborough in 1976, Darrell Waltrip in 1981, Dale Earnhardt in 1987, Harry Gant in 1991, Bill Elliott in 1992, Mark Martin in 1993, Jeff Gordon in 1998 and Johnson in 2007.

What could make a fourth Cup Series win in a row even more meaningful for Harvick is the location.

Auto Club Speedway serves as a home game for the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who grew up approximately 150 miles northwest of the track in Bakersfield, California.

The stop at Fontana should provide confidence for the Bakersfield native. He is one of three drivers from California to win a Cup Series race at there, joining Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Harvick scored his only Cup Series win in Fontana on March 11, 2011. Kyle Busch dominated that afternoon, leading 151 laps of the 200-lap event but, in the closing laps as Busch attempted to hold off a hard-charging Johnson, Harvick worked the top of the racetrack and ran down the leaders. On the final turn of the final lap, Harvick passed Johnson and beat him to the finish line by .144 of a second. He led only one lap on the day, but it secured the victory at his home track.

Harvick has come close in recent history to adding a second victory to his resume at Fontana, finishing second in both 2015 and 2016. In 2015, he led 34 laps but finished second by .710 of a second to Brad Keselowski after a late-race restart. He led 143 of 200 laps in 2016 but finished second to Johnson by .772 of a second in an overtime finish.

But, it’s more than winning on the Fontana track that makes Harvick a hometown favorite. He always does what he can to give back to his hometown.

Harvick is visiting Kern County Raceway in Bakersfield this week to race in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West opener Thursday night. He will be driving the No. 4 FIELDS, Inc. Ford for Jefferson-Pitts Racing as a way to help promote the series and its drivers.

In March 2016, he and baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. cut the ribbon to unveil the Kevin Harvick Foundation Park at the Boys & Girls Club in Bakersfield, which provides a clean and safe environment in which local youth can play, learn and grow.

The state-of-the-art facility in Bakersfield is designed for multisport use, featuring four outdoor fitness stations, a rubber track surface circling the field’s perimeter, and a digital scoreboard. The park, a gift to The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Kern County, is maintained by the organization, with which the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and Kevin Harvick Foundation collaborate to create and implement character education programming and clinics for the children who utilize the facility.

The Boys & Girls Club of Kern County is not the only project Harvick has completed in his hometown to help area youth.

After he won the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship, he planned an additional stop as part of his champion’s tour – a visit to Bakersfield. Harvick wanted to bring the Cup Series trophy to his high school, where he spoke to more than 2,000 kids in the gymnasium and encouraged them to follow their dreams.

In fact, Harvick regularly gives back to his hometown through donations from his foundation. Donations have included funds to provide wrestling, baseball and golf equipment to his high school in order to ensure that anyone who wants to participate can do so without worrying about paying for proper equipment.

Harvick hopes he can give his hometown fans another thing to cheer about at the track Sunday as he attempts to capture his fourth consecutive Cup Series win.

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

What makes racing at Auto Club Speedway so challenging?

“I heard Greg Stucker of Goodyear Racing on SiriusXM talking about the tires for this weekend’s race – and they are bringing a new left-side construction to the track. They did that a couple of years ago because we were all letting the air out of the tires. The more air you let out of the tires, the more grip the tires make, but when you let the air out of the tires and you run over those big bumps down the back straightaway, it tends to break everything in the sidewall of the tire. Goodyear has developed some new tires. It might be easier just to grind the bumps down the back straightaway and just put a new strip of asphalt back there, but Goodyear just keeps developing new tires. They do a great job with it.”

Is Auto Club Speedway a place you look forward to going to, and why?

“Auto Club Speedway is by far one of my favorite tracks we go to. This is top three on my list as far as tracks that I’m excited to go to, just for the fact that the asphalt is so worn out. It is very similar to Atlanta in a much different shape of a racetrack. It’s a very unique racetrack because it is so wide and you have so many options to run all over the racetrack. Then you add in the tire falloff, then it becomes strategy and how many laps do you stay out when everybody else starts pitting because you’re going to give up three seconds a lap. If the caution comes out, you can get caught a lap down. So there are so many things that come into play, but it has become a great race and a great racetrack to race on. The crowd has been great over the last few years since we went from two races down to one. It has changed the whole vibe at Auto Club Speedway. It’s in my home state. I’m going to get to race on Thursday night at Kern County, then head down to Auto Club Speedway for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s a big week and I know, from a driver standpoint, Auto Club Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway are right up there at the top of everybody’s list because there is so much fall-off and the asphalt is so worn out.”

Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) soldier on with the “NASCAR Goes West” swing of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California caps off the three-race stretch of the schedule.

It’s been a successful run so far for the No. 10 Smithfield team in the western part of the United States with two top-10 finishes for Almirola. Most recently, he completed the 312-lap race on the mile oval at ISM Raceway near Phoenix Sunday with a seventh-place finish, his highest finishing position of the season. The event also marked the first time in SHR’s history that all four entries completed a race in the top-10.

The No. 10 team once again persevered through the weekend at Phoenix with Almirola behind the wheel and crew chief Johnny Klausmeier calling the shots. The duo worked together to gain 15 positions from Almirola’s 22^nd spot on the starting grid by the time the checkered flag flew. The seventh-place finish helped the Tampa, Florida native improve one spot to 10^th in the driver standings. Heading to Fontana, SHR has all four cars in the top-11 in the standings with Kevin Harvick in the lead position after his back-to-back-to-back victories at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix. The latter victory Sunday was the 46^th by an SHR driver in the organization’s 10-year history.

Almirola continues to surpass his early performance from his previous 10 Cup Series seasons with an average finishing position of 10.2 through the first four races of 2018. This weekend marks his 11^th appearance at Fontana, one of two 2-mile tracks on the Cup Series schedule, and he looks to add his first Cup Series top-10 at the track while keeping his recent string of top-10 finishes alive.

While Fontana typically provides some exciting racing on the track for Almirola and his fellow Cup Series competitors, the Smithfield driver who turns 34 Wednesday makes it a point to explore the surrounding area when he’s in town. During Fontana weekend, that usually means venturing up to nearby Mount Baldy, which is located in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Smithfield, a brand of Smithfield Foods, which is based approximately five hours northeast of SHR headquarters in Smithfield, Virginia, is in its seventh season with Almirola and first with SHR. Fontana marks the fifth consecutive weekend the Smithfield livery has adorned Almirola’s No. 10 Ford Fusion. Founded in 1936, Smithfield is a leading provider of high-quality pork products, with a vast product portfolio including smoked meats, hams, bacon, sausage, ribs, and a wide variety of fresh pork cuts.

To this point in the season, Almirola has completed a combined total of 1,109 laps around the first four venues on the Cup Series schedule for a completion rate of 99.8 percent. Coming off four top-13 finishes – 11^th at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, 13^th at Atlanta, 10^th at Las Vegas and seventh at Phoenix – Almirola proves he’s found success with the No. 10 team at several styles of tracks – a superspeedway, two intermediate ovals and a short track.

“These finishes make me feel good,” he said. “It makes me feel like we can go anywhere and run well – superspeedway at Daytona, different kinds of mile-and-a-halves with a worn-out one at Atlanta and a really high-speed track at Las Vegas, and then a short track at Phoenix. I’m really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. They’re building incredibly fast cars.”

In addition to his Cup Series experience at Fontana, Almirola has three Xfinity Series starts with two top-10 finishes and an 11^th-place finish, along with five laps led. He also made a Camping World Truck Series start in 2006.

Ford has garnered a total of 11 wins at Fontana and has visited victory lane at three of four races this season, giving the manufacturer the top spot in the manufacturer standings by eight points. If a Ford driver captures the victory this weekend, it will be the first time since 2014 that Ford Performance has won four races in a row. Should Harvick win his fourth race in row, it would be the first time an individual Ford driver won four consecutive races since Mark Martin in 1993.

This weekend marks Almirola’s 249^th career start in a Cup Series car. Next weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, he will reach his 250 race-start milestone before heading into the season’s first off weekend.

ARIC ALMIROLA, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What do you look forward to at Fontana?  

“The part of California that I look forward to the most is that we can run on all six lanes on the racetrack. You travel the Interstate system out there on the 10 and it’s six lanes that are all clogged up. But, at the track, it’s six lanes wide and you can pick any lane to run. It’s fun to race at because you can catch somebody and you can really make something happen because it’s so wide. It’s worn out, slick, and it makes for a lot of passing and moving around, so it’s fun to race on.”

