Category: Pre-Race Reports

Event:               American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen (Round 14 of 33)
Date:                 June 24, 2017
Location:          Iowa Speedway in Newton
Layout:             .875-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen will mark Cole Custer’s 19^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Iowa Speedway in Newton. 
• While the American Ethanol E15 250 will be Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Iowa, it will be his eighth overall start at the .875-mile oval. Custer has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and four NASCAR K&N Pro Series starts at Iowa.
• Custer scored his first career Pro Series East victory Aug. 2, 2013 at Iowa from the pole. At 15 years, 6 months and 10 days, he became the youngest winner in Pro Series history. In addition to breaking Dylan Kwasniewski’s record for youngest race winner by nearly six months, Custer also became the first driver to lead every lap (150) in the combination East/West race.
• Custer’s best Truck Series finish at Iowa is second, earned in 2016. Custer finished .431 of a second behind race-winner William Byron, who he’s now competing with for XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year honors.
• Custer has earned a win, a pole, four top-fives, six top-10s and has led 237 laps in his seven career starts at Iowa. He was only one position away in the 2014 Pro Series East race from earning a top-10 in all seven finishes.
• Custer is striving to earn his fifth consecutive top-10 in the American Ethanol E15 250. He comes into Iowa fresh off a 10^th-place finish last Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
• Custer’s best finish in the 13 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned in the 11^th event June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his eighth top-10 and third top-five and it equaled his career-best finish in 18 career XFINITY Series starts.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 20 points behind leader Byron and one point behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer is tied with Byron for the most Rookie of the Race awards with five this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each race.
• Custer is eighth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings, 151 points behind series leader Elliot Sadler.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 13 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned in the seventh race of the season April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Custer has eight top-10 starts and three top-five starts this season.
• Since 2015 across 18 XFINITY Series starts, 42 Camping World Truck Series starts, 29 K&N Pro Series starts and five ARCA Series starts, Custer has earned three wins, two poles, six top-fives, 13 top-10s and has led 689 laps at tracks currently on the NASCAR circuit that are less than a mile in length.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What was it like to get your first win and pole at Iowa Speedway while leading all 150 laps to become the youngest winner in Pro Series history?

“It was definitely a day I’ll remember. I can’t explain how amazing it felt. Iowa is a special place for our Haas Automation race team. I feel like that win gave me a lot of confidence because it was my first in the K&N Series and I always look forward to coming back. I just love the track. The fans are awesome and it was always one of my favorite tracks growing up. I can’t believe I got to go there and go to victory lane.”

 Why do you seem to run so well at Iowa? 

“I honestly don’t know. I guess it’s just a place that’s natural for me and I’ve always had fast cars there. I grew up running local short tracks, so I was able to familiarize myself with them more than others.” 

Your team has gained a lot of momentum over the past few races. How do you feel heading to Iowa? 

“We’ve been on a pretty good roll for a few weeks now, and hopefully we can keep our consistency going. I feel like we’ve learned a lot since our last short-track race, so I think we’ll have a strong Haas Automation Ford Mustang. I’m confident heading into Iowa knowing that our Stewart-Haas Racing team can put together fast cars each week.” 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are your thoughts on racing at Iowa?

“I’ve personally never been to Iowa, but I am looking forward to going there knowing the success Cole has had at that track. I feel like our short-track program is getting better after having a good run going at Phoenix and being fast in practice at Richmond before making a bad adjustment for the race. With the Cup guys being in Sonoma, this is a good opportunity for us to contend for a win.”

Is there a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver less likely to feel at home Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway’s road course than Clint Bowyer?

Or a better one?

The former body shop repairman grew up amid the wheat fields of Emporia, Kansas with the closest major road course at Heartland Park in Topeka, about 60 miles from Emporia. As he honed is driving skills, Bowyer was more focused on motorcycles and dirt ovals than twisty road courses.

The NASCAR Cup Series travels to the California road course set in the scenic Wine Country this weekend, and it’s Bowyer who tops the list of the most points scored on the 10-turn, 1.99-mile track in the last 10 years. Those impressive numbers include a 40th-place finish last year after a lap-five electrical fire.

“Not in a million years would I have imagined this success,” Bowyer said. “After the first couple stabs at it, I was relatively good out there. I struggled a lot at Watkins Glen but always was able to find pretty good speed and get settled in and get comfortable at Sonoma. It has been good to me, it’s a fun racetrack. It’s a short track of road-course racing and it just kind of fits my driving style.”

