With only two races remaining in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season and locked in a battle for one of the final few playoff berths, Clint Bowyer is calling on help from NASCAR legend Mark Martin at Sunday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will sport a Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme nearly identical to the scheme Martin drove in 43 NASCAR Xfinity Series races between 1988 and 1991 for Bill Davis Racing. The Batesville, Arkansas native earned three Xfinity Series victories and scored 11 top-five finishes in the predominantly blue, white and red Carolina Ford Dealers Thunderbird.

“We’ll take advantage of anything we can right now and you can’t do much better than having Mark Martin on your side,” said Bowyer, who trails Jamie McMurray by 58 points for the 16^th and final playoff berth. He needs to make up that deficit or win during the next two races to be part of NASCAR’s postseason that begins Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Bowyer knows the importance of Sunday’s race to his playoff hopes and those of his crew chief Mike Bugarewicz-led team, but he’s aware the Darlington race marks “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” when the industry honors the sport’s history. Last year, 36 Cup Series teams competed with throwback paint schemes in the Southern 500, the most in any single NASCAR event in the sport’s history.

“I think it’s important to remember our legends,” Bowyer said. “This weekend will be all about Mark and the heroes of this sport. When you think about my heroes and the people I really looked up to in this sport, Mark was at the top of the list. He was my teammate in 2012 and it meant so much to me to race alongside him back in the MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) days.”

Martin won 40 times in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, scored 271 top-five finishes and 453 top-10s. He also won 56 poles. His last Cup Series race was at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17, 2013 in SHR’s No. 14 as he subbed for an injured Tony Stewart.

Martin said the Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme has a special place in his heart and in his career.

“The throwback program at Darlington is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of and seeing this car is really a time check, a time stamp for me,” said the 58-year-old Martin, who entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame this year. “The Carolina Ford Dealers was the first sponsor I had that did full-fledged television marketing. They did lots of radio spots and lots of television spots. It was really my first sponsor that I did that kind of work with.”

Bowyer, an eight-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, is in his first year driving SHR’s No. 14 Ford Fusion after replacing three-time champion Stewart, who retired as a NASCAR driver at the end of the 2016 season. The No. 14 has scored the 10^th-most points of any car in 2017 with five top-fives and 10 top-10s.

Bowyer finished 19^th Aug. 19 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, so he needs a good finish at Darlington, followed by similar results at the regular-season finale Sept. 9 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, to enter the playoffs.

He owns only one top-10 finish in 11 races at Darlington. Maybe the presence of Martin will change that this weekend.

“Darlington has always been a big race for our sport, but this playoff race only adds to the intensity,” Martin said. “I’d love for Clint to have a good run or, better yet, win the race. It’s been a while since a Carolina Ford Dealers paint scheme visited victory lane, so doing it again in Darlington would be special. It would mean a lot to me and make a lot of people happy, especially Clint.”

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

What is your strategy to gain 58 points in the next two races? 

“We just have to win. A win and the points will take care of themselves.”

What are your thoughts on Darlington? 

“I like the uniqueness of the track. I’ve struggled to have good finishes there but we’ve always raced well. We just can’t seem to seal the deal at the end. Something always goes haywire in the end but, sooner or later, we are going to overcome that and have a good weekend. Doing that this weekend would be perfect.”

Do you remember your first Darlington experience? 

“My first Cup race at Darlington was 2007 and I won the pole. Truth be told, it scared the daylights out of me.”

Event:               Johnsonville 180 (Round 23 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 27, 2017
Location:          Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Layout:             4-mile, 14-turn road course

Cole Custer Notes of Interest 

• The Johnsonville 180 will mark Cole Custer’s 27^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Road America.
• Custer comes into Road America with only two road-course starts in the XFINITY Series, both of which came this year at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, respectively, with a best finish of 12^th at Watkins Glen. However, Custer has a total of 13 road-course starts spread across the XFINITY Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East/West. His best road-course effort came in 2016 when he won the pole for the Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and led a race-high 39 laps before finishing second to John Hunter Nemechek by just .034 of a second in a door-banging, tire-smoking run off the final corner to the checkered flag. 
• Custer’s best finish in the 22 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 12^th top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his career-best finish.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 22 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned twice – April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Custer has 15 top-10 starts and five top-five starts this season.
• Last weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Custer ran in and around the top-five for the majority of the race and earned his 10^th top-10 of the 2017 season. He was the highest finishing rookie in Stage 1 and the highest finishing XFINITY Series regular in a Ford.
• Custer has earned four top-five finishes, 10 top-10s and has led 29 laps so far in the 2017 XFINITY Series season.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 55 points behind leader William Byron and nine points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
• Custer is sixth in the XFINITY Series driver standings, 274 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.
• Custer will also compete Sunday in the Road America 100 ARCA Series race prior to the Johnsonville 180. It will mark Custer’s sixth ARCA race since 2015.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What are the challenges of running a road course?  