Do you do you have anything outside the racetrack that you like to do in California?  

“I enjoy going to California and I enjoy the area. I go out there and go hiking. I typically go hike Mount Baldy and I always look forward to that.”
Is there a moment at Fontana that sticks out in your mind?

“The one moment that sticks out in my mind is the very first time that I went there. I went to California in 2007 and it was my first start in a Cup car there, and it was a summer race back then. It was really, really hot and we actually ended up getting a hole in our exhaust system, and the hole ended up burning a hole in the floorboard of the racecar. Every time I went off into the corner and let off of the gas, the car would backfire and the flames from backfiring would come up from the floorboard and into the car, making for an extremely hot day inside the car.”

Racing in Southern California has always been exciting, dating back more than 100 years. Jimmy Murphy, winner of the 1922 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and 1921 French Grand Prix, went to high school at Huntington Park High School in Los Angeles.

Rodger Ward, winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1959 and 1962, and Phil Hill, the 1960 F1 World Champion were both raised in in the Los Angeles area.

Southern California was home to Ontario Motor Speedway, Riverside International Raceway and Ascot Park. Now, it’s home to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, site of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400, which is an important race for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Kurt Busch.

The driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for SHR would love to win on the outskirts of the second-largest city in the United States. He also would like to win for local companies Haas Automation and Monster Energy.

Haas Automation headquarters are just 105 miles from Fontana in Oxnard, California, while Monster Energy’s headquarters are only 21 miles away in Corona, California.

So, it’s a huge weekend for Busch at Fontana, where he has tasted a good bit of success in his career. He has one win, seven top-five finishes and 12 top-10s in 25 starts at the 2-mile oval. Additionally, the 39-year-old driver has led 298 laps, has an average starting position of 14.9, an average finish of 12.8, and has completed 99.9 percent – 5,551 of 5,556 – of the laps he’s contested there.

He can also push the throttle as four of his 22 career poles have come at Fontana – February and September 2006, September 2007 and March 2015. It’s more Fontana poles than any other active driver.

As if this year’s race wasn’t big enough, this year also marks the 30th anniversary of Haas Automation’s very first vertical machining center – the industry-leading VF-1. The “V” in the model name stands for vertical – an industry standard designation for a vertical mill – and company founder Gene Haas added “F1” to unofficially designate it as the company’s “Very First One.”

Introduced at IMTS 88 in Chicago, the Haas VF-1 established an industry milestone by being the very first American-built vertical machining center to sell for less than $50,000, an unheard-of price at that time. With a published price of $49,900 – another industry first – the Haas VF-1 quickly became the industry benchmark for affordable CNC technology.

Today, the Haas VF-1 still sells for less than $50,000 – in fact, it’s only $46,995 – and Haas Automation is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of CNC machine tools, with an extensive lineup of more than 100 high-value, high-performance products.

Busch knows the stakes are high. But so did Murphy, Ward, Hill and every other great driver who’s ever hailed from or drove in Southern California.

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

Overall thoughts on Auto Club Speedway?

“The track is out in the Desert Southwest and it just feels like home. Growing up there and racing, it was cool as heck to go to California Speedway for the first time as a fan because of how big the track is and how fast everything is there. Then, to go there as a racer, it was incredible. I got to race in the Truck Series. Over the years, it’s just one of those tracks that’s been really good to me. I like the racing surface because of how much you slip and slide around. It’s tire management at its finest. When you have a track like that, it really goes toward the driver’s hands more than the technology of aerodynamics and the setups. It’s a lot of fun to go there knowing the responsibility is in the driver’s hands.”

What is your favorite part about the track?

“It’s unique because you have to build the car and keep in mind with the setup that the straightaways are super long. But the corners are sort of flat and they are a little tighter than you think. So you have to have the setup right for both ends of the racetrack. Really long straightaways and tight flat corners.”

Is there anything you don’t like about the racetrack?

“The bumps on the back straightaway are super rough and we’re bouncing pretty rough off them because we’re trying to keep our car low in the corners. The straightaways seem to get more unsettled each year. But, no biggie. It’s just part of the experience.”