Bowyer’s best moment at Sonoma came in June 2012, when he held off now Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, who co-owns Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford. Bowyer dominated the race by leading 70 of the 112 laps. Defending race-winner Busch was all over the bumper of Bowyer’s car late and got a final shot in a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Bowyer raced side-by-side with Busch at the green flag, then cleared Busch and pulled away for the win. Bowyer had to walk to victory lane to celebrate with his crew after his car ran out of gas during the cool-down lap. Stewart passed Busch on the final lap to claim second.

Bowyer replaced Stewart in the No. 14 Ford in 2017 and is already off to a good start, posting two top-five finishes and five top-10s. The team is 12th in points as it heads to Sonoma, where Bowyer owns a victory, six top-five finishes and eight top-10s and has led 82 laps. He visits Sonoma for the first time driving an SHR Ford powered by Roush-Yates Engines under the guidance of crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, whose race call in this event last year, combined with Stewart’s driving, gave the three-time champion his final NASCAR victory.

Bowyer hopes he can also drive the No. 14 to victory lane at Sonoma.

“They’ve brought me hot rods all years so I expect to have one this weekend, as well,” Bowyer said. “It takes a heck of a lot to win a race these days, but I know we’ll have just as good of a shot as anyone else if all goes like we expect. They did it last year with Tony and I’d love to go to victory lane this weekend.”

For Bowyer, the trip to Northern California means an all-around good weekend.

“It’s a fun weekend for everyone in the garage area,” he said. “It’s almost like vacation, it really is for everybody — the wives, the girlfriends – they all go on wine tours, we get done with practice and have our hands full with a complete mess on our hands. Nonetheless, everybody is having a lot of fun.”

Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford will carry a special Cars 3 paint scheme this weekend to promote the popular movie that opened this month. In the movie, blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen teams up with tech-savvy trainer Cruz Ramirez to get back into pole position.

Hopefully Bowyer’s movie will end as well in Sonoma.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 Ford Fusion featuring Cars 3 for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What helped you improve your road-course racing?

“I think a big part of it is engineering. They came into this sport — our engineers were able to get our cars underneath us way better than we could before. Those ringers would go test time and time again all over the place, all sorts of different racetracks, in preparation for these one or two races. And, when we’d get there, our focus is on those mile-and-a-half tracks that make up the biggest part of the season. That’s a big difference. When we get here and we’re on the same playing field as they are, I feel like I’m proud to say the Cup regulars are holding their own.”

Event:               Irish Hills 250 (Round 13 of 33)
Date:                 June 17, 2017
Location:          Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn
Layout:             2-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The Irish Hills 250 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn will mark Cole Custer’s 18^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Michigan.
• Custer doesn’t have an XFINITY Series start at Michigan but he does have a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the 2-mile oval. Custer started 18^th in the Truck Series race last August and drove his way toward the front of the 31-truck field to lead twice for a total of 18 laps. But an accident less than 20 laps short of the finish ended Custer’s strong run. He finished 22^nd.
• Custer is striving to be the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular and winner of the Rookie of the Race award for the fourth race in a row in the Irish Hills 250. He comes into Michigan fresh off a seventh-place finish last Saturday at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. It was his seventh top-10 finish in 17 career XFINITY Series starts. 
• Custer’s best finish in the 12 XFINITY Series races run this season is fourth, earned in the 11^th event June 3 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. It was his fifth top-10 and second top-five of the season.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 11 points behind leader William Byron and three points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer has earned the most Rookie of the Race awards (five) this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each respective track.
• Custer is ninth in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings, 129 points behind series leader Justin Allgaier.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 12 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned in the seventh race of the season April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and the 12^th race of the season June 10 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Custer has eight top-10 starts and three top-five starts this season.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What is it like getting around a track like Michigan?

“Michigan is just pretty much fast. It’s one of the fastest tracks we go to all year and you’re racing on some fairly new pavement, so you’re pretty much trying to find clean air and searching for ways to keep your speed up. It’s just a big momentum race.”

Do you feel like you’ve shaken the bad luck and are on a steady path to consistent runs?  