“In road-course racing, the competition is more on the driver’s shoulders compared to your traditional oval-styled track. You’re on the edge of your seat for the entire race and even the smallest mistake could take you out of the race. I enjoy road-course racing and challenging my skills as a driver. This is our last road-course race of the season, so I’m hoping to drive my Haas Automation Ford Mustang to a solid finish.”

With the playoffs approaching, has your strategy changed at all? 

“Yeah. I think we’ll focus more on earning stage wins to put us in a good spot for when the playoffs start. A win would really set us up well so, hopefully, we can put together a strong car and I can run us up front here in the next couple of races.”

How has your first season at Stewart-Haas Racing been so far?

“It’s been a dream come true. At the beginning of the year, we started with an empty shop and a lot of work to do. We got off to a rocky start, being collected in a few accidents, but we’ve made a good comeback. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to earn a handful of top-fives and top-10s and battle our way to the playoffs. For a first-year team that started with nothing, we feel that we have definitely met our expectations.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

After a solid run at Watkins Glen and unfortunate luck at Mid-Ohio, how are you and the team positioned for Road America? 

“Last week was just full of bad luck, but we were able to run back out there in the second stage and took some more notes. I think we’ll have a good run this weekend with all of the notes we took from Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. We’re focused on earning a win or stage wins to set us up better for the playoffs.”

As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the high banks of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Kevin Harvick will be in the outdoors hunting for his second win of the season and his second straight win in the night race at “The Last Great Colosseum.”

The No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will feature the Busch Outdoors paint scheme this weekend at Bristol.

Busch Beer has embodied the spirit of the great outdoors since its inception in 1955. This fall, Busch Beer will launch an evolution of past fishing and hunting programs: The Great Outdoors program, which will celebrate this rich history with outdoor pursuits.

From Sept. 4 to Dec. 4, Busch and Busch Light packaging will be converted to Great Outdoors packaging featuring bold colors, varied wildlife and the iconic stream. During this time, consumers who find a gold trophy will have the chance to win an epic outdoors trip by visiting www.Busch.com.

Those who find a gold trophy can are able to enter Busch Beer’s Great Outdoors contest. Busch fans can submit a picture of their gold trophy can on social media using #TrophyCan and #Contest for a chance to win weekly prizes, or the grand prize: a trip to Big Cedar Lodge, America’s premier wilderness resort, with pro angler Kevin VanDam.

The Busch Beer Great Outdoors program will officially launch Sept. 4, but fans at Bristol for this weekend’s race will get a preview of Busch’s new Great Outdoors Packaging on Harvick’s No. 4 Ford.

The background of the car will mimic the Great Outdoor cans featuring a blaze orange and silhouettes of trees and common game. The driver and passenger sides will display an image of the coveted gold trophy can.

Harvick is likely to do well in his outdoor pursuit at the .533-mile high-banked oval.

In August 2016, Harvick scored his second win of the 2016 season, when he started 24^th, led 128 laps and beat runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 1.933 seconds. The win was his second in NASCAR’s top series at Bristol. He scored his first win at the .533-mile oval in April 2005, when he started 13^th and led 109 of 500 laps and beat Elliott Sadler to the finish line by 4.652 seconds.

In fact, Harvick is one of five drivers to win at Bristol in all three of NASCAR’s top touring series – Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. The other four drivers are Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Mark Martin.

Harvick has five Xfinity Series wins at Bristol with his most recent coming in March 2009, when he started 13^th and led 46 laps to beat runner-up Carl Edwards by .798 of a second. He also visited victory lane at Bristol in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in August 2011, when he started sixth, led 103 of 200 laps and beat Johnny Sauter by .434 of a second.