How big is this weekend for you, Haas Automation, Monster Energy and Ford?

“As far as sponsor weekends go, this is the ultimate. Monster is headquartered just down the road in Corona, California. Haas Automation is headquartered out in Oxnard, California. Even Ford really wants to beat Toyota, which has TRD out there. So, it’s a lot of responsibility to run well there.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tour offers fans the thrills of nose-to-tail drafting packs at Daytona and Talladega, the beating and banging at short tracks like Bristol and Martinsville and the high speeds of the mile-and-a-half tracks like Charlotte and Atlanta.

Clint Bowyer believes you have to add Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California to that list for one simple reason: restarts.

For proof of the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver’s claim, one only needs to tune in to FOX at 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday to watch the fifth race of the 2018 Cup Series season – the Auto Club 400. Bowyer says the wild restarts at the track east of Los Angeles are as spectacular from behind the steering wheel as they are in the grandstands and on television.

“The restarts at California are awesome,” said Bowyer, who added that drivers can choose from among five different racing lines on the 2-mile, D-shaped oval. “I think it’s great for the fans. You see us get bunched up for the restart and go off into turn one. All hell breaks loose and it looks like we are 25 cars wide. When that spotter says, ‘Outside,’ you better be sure there is just one car outside of you and not two or three.”

Bowyer knows what he’s talking about when he cites the frenetic racing at Fontana. Last year, he started the overtime in seventh place and raced to third in the two laps of competition before the checkered flag waved. It capped a day that saw Bowyer earn points in all three stages of the race, and it marked his third top-three finish at Fontana.

Bowyer will carry Rush Truck Center decals on his No. 14 Ford Sunday when he makes his 438th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and 18th career Cup Series start at Fontana. He owns three top-five finishes and eight top-10s and has led 47 laps.

Bowyer said he loves the challenge the track presents to the drivers and teams.

“The speeds are always very fast at California and, on top of that, the grip level goes away drastically fast,” Bowyer said. “For me, I love that. I love how the track slicks off and you have to focus on the balance. You can’t have that front end turning too good and have that rear end pulling out from under you, and vice versa.”

The width of the track also poses some challenges for both the driver and his spotter.

“You really have to focus in on the communication with your spotter,” he said. “When he says they are running the top, you have to think about what he really means. With a track as wide as California, you have to know where the other cars are at all times.”

Bowyer arrives at the end of the Cup Series’ three-race West Coast swing after finishing sixth at ISM Raceway near Phoenix last weekend. That finish, coupled with a 15th at Daytona, third at Atlanta and 18th at Las Vegas, vaulted Bowyer to ninth place in the standings.

Most importantly, the SHR organization is on a roll.

All four SHR drivers finished in the top-10 Sunday at Phoenix, and Kevin Harvick won his third consecutive race and the 46^th overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 42^nd points-paying Cup Series win and SHR’s sixth Cup Series victory with Ford. Harvick leads the points with Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch ninth, 10^th and 11^th in points.

Bowyer would like to see the success continue this weekend at Fontana, where SHR owns two victories scored by Tony Stewart in October 2010 and March 2012.

“I’d say that was pretty much a statement last week,” Bowyer said. “Maybe we can do it again this weekend in Fontana.”

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Center for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is it like to drive at Auto Club Speedway? 

“I think I’ve been going there 12, 13 years now. I remember single file around there. Couldn’t really pass. Ring around the bottom. Now, I mean, all hell breaks loose on those restarts. You’re trying to protect the bottom. They’re calling you outside. You don’t know if you’re three-wide, four-wide, 12-wide. It’s all because of a really wide, cool racetrack. A fast racetrack and a lot of grooves. Five different grooves to race on all day long. It’s just a lot of fun to be out there. Very challenging track. Trying to balance those front tires, the rear tires, not push ’em off. You can overdrive your car. I did one run. Thing fell away. You know, you learn from your mistakes and go on.”

What is the secret to success at Auto Club Speedway? 

“You’ve got to be able to adapt, you’ve got to be able to have the car free enough across the center so you can throttle through the corners, not too tight, and tight enough that the rear doesn’t come out from underneath you. It’s a constant battle balancing those tires and taking care of those tires, as well.”