“Well, we have a 20-week stretch here. Whenever you have days like Dover and Pocono, when things are going our way between setup and handling and we still pull out a great finish, that’s what you kind of want to see. Hopefully, we can keep having these consistent runs and stay away from the bad luck in this long stretch.”

Are you a fan of two-mile tracks?  

“We ran well at Fontana this season, but it’s a bit different because California is so worn out compared to Michigan. I think if we unload a Haas Automation Ford Mustang as well as we did at Fontana and stay out of trouble, we’ll be in good shape.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are your thoughts on racing at Michigan? 

“I always enjoy going to Michigan because it’s kind of where I grew up as a kid. It’s a big, wide track and there are a lot of speedway elements to it where they draft a lot. You’re able to pass and, when you’re setting up the car, you have to keep the speed in mind and keep as much drag out of the car as possible. We had a good run going in California, so we’re confident in the car we have going into the weekend.”

As Kurt Busch heads to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, he happily wears a blue Ford oval for his 33^rd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at the ultrafast two-mile oval.

Fifteen of Busch’s 29 career NASCAR Cup Series wins have come with Ford, and after 11 years away from the brand (2006-2016), Busch came back in a big way in 2017 by wheeling his No. 41 Ford Fusion into victory lane in the season-opening Daytona 500.

In keeping with the oval theme, it was a full-circle win for Busch. He brought Ford its last NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2004, and the Daytona 500 victory automatically earned him and his Monster Energy/Haas Automation team one of the 16 playoff spots available for this year’s championship drive.

Busch has never been one to rest on past success, and the taste of victory has only made him hungry for more. With 13 races having passed since feasting at Daytona, Busch is ready for another hearty meal, and no place is better than the backyard of the United States’ Big Three auto manufacturers – Michigan International Speedway.

For Dearborn-based Ford Motor Company, the 70-mile drive from the Detroit area into the lush green of the state’s Irish Hills region only whets the appetite for what 400 miles on Sunday can bring.

Ford has won nearly half the NASCAR Cup Series races run at the track since it opened in 1969. Of the 95 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.

Busch has scored two more Michigan wins since – August 2007 and June 2015 – to tie Matt Kenseth for the most wins at Michigan among active Cup Series drivers. Those victories are augmented by two poles (June 2010 and June 2011), five top-threes, 11 top-10s and a total of 448 laps led, which is second only to Jimmie Johnson’s tally of 687 laps led.

Now back with the blue oval, Busch is intent on getting a second championship and Ford’s first since the one Busch delivered for the marque in 2004. After 14 races, Busch is tracing a similar path in 2017 as he did in 2004. He has a win and two top-fives, just like he did in 2004, and his seven top-10s are actually one better than the amount he had in 2004.

Busch comes into the 15^th race of 2017 fresh off a strong fourth-place drive at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. It was his fourth top-10 finish in the last six races. Now he’s eyeing a fourth win at Michigan with a Monster Energy/Haas Automation team that thinks outside the box and inside the oval.

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

You’re back with Ford where 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.”

What’s been the key to your success at Michigan?  

“The biggest thing about Michigan is respecting the speed. It’s a very fast racetrack.”

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.”

What do you feel like is the toughest part of Michigan?

“The toughest part is turn three. It seems like the cars do this weird, four-wheel, light drift getting down in there. If your car is dialed in, and I’ve won there three times, it feels like turn three is the easiest corner. Turn three to me is the challenge each time I go there.”

After back-to-back solid runs at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 TaxAct Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) travel to Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

Two weeks ago, Patrick finished 10th at Dover and, last weekend, the No. 10 team took home a 16th-place effort at Pocono. Now, the series ventures to one of Patrick’s top tracks on the circuit. She finished 13th in the June 2013 event and has a total of four top-20 finishes in eight NASCAR Cup Series starts at the 2-mile oval.

Her 13th-place run was the third top-15 finish in her career and came when her team elected to take only right-side tires on the final pit stop. She drove hard for the final stint and wound up with the solid finish.

In June 2014, she went down a lap early in the race but got it back on lap 147 and drove to a solid top-20 finish. The following August, she once again earned a top-20 result at Michigan.

The next year, Patrick started the Michigan 400 in June from the 19th position, led two laps and scored a 16th-place finish in the rain-shortened event.

In addition to scoring solid runs at Michigan in the NASCAR Cup Series, Patrick had done a good job in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and IndyCar Series prior to that.