As the second half of the 2017 season continues, Harvick and the No. 4 Busch Outdoors team are ranked fourth in points with a win to their credit and eight playoff points. The goal moving forward is to score as many playoff points as possible in the remaining three regular-season races.

The best way to gain playoff points is to win races and win stages. Harvick and the No. 4 team will attempt to do both this weekend in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol as he continues his march toward a second NASCAR Cup Series championship.

For more information on Busch or its involvement with NASCAR, visit www.Busch.com, https://twitter.com/BuschBeer or www.Facebook.com/Busch.

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

What did you take away from your win last August at Bristol?

“For me, I was excited that you were able to use the bottom of the racetrack, and the lapped cars had an option. You just didn’t get pinned up high. Really, I just want to applaud the racetrack for the effort they made to really get that bottom groove working so we had multiple grooves of racing, and I think, as a driver, you had a lot of options to make your car work and maneuver through traffic and make up positions. We started 24th and pretty much drove through the field because of that.”

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you get asked about the Bristol Night Race?

“The Bristol night race is just intense. And, for me, it’s a place I love going to race because it reminds me a lot of my home track and the rhythm and things that you used to do there, running around the bottom of the racetrack. That changed for a while, when they changed the racetrack. But, since the changes and with the addition of the VHT and things, with the groove coming back to the bottom you’ve kind of got those memories rekindled with the rhythm that used to be for me at Mesa Marin.”

Event:               Food City 300 (Round 22 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 18, 2017
Location:          Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway
Layout:             .533-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest:

• The Food City 300 will mark Custer’s 27^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his second XFINITY Series start at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
• While the Food City 300 will be Custer’s second XFINITY Series start at Bristol, it will be his seventh overall start at the .533-mile oval in eastern Tennessee. Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and two NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts at Bristol. Custer’s career-best Bristol finish is sixth in the 2016 Truck Series race.
• Custer’s most impressive performance at Bristol was the 2015 Truck Series race, despite his 16^th-place finish. He started fifth and led twice for a race-high 111 laps, holding off a handful of veterans including Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter and Kyle Busch. But when Custer was coming up on Spencer Gallagher to put him a lap down less than 40 laps from the finish, Gallagher spun right in front of Custer. With nowhere to go, Custer collided with him, all but ending his race.
• In Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Bristol in April of this year, he began the race from his career-best starting position of third and ran as high as third in the final stage before getting collected in an accident with less than 40 laps to go.
• Since 2013, across nine Camping World Truck Series starts and two K&N Pro Series starts, Custer has one pole, one top-five finish, four top-10s and 226 laps led at half-mile tracks currently on the NASCAR circuit.
• Custer’s best finish in the 21 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 11^th career top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his best finish.
• Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 59 points behind leader William Byron and seven points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer is sixth in the XFINITY Series driver standings, 258 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.
• Custer has earned nine top-10s, four top-fives and has led 29 laps thus far in the 2017 season.
• Bristol added a chemical compound to the inside portion of its track surface to enhance the lower racing groove. This will mark the second year Bristol has applied the chemical to improve grip on the bottom of the racetrack.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

You had a strong start in your first XFINITY Series race at Bristol but were caught up in an accident with less than 40 laps to go. What can we expect in the Food City 300? 

“Bristol was definitely one of our strongest runs this year and it was a shame to get caught up in a wreck at the end. We have some great notes to look at and we think we can make our Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang even better this time around.”

Explain the difference between running in the day compared to night racing at Bristol.  

“Honestly, I would just say it’s the atmosphere that’s different from day to night at Bristol. The track doesn’t change a ton, but Bristol is definitely one of the most intense night races of the year.” 

Your first XFINITY Series race at Bristol was a Dash 4 Cash race, which limited the field to full-time time NASCAR Cup Series drivers with five years of experience or less. With seasoned veterans like Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. running with you this weekend, do you think the competition level will change? 

“Earlier in the year, there were still some pretty good Cup guys in the race and we ran hard with them, so we’re looking for the same this weekend. I expect to run the Haas Automation/One Cure Ford Mustang up front like we did last August. In my opinion, it helps us XFINITY drivers learn more when we have to battle with the Cup Series veterans.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What will be the key to earning a solid finish in the Food City 300 at Bristol?

“Cole’s been great at short tracks his whole career. I like the idea of enhancing the bottom groove, so the track has more options for passing. We’re coming back to Bristol with more notes than we had before. We found top-five speeds there in April but, unfortunately, got caught in an accident when we were at the front of the field. As long as we stay out of trouble, I think we’ll have a good shot at it.”

It all started on September 24, 2000 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Kurt Busch, who was just 22 years old, drove the No. 97 John Deere Ford Taurus for Roush Fenway Racing in the MBNA.com 400. It was his first career start in NASCAR’s top series.

At Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor (Tenn.) Speedway, Busch will make his 600th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start. And for the driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), there is no better place for it to happen than at Bristol.

Busch has five wins, nine top-five finishes and 16 top-10s at the .533-mile concrete oval and has led 1,062 laps in 33 career starts there.

He scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol in March 2002. He started 27th and led 89 laps en route to that maiden victory. It was only his third visit to the .533-mile, high-banked oval, making him the only driver to record his first win at Bristol in fewer than four attempts.

His five Bristol wins – March 2002 and 2003, August 2003, March 2004 and 2006 – tie him with his younger brother Kyle Busch as the winningest active NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Bristol.

Busch even completed the Bristol sweep in 2003, winning both the spring and fall NASCAR Cup Series events. He started ninth and led 116 laps in March while starting fifth and leading 121 laps in August. In March 2004, Busch went on to record his third consecutive win at Bristol when he started 13th and led 119 laps on his way to victory lane.

He is one of four drivers to win three or more consecutive Cup Series races at Bristol. Fred Lorenzen won three in a row starting with the fall race in 1963, followed by a sweep of both 1964 events. Cale Yarborough won four in a row with sweeps in 1976 and 1977. Darrell Waltrip won seven in a row, including sweeps in 1981, 1982 and 1983, then a win at the March 1984 race.

Busch has led laps in 15 of his 33 career Cup Series starts at Bristol and he has led more than 100 laps four times, including three consecutive races – 116 in March 2003, 121 in August 2003, and 119 in March 2004.

But on that day at Dover 17 years ago, the young Busch started 10^th and finished a solid 18^th with Jeff Hammond as his crew chief.

His current team owner Tony Stewart won the race, while Johnny Benson and Ricky Rudd were second and third. Of the 43 drivers in the field, only Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Busch are full-time in the series this season.

Busch’s current crew chief Tony Gibson refers to everyone as “Old Man.” But Busch doesn’t feel like an “Old Man,” and this week at Bristol, he’s hoping he can add to his Bristol – and NASCAR – legacy.

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

You’re making your 600^th NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series start at this week’s race at Bristol. Can you talk about that?

“It’s a fun number. You don’t think about it when you’re racing. You don’t have it as a goal when you start out racing. I love that fact that it’s at Bristol. The 600^th start happens to be at a milestone track for me because I won my first race there and I’ve won my most races there. It’s been a special place for me over the years. It’ll be nice to celebrate it there. I never thought I’d see 600, you don’t really think about it. It almost feels like 400 to me. I still feel like there is plenty more to do, more races to win. I haven’t won at Darlington or Indianapolis and those are ones I want to check off the list. But it’s a proud moment for myself. And a time to say thanks to my dad and all the different car owners I’ve raced for and raced with. And all the sponsors. It’s been a great ride. But it also feels like there is more left.”

What do you remember about your first career start at Dover?

“I was in way over my head (laughter). It was at Dover for my first-ever start and I think I qualified 10^th. And they dropped the green flag and guys like Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Dale (Earnhardt) Sr., just went blowing by me. And I’m flat out. And I was like, ‘What’s the rush? I thought this was 400 miles?’ I literally fell back to last place and I remember radioing in and said, ‘Am I last yet?’ and they said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Good.’ And I took a deep breath and just started passing them one at a time and I ended up 18^th and two laps down in my first race.”

And who was your crew chief during that first race?

“It was Jeff Hammond, who works for FOX now. And I also had Matt Chambers, who was my Truck Series crew chief. He was coming up to take over the duties. And that was a unique situation, too, coming straight from Trucks straight into Cup. And only 12 months earlier I was running Late Models in Las Vegas.”