In August 2012, she started an impressive fifth and led one lap en route to an 18th-place Xfinity Series finish. And, in August 2007, she started ninth, led five laps and finished seventh in the IndyCar Series.

In July 2006, Patrick was running eighth when she ran out of fuel just three laps from the end of what would have been a top-10 IndyCar finish. She ended up 17th.

As NASCAR Cup Series teams head to Michigan, TaxAct, a leading provider of affordable digital and downloadable tax software for individuals, business owners and tax professionals, will serve as primary sponsor of Patrick’s No. 10 Ford on Sunday. The race marks the fifth event this year in which TaxAct, the official DIY tax prep partner of SHR and Patrick, has served as the primary sponsor of the No. 10 Ford. The company’s mission is to empower people to navigate the complexities of tax and finance with ease and accuracy – at a clear, transparent and fair price.

TaxAct is back on Patrick’s No. 10 Ford this weekend to help remind taxpayers who filed an extension on their 2016 tax return that all returns must be submitted to the IRS by October 16. To help filers beat the extension deadline, TaxAct is offering a 20 percent discount on all TaxAct Online 2016 editions. Filers can choose the product that best fits their tax situation and file their federal and state returns with ease. Tax filers can take advantage of the discount by visiting http://www.taxact.com/michigan. The offer is available through July 31.

After earning solid results the past two weeks, Patrick and the No. 10 TaxAct Ford team will be looking to bring home another good run this weekend at Michigan.

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

What are your thoughts on racing at Michigan?

“Michigan is a wide, fast track. There’s lots of room to move around and try different lines. I think it’s a momentum track and you have to focus on being smooth. At the end of the day, the car has to handle well. It has to feel good. It has to be a fast car. I think those are the challenges – getting your car to handle well and being smooth and consistent, lap after lap, at such a fast track.”

What kind of challenges does Michigan present?

“It’s really easy to have an imbalance at Michigan, whether it be getting the power down on exit or most of the time being tight. I feel like it produces some great racing and there’s a lot of drafting, so you can use that to help pass cars.”

Kevin Harvick is heading to the Irish Hills of Michigan with Jimmy John’s on the hood of his No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for Sunday’s FireKeepers 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn looking to score his first win of the season.

Jimmy John’s prides itself on being “Freaky Fast” and “Freaky Fresh,” which is the perfect fit for when the NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Michigan International Speedway. The wide racing surface, long straightaways and sweeping corners make Michigan the fastest track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

The good news for Jimmy John’s and the No. 4 team is that Harvick has been among the best in the series at the 2-mile oval in recent years, scoring top-five finishes in seven of his last eight 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.

His lone finish outside the top-five over the last eight NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan came in June 2015, when he started second and led 63 laps. But rain shortened the scheduled 200-lap event to just 138 laps and he finished 29^th. He followed that by posting yet another runner-up effort in August 2015, when he started seventh, led 15 laps and finished 1.722 seconds behind race-winner Matt Kenseth.

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.

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 on Sunday at Michigan. A win would be Harvick’s first of the 2017 season and secure his place in NASCAR’s 2017 Playoffs.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s 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.”

What’s the fastest track on the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule?

Daytona? Talladega?

The answer is Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

The wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways of the 2-mile, D-shaped oval in the state’s scenic Irish Hills region provided the fastest two qualifying laps in 2016. Joey Logano won both poles at Michigan in 2016 with laps of 201.698 and 199.557 mph. The track record is 206.558 mph set by Jeff Gordon in August 2014.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), shakes his head when he describes Michigan.

“She’s a fast, fast racetrack,” Bowyer said. “It always gets your attention.”

Bowyer hasn’t won at Michigan, but his one top-five finish and 11 top-10s in 22 starts lends credibility when he talks about what it will take to win Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 Cup Series race.

“You have to have grip and a ton of horsepower,” said Bowyer, who has scored the ninth-most points in the last 10 Michigan races. “If you have both of those, you will be just fine.”

Bowyer said finding grip will also be a key to success at the high-speed track and even wondered if NASCAR and track officials will add VHT resin to the surface to increase grip, like it did at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway last month.

“I think Michigan is relatively one groove, so it will be interesting to see if the old VHT is going to show up in an attempt to make it a multi-groove track,” Bowyer said. “As the track ages, it will keep getting better and better. Right now, it seems the middle groove is where you want to be.”