How tough was the challenge to go from Late Models to Trucks to Cup in that little time?

“I had the luxury of testing a lot. They don’t have the same testing rules now for rookies. The car side of it seemed OK, until about lap 200, and then I was falling out of the seat (laughter). The Cup races were just really long.”

What does it take to be successful at Bristol?

“I like how you can attack the track in certain situations. And then you have to cruise in other situations. You always have to know your surroundings at Bristol. When someone is on your rear bumper or if you are really trying to pressure somebody hard, is there a reason to be doing such? You have to be one with the track and then just digest where the other cars are around you.”

As Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) return to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, they will be racing to bring awareness to a special program: One Cure.

One Cure is a project led by the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University. The One Cure program is founded on the principle that cancer affects all creatures and that treatment breakthroughs come through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with people and animals. This approach is known as comparative oncology and it is the guiding concept of One Cure and the Flint Animal Cancer Center at CSU. The center works to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets, and teams with the human medical field to translate research findings that will help people with cancer.

The center sees more than 1,500 new animal cancer patients every year, with approximately 400 patients enrolling in carefully monitored clinical trials specific to their cancer type. The canine and feline patients are helping pioneer cancer research, moving cutting-edge treatments out of the laboratory and into clinical practice, ultimately providing hope to the next generation of animal and human cancer patients.

The One Cure initiative was first featured on Patrick’s No. 10 Ford earlier this year at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. As the proud “mom” of a 3-year-old miniature Siberian Husky named Dallas and a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois named Ella, the One Cure program is a cause near and dear to Patrick.

“It’s great to have One Cure on the car this weekend,” Patrick said. “I love dogs and I’m glad we can bring more awareness to all of the work the team at the Flint Animal Cancer Center is doing. Our pets are members of our families and, when they aren’t well, we want to do everything we can to help.

“Cancer has touched so many of us. Knowing we can use what we learn from keeping our animals healthy to potentially help save human lives is a cause I’m honored to support.”

When Patrick straps into the No. 10 One Cure Ford Saturday night, she will make her 11th NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol. Her best NASCAR Cup Series finish to date at the .533-mile oval is a ninth-place effort Patrick earned in April 2015. In last year’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol, Patrick started 29th and finished 22nd. In April, an accident relegated the team to a 36th-place finish.

In addition to Patrick’s NASCAR Cup Series experience at Bristol, she’s also competed in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the track. In that time, her best result was a ninth-place finish earned in August 2012.

As they return to Bristol looking to improve upon their results at the track, Patrick and the No. 10 One Cure Ford team will be ready to bring attention to the One Cure program.

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

What are your overall thoughts heading into Bristol?

“I’ve liked Bristol since I went there the first time. I remember when I set foot onto that track, it was the day before, it was load-in day and I looked out there and you’re standing on the straightaway, but it sure seems like a corner. It’s a very cool track and a spectacle for the fans. I feel like that is always the one that everyone says, ‘I want to come see a Bristol race.’ It’s always entertaining there for the fans and, hopefully, we can put on another good show for them this week.”

How aggressive do you have to be?

“Every single one of us is going to go as absolutely hard as possible. There’s never a plan to back off or go easy or anything like that, other than if you are saving fuel out there on a strategy at the end of the race. You always go as fast as you can, all the time.”

How grueling is 500 laps at Bristol?  

“It’s fine. I think it is a little daunting to say 500 laps, but there are a lot of times that we do 500 laps, or 500 miles, and this is just one of them. I feel like no matter what happens – whether it’s a 400-mile race or a 500-lap race – you find your rhythm. Time goes by fast sometimes, and then sometimes it’s slow. All I hope is that the car has a good balance because, when it doesn’t, that’s when the laps seem wrong. If we can just get into a rhythm, find ourselves in a good spot and have a consistent car throughout the race, then the time does go pretty quickly, usually.”

Fans come to Bristol and typically expect a lot of beating and banging. Do you like that kind of racing?

“Yes, I enjoy it. I mean, I don’t mind some beating and banging out there. I don’t mind pushing your way around a little bit. It just happens. It’s just the nature of short tracks when you’re running really close to one another. You put 40 cars out on a track the size of Bristol and you’re filling up a lot of the track. The short tracks are conducive to close racing since aerodynamics don’t come into play quite as much.”

Clint Bowyer said coming close to victory in several Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in 2017 is nice, but it isn’t good enough. He’d like to change that Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.

With three races remaining in the regular season, Bowyer is in a battle to secure one of the 16 spots in the 10-race Cup Series playoffs. He trails Matt Kenseth by 31 points, Jamie McMurray by 52 points and Chase Elliott by 62 points in the battle for the final three berths in the playoffs.

A win would secure a postseason berth, but a good points finish Saturday night would increase the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver’s chances in the playoff race.

“We’ve come close to victory several times this year,” said Bowyer, who has scored the 10th-most points of any driver this season with three second-place and two third-places finishes. “That’s what can be so frustrating. You are only one or two spots away from where you want to be, but there’s a huge difference between first and everything else in this business.”

Like many drivers, Bowyer feels the Bristol night race on the .533-mile, high-banked oval with lap speeds at 130 mph is one of the highlights of the Cup Series season. Although he won an Xfinity race at Bristol in 2008, a Cup Series victory at Bristol would be near the top of his career accomplishments.

He owns seven top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 23 Bristol races during in his 11 full Cup Series seasons. He finished second to Jimmie Johnson on April 24 in a race that saw Bowyer battle back from 21st midway through the race, then restart seventh with 48 laps remaining. He used new tires to slice through the field and drive to within 1.199 seconds of Johnson’s bumper.

If he finishes one spot better Saturday night, he promises a victory party unlike any other Bristol fans have witnessed since its first race in 1961. 

“I want to celebrate in front of all those wild and crazy fans,” he said. “There’s no better atmosphere. They’re so close to you that you feel that environment.

“I’m telling you, during driver intros you’re walking down there and it’s just the feeling that comes over you before you get in that car. It’s just something you don’t feel anywhere else. It’s because of the closeness of the fans to you. They’re all breathing down on you and expecting big things out of you, and you can’t wait to go out there and get in that coliseum and go to battle.”

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Fusion will carry the Rush Truck Centers paint scheme during Saturday night’s race. Hopefully, he’ll restart his recent hot streak that cooled last week with a 23rd-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. In the two races before Michigan, Bowyer finished fifth Aug. 6 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and sixth July 30 at Pocono (Pa.) International Raceway.

Bowyer replaced three-time champion and SHR co-owner Tony Stewart in the No. 14 car in 2017. He and the Mike Bugarewicz-led crew have enjoyed a great first season, but their view of 2017 will likely depend on how the next three races play out. Unless Bowyer wins during the next three races, it appears his playoff fate will be decided in the final laps of the last regular-season race Sept. 9 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

“I’m the hunter, not the hunted,” he said. “So it’s a lot of fun to go into this weekend knowing that you’ve got to go out there and chase that guy down or chase those guys down and, hopefully, pop off a win here and just put it all to bed.”

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

What kind of pressure do you feel to get into the playoffs?

“There’s always pressure. It doesn’t matter. There’s pressure in the Daytona 500 to go out there and perform and try to win that race. There’s always pressure. It’s no different now. You still focus on the task at hand. You focus on unloading a fast racecar, making good downforce, making good horsepower, knowing it’s gonna take that on this racetrack. And you focus on the adjustments, the balance of your car, so you can go out and qualify well. That enables you to gain those stage points as we go through the race and then work hard to get a finish. It’s the task at hand, week-in and week-out, that you have to focus on. You can’t worry about those points. You have to go out and do your job week-in and week-out and, if you do that, I feel like, with the way we’re running, we can get in two different ways. I think we could win and I think we can point our way in. I think both of those are definite doables right now for us, I guess.”

Do you take chances?

“You always have to take chances. That’s the hard thing. When the pressure cooker is turned up and the situation is where it is right now, you can afford to take chances, you need to be able to take those chances to enable you to get those stage points if you’re out – make a gain to try to get them. But there’s also a Catch-22 to every decision there, so you just have to lay it all out, focus on the task at hand, whether that’s a stage win or the second stage or the finish at the end – focus on that and let the rest take care of itself.”

Cole Custer: Driver, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang

NASCAR XFINITY Series Overview

Event:               Mid-Ohio Challenge (Round 21 of 33)
Date:                 Aug. 12, 2017
Location:          Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington
Layout:             2.4-mile road course

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The Mid-Ohio Challenge will mark Custer’s 26^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.