Bowyer arrives at Michigan with momentum despite finishing 17th at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway last weekend after contact with the wall early in the race. It’s been a good run in 2017 for Bowyer and the Mike Bugarewicz-led team. Bowyer replaced three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired from NASCAR racing at the end of the 2016 season. In his first year at SHR, Bowyer has posted two top-fives and five top-10s.

Bowyer will debut a new Haas Automation paint scheme this weekend. His car will reverse the red and black the No. 14 has campaigned in 2017. SHR plans to run this scheme in the remaining races it carries the Haas Automation livery.

Bowyer will enjoy a little extra support this weekend. Ford Performance headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan is about 70 miles from the speedway. Ford joined SHR in 2017 and the combination has already produced a Daytona 500 victory, nine top-fives and 22 top-10s.

Bowyer has driven for each current manufacturer in NASCAR. He said Ford support has been key to SHR’s success this year.

“It’s been really cool getting to know the Ford folks this season,” Bowyer said. “What I like about Ford is the people you see in our race shop or at the track are the decision makers. If you have a suggestion, they are right there to listen to anything you have to say. I know we are going to visit with a ton of Ford folks this weekend, so winning at Ford’s home track would be pretty awesome.”

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

Does stage racing reduce the number of fuel-mileage races?

“The stages, for the most part, have helped the fuel-mileage racing. Fuel mileage showed up at Charlotte, but that was a 600-mile race. That’s an exception. Hopefully, we won’t see that this weekend in Michigan. It’s part of the sport’s strategy and it’s cool every now and then, but I think all of us want to see a cool, side-by-side finish.”

NASCAR XFINITY Series Overview

Event:               Pocono Green 250 (Round 12 of 33)
Date:                 June 10, 2017
Location:          Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
Layout:             2.5-mile triangle

Cole Custer Notes of Interest 

• The Pocono Green 250 will mark Cole Custer’s 16^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his first XFINITY Series start at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. 
• Custer is looking to be the highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular and winner of the Rookie of the Race award for the third race in a row in the Pocono Green 250. He comes into Pocono fresh of a fourth-place finish last Saturday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, which equaled his career-best XFINITY Series finish. It was his sixth top-10 and third top-five finish in 16 career XFINITY Series starts. Custer has earned four top-10s and two top-fives in the 2017 XFINITY series season. 
• Despite the Pocono Green 250 being Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Pocono, he is no stranger to victory lane at the 2.5-mile triangle. He won the 2015 ARCA race at the “Tricky Triangle” after leading the final 18 laps. 
• In three combined starts at Pocono – one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and two in the ARCA Series – Custer has one win, two top-five finishes and 18 laps led.
• Custer is third in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 18 points behind leader William Byron and six points behind second-place Daniel Hemric.
• Custer is tied with Byron for the most Rookie of the Race awards with four this season. Rookie of the Race awards are given to the highest-finishing XFINITY Series rookie at each respective track.
• Custer is 10^th in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings, 133 points behind series leader Elliot Sadler.
• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the 11 XFINITY Series races run this season is third, earned in the seventh race of the season April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Custer has five top-10 starts and two top-five starts this season.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

What was it like to get an ARCA Series win at Pocono in 2015?

“It’s awesome to win at Pocono because it’s such a unique track. Everybody wants to win there because of the history behind it and how unique it is. Winning there in 2015 definitely gives me some confidence going into the weekend.” 

What is so tricky about the “Tricky Triangle?”

“It’s tough to figure out those three turns. A lot of times you’ll be better on one end than the other. It’s a kind of a tough track because you’re carrying so much speed going into a couple of the corners and they’re pretty much dead flat. You have to figure out how to use your brakes and max your speed going through those corners without sliding up the track. It’s just tough to figure out the flat corners.” 

What are your expectations for the Pocono Green 250?

“Well, our strong suit this year has been the larger tracks. Although I’ve run well there before, I wouldn’t say it’s my absolute best track, but I think our Haas Automation team has been putting together great Ford Mustangs at these larger tracks. I think we’ll have another fast Haas Automation Ford this weekend.”

You’re competing for your third consecutive highest-finishing XFINITY Series regular driver and rookie awards. What are your thoughts on racing with regular Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers each week?