• Custer’s best finish in the 20 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his 11^th top-10 and fifth top-five and it equaled his career-best finish.

• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 20 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned twice – April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Custer has 13 top-10 starts and four top-five starts this season.

• Last week, Custer ran his career-first XFINITY Series road-course race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. He ran as high as second, turning consistent top-five lap speeds.

• Custer has earned four top-five finishes, nine top-10s and has led 29 laps so far in the 2017 XFINITY Series season.

• Custer is second in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 59 points behind leader William Byron.

• Custer has earned six Rookie of the Race awards this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.

• Custer is sixth in the XFINITY Series driver standings, 229 points behind series leader Elliott Sadler.

• This will be Stewart-Haas Racing’s second XFINITY Series road-course race.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What was it like testing at Mid-Ohio?

“I think the test went fairly well. It’s hard to tell because it’s a different kind of car and everything, but I thought it was a fun place to run around. I can’t wait to hit the track with my Haas Automation Ford Mustang this weekend.”

Run us through a lap at Mid-Ohio.

“Mid-Ohio seems to definitely be one of the more technical places we go to, especially through the back section, so it will be fun to figure that out.”

Based on your performance at Watkins Glen, what are your expectations going into your second straight road-course race?

“I felt like we had pretty solid speed at Watkins Glen and we were one of the faster XFINITY guys. Hopefully, we can keep it in the top-five and be there at the end to get our first XFINITY win of the season.” 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What is your strategy going into your second straight road-course race?

“We didn’t get the finish we were hoping for in Watkins Glen, but I am very happy with the speed we showed in the race. Our team is going into Mid-Ohio with the confidence that we can compete for the win.”

KEVIN HARVICK

Closing In on the Playoffs

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (August 8, 2017) – Kevin Harvick is heading to the Irish Hills of Michigan with Busch Light on the hood of his No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

Harvick and the No. 4 team’s goal this weekend is to score as many playoff points as possible with just four races remaining before the start of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The Bakersfield, California native clinched his position in the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his first win of the season at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June. He started 12^th, led 24 laps and had more than a five-second cushion when the final yellow flag waved to end the race under caution.

The No. 4 team’s one race win and three stage wins account for eight playoff points – tied for seventh-most among Cup Series drivers.

The good news for Harvick and the No. 4 team is that they have been among the best in the series at the 2-mile Michigan oval in recent years, scoring top-five finishes in seven of their last nine starts there.

Harvick scored four consecutive second-place finishes at Michigan from June 2013 through August 2014. He was runner-up to Greg Biffle by 2.989 seconds in June 2013. In August 2013, Harvick finished 1.018 seconds behind Joey Logano. In 2014, he followed Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon across the finish line in the June and August races, respectively. That’s four races, four second-place finishes, to four different drivers.

Harvick scored back-to-back top-five finishes at Michigan in 2016. In June, he started 29^th and raced his way to a fifth-place finish. His next start in August, he started fourth, led 33 laps and finished fifth.

However, Harvick and the No. 4 team started 11^th and finished 14^th in their most recent trip to Michigan in June.

For his career, Harvick has been to victory lane at Michigan in each of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

He scored an Xfinity Series win at Michigan in August 2003, when he led 10 laps and beat Kasey Kahne to the finish line under caution. His NASCAR Cup Series win came in August 2010, when he led 60 laps and outran Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 1.731 seconds. He scored a Camping World Truck Series win in August 2011, when he led 13 laps and finished ahead of Timothy Peters as the race ended under caution.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion would like to add a fresh Cup Series win to his resume Sunday at Michigan. A win would be Harvick’s second of the 2017 season and would give him much-needed bonus points as the series makes its last push before the start of NASCAR’s 2017 playoffs.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion:

What does it take to have a good finish at Michigan?

“How you finish at Michigan depends on how your day is going. If you’re having a good day, it’s not really hard to tell your guys what you need and everyone is in a good mood. If you’re having a bad day, you can get behind at Michigan really fast. Usually, when you’re hooked up at Michigan, the leaders have clean air and move through traffic pretty well. But, if you’re in the middle of the pack, you find yourself getting behind and going a lap down pretty quickly. You’re going to end up with a green-flag pit stop and a whole bunch of green-flag laps. You just have to be going from the time the green flag drops and keep yourself in position at the end.”