“I think we need to race against the Cup drivers because it just makes us better. You need them around to learn from. I think the one thing they did that’s really smart is to limit their races. Limiting races is probably the best thing they can do because it helps showcase the XFINITY guys a little more. I think they’re on the right track with that.” 

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are your thoughts on racing at Pocono, where Custer has an ARCA Series win? 

“Pocono is a very unique track with its three corners. Turn one is similar to an intermediate style track, turn two is similar to a road course and turn three is a long, sweeping flat track that would be more like an Indy setup. Unfortunately, you can’t have three different setups for each corner, so you have to make that compromise between all of them. It definitely makes that track hard to set up for.”

While the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this weekend for Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will be one of several drivers looking to make history.

On Saturday, Patrick will be joined by seven of her NASCAR Cup Series peers for the FOX broadcast of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. In what is believed to be an unprecedented move in national sports broadcasting, Saturday’s Xfinity race will be called entirely by active NASCAR Cup Series drivers, including Patrick’s SHR teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. The race broadcast is thought to be the first time a nationally televised live sporting event has featured an on-air team comprised strictly of athletes actively competing in that sport.

Patrick is also believed to have been the first woman to serve as an analyst during a NASCAR television race when she joined the FOX Sports team in the broadcast booth for the Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn in June 2015. She also served in that capacity for last year’s Xfinity Series race at Pocono.

This weekend, she will join fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin to co-host FOX race coverage from the Hollywood Hotel mobile studio. The race coverage will air live on FOX at 1 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

The next day, Patrick will get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford for the Pocono 400. The race will mark her ninth start at the 2.5-mile track nicknamed the “Tricky Triangle” due to its unique triangular layout that was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward. Patrick’s best finish at Pocono is a 16th-place effort earned in August 2015.

Fresh off of a top-10 result at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team will be ready to score another top-10 finish at Pocono on Sunday after she helps make history Saturday in the FOX broadcast booth.

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

What are your overall thoughts on Pocono?

“It’s a neat place, definitely a unique track. It’s still a place where I don’t have a ton of experience. It’s just an odd place to set the car up because the corners are so different. If you are really good in turn one, then maybe two and three are a little off. Or if you’re good in three, maybe one and two are different. I will say that the straightaway is enormous. There’s a lot of distance between turns three and one.” 

Which of the three turns at Pocono is your favorite? Which is most challenging?

“My favorite corner at Pocono is honestly – it’s probably – turn one. You can make up a lot of ground if you’re good through there. It comes into a pretty good compression and you can drive off, down into the corner. If the car turns pretty well, you can pick up the throttle really hard. And while I like turn one, the most important corner is probably turn three, leading onto the front straightaway.”

Talk about the tunnel turn at Pocono and what makes it so tough.

“Well, the tunnel turn at Pocono is pretty flat. I think that’s really one of the big things that makes it so challenging. You need to carry a lot of speed and there’s not a lot of lifting that goes on. It’s flat, so I feel like that makes it harder and it really emphasizes issues with the car. And then, when there’s not banking to push the car into the track, then it’s really up to the driver to make sure you set the car right with the throttle, brake, and how you turn into the corner. All of those things make the tunnel turn tricky.”

Talk about taking part in the all-driver broadcast of Saturday’s Xfinity race broadcast on FOX.

“I think it is a great opportunity and a great idea. I think it will draw a lot of attention and perhaps revolutionize TV a little bit with sports in terms of who’s included and how they are. I think there’s nothing better than putting people in position who are the most current and aware of what’s going on. And then, on top of that, personalities who are prepared to give their honest opinion, as well. I think it’s going to be really cool. I’m up for the challenge.” 

Are you looking forward to the Pocono Xfinity race broadcast on Saturday?

“I think the all-driver Pocono Xfinity broadcast is going to be cool and funny. I think it’s actually OK if there are a bunch of goof-ups. I think that’s probably what’s going to make it interesting. Basically, as long as I don’t say, ‘Boom goes the dynamite,’ at any point in time, it will be OK.”

Do you have a prediction of who will be best and who will be worst on the broadcast?

“I have no idea. Kevin (Harvick) definitely has the most experience, and then pit road has a lot of youth but a lot of knowledge of just the cars in general.”

No. 14 Haas Automation Ford crew chief Mike Bugarewicz begins each Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekend with the hope of getting driver Clint Bowyer to victory lane. With two top-five finishes already in the 2017 season, a Bowyer trip to victory lane isn’t out of the realm of possibilities when the Cup Series travels to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for Sunday’s Pocono 400.