 Do you enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway?

“I think we’ve finished really well there over the last couple of years and scored a lot of second-place finishes and top-fives. I learned a long time ago that sometimes those things happen, so it’s better to be on a top-five streak than a 10^th-place streak. The good thing about the racetrack is that it has definitely aged and the groove has spread out over the last couple of races, so you have a lot more options than you did a few years ago when they repaved it. Every time we go back there, it gets a little more racey. When we go back this time, there should be lots of room to race and you’ll see lots of speed. As we go through the restarts and traffic and different things, we’ll have to see how it all goes, but it should be interesting.”

KURT BUSCH

Yes, Michigan!

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Aug. 8, 2017) – Kurt Busch may not remember the 1980s Michigan television commercials that ended with the theme “Yes, Michigan!”

But as the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series rolls into historic Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, he is thinking “Yes, Michigan!”

Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has three wins at Michigan, which puts him in a tie with Matt Kenseth for most among active drivers. And just like at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, he’s won three times, with three different teams.

He scored his first win at Michigan in June 2003 driving for Roush Fenway Racing, then backed it up with a victory in August 2007 with Roger Penske. His last Michigan win came in a rain-shorted race with SHR in June 2015.

Busch also qualified on the pole in June 2010 and 2011 and has scored five top-five finishes at the 2-mile oval.

He’ll be looking to take Ford back to victory lane at Michigan, which is about an hour from the Detroit area, where Ford is based. The blue oval has a long history at Michigan, winning nearly half the races since the track opened in 1969. Of the 96 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Michigan, Ford and its Mercury brand have won 47 of them – 35 wins by Ford and 12 by Mercury.

Busch is credited with one of those triumphs – June 2003, when he snatched the lead from Jeff Gordon with 24 laps to go to claim his seventh career Cup Series win.

The Las Vegas native has four top-12 finishes, including a win, in his last five starts at the 2-mile oval. He’s hoping to score another victory this weekend so he can once again proclaim, “Yes, Michigan!”

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

You won the June 2003 Michigan race for Ford almost 100 years after the company was formed. Can you talk about what you remember from that experience?

“It was really neat. In my office at my house, I have a letter form Edsel Ford congratulating our team on the race win. And it’s something I framed and put in a similar format to a letter that my grandfather got from Henry Ford when he was a Ford employee. And it was really neat to have that moment and the lineage of our family of letters from the Ford Family.”

Any difference in track temperature between the first Michigan race and the second one?

“I would say it’s usually warmer in the second race, but there isn’t that much of a difference. It’s very similar to Pocono. The temperatures are just very similar each time we go. It’s just a matter of if you catch cloud cover or a cold front.”

You’re back with Ford, with whom you won your first 14 NASCAR Cup Series races. But in this go-round, there’s a One Ford mentality instead of a team-by-team philosophy. How is it working out?

“Right away, at Daytona, everybody from Ford was there, and there was a big meeting with all the Ford teams about how we need to all work together at the restrictor-plate tracks. Then, as we moved forward to the mile-and-a-halves and the short tracks, there are little things that we’ve been doing at SHR versus what Penske has been doing or Roush or RPM (Richard Petty Motorsports), and so we want to try to share the information but, at the same time, you’ve got to keep the technology in-house. So, Ford has a nice balance of what they’ve asked us to do and how we’re all sharing information moving forward. Really, it’s a unique situation with having Doug Yates as our engine builder. He’s really smart. He’s on top of everything. So whether it’s the oiling system, the water cooling system, different gear ratios and things, we’ve been working closely together on those.”

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

What does it take to be fast at Michigan?

“Michigan is a tough place because of the way the cars have that grip level on fresh tires versus old tires. What I mean by that is, when you put on fresh tires, your tires are cold and they don’t grab the asphalt as well. A lot of guys try to stay out at Michigan with the hot tires on and they get better restarts. Restarts at Michigan are already pretty wild with how wide the track is and how many lanes there are for options. It comes down to just trying to put yourself in the best position with the best-percentage chance of whether it’s fresh tires, or it’s staying out, or it’s making spots up on restarts.”