Winning this weekend would be extra special for the man everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) calls “Buga,” who grew up in the backyard of the 2.5-mile track.

“There’s a simple, one-word description I have of Pocono, and it’s ‘home,’” Bugarewicz said. “I grew up about 20 minutes from the racetrack. I’ve raced up in the Northeast and attended many of the races at Pocono. I used to go to qualifying all the time there. Pocono means a lot to me. It would really mean a lot to me to have a win there at some point in my career. I haven’t been successful with that, yet, but I hope to change that shortly.”

Bugarewicz grew up in Lehighton, Pennsylvania competing on the high school football, wrestling and track and field teams. He also spent a lot of time watching his father race at Mahoning Valley (Pa.) Speedway and working on cars at his father’s business long before he even owned a driver’s license. He studied mechanical engineering and performed research for the U.S. Navy through Applied Research Laboratories in graduate school at Penn State University before heading to North Carolina to embark on a NASCAR career that peaked at SHR.

He won a championship serving as the lead engineer on SHR’s No. 4 car with driver Kevin Harvick in 2014. He took over the No. 14 crew chief duties in 2016 for driver Tony Stewart’s final year of NASCAR competition. Bugarewicz’s decision to pit Stewart with 25 laps remaining in the race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway last year, despite dropping him to 32nd, turned out to be genius as a caution two laps later enable Stewart to take the lead. The three-time champion made a last-lap pass for his 49th and final Cup Series victory.

The victory propelled Stewart into the playoffs with Bugarewicz the only rookie crew chief among the 16 participants. The arrival of Clint Bowyer in 2017 hasn’t slowed the rate of success. The No. 14 is 10th in points after 13 races despite a 31st-place finish last weekend at Dover (Del.) Speedway. Bowyer had driven from 22nd to fourth in the opening 100 laps before an oil leak sent him behind the wall.

Bowyer’s happy-go-lucky personality and Bugarewicz’s seriousness are a contrast but make for a good combination.

“Man, it is the hardest thing to try to get a laugh out of him or a rise in any way other than just pissed or completely disgusted with me – it is a lot of fun though,” Bowyer said with a laugh, pointing out his 35-year-old crew chief is one of the youngest in the garage.

“The work ethic is what you care about and I think that is what he cares about with me,” Bowyer continued, “as long as I show up for my meetings and take my work seriously. It has been a while since I’ve had someone as dedicated as Mike is. You literally have to tell him to go home, go eat dinner with your family, take your wife out to dinner, do something to get your mind off this. He will call you and 9 or 10 o’clock at night and he is still working. That work ethic is instilled in pretty much everybody at Stewart-Haas, and Mike is no exception. We are very fortunate to have him. He has brought me a lot of good hot rods already.”

Sunday’s race will mark Bowyer’s 411th career Cup Series start and 23rd career Cup Series start at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, where he has two top-five finishes and nine top-10s and has led 91 laps. He knows winning Sunday would be special for his crew chief.

“Pocono is a really tough track with three different turns,” Bowyer said. “I want to make sure we qualify well so we can get a good starting position and pit stall. Winning in Pennsylvania with Buga would be cool. He’d be thrilled. Heck, so would all of us.”

JUSTIN PEIFFER, Interior Specialist of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

(Editor’s note: Peiffer hails from Lebanon, Pennsylvania and works as the team’s interior specialist overseeing driver Clint Bowyer’s safety equipment and comfort each weekend. He’s already visited victory lane at Pocono working with Craig Goess, who won the 2010 ARCA race there.)

What are your thoughts on Pocono Raceway?

“Pocono is my home track. I grew up about an hour and 20 minutes south of there, so my family gets to come up there when we race twice a year. It’s one of my favorite tracks. I love the area. It would mean everything to win there, especially having your family there. I remember when I was a kid in the early ’90s watching races there. A win at Pocono would be really special.”

JOSH SOBECKI, Rear Tire Carrier of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

(Editor’s note: Sobecki, a New Kensington, Pennsylvania native, said everyone in his home state knows the importance of Pocono.)

“I grew up watching dirt races, but we always knew Pocono was the big boy in Pennsylvania. It’s an unusual track, but it’s a great test of the teams to see how they handle the three different corners.”