Category: Pre-Race Reports

Kevin Harvick is heading to the mountains of Pennsylvania with Busch Beer on the hood of his No. 4 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Busch Beer is the perfect fit for when the NASCAR Cup Series heads north to Pocono Raceway, where drivers and race fans typically expect cool, crisp and refreshing temperatures – much like the taste of Busch Beer.

What makes Pocono more attractive to drivers and race fans is that the region is a popular outdoor recreation area known for fishing, hunting, mountain biking and whitewater rafting in the surrounding mountains and streams when away from the racetrack.

Harvick is looking to make the weekend equally as cool, crisp and refreshing by adding a few firsts to his resume – his first race as a play-by-play announcer in the first-ever all-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series race broadcast during Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 on FOX. He’s also looking to score his first Cup Series win at Pocono Sunday.

FOX was looking for a fresh perspective when the first-of-its-kind broadcast was announced May 18 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Harvick will be joined in the broadcast booth by SHR teammate Clint Bowyer and fellow Cup Series driver Joey Logano. Pit road reporters are set to be Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney and Rickey Stenhouse Jr., with Denny Hamlin and SHR teammate Danica Patrick in the Hollywood Hotel mobile studio. No other professional sport in North America is known to have conducted an all-athlete broadcast of an event.

While Saturday will be a refreshing change of pace for the driver, what would be equally refreshing to Harvick would be a win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event. The “Tricky Triangle” is one of only four racetracks where Harvick has yet to record a Cup Series win. Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and Kentucky Speedway in Sparta are the other three.

The Bakersfield, California, native has run well at Pocono, scoring eight top-five finishes and 13 top-10s in his 32 career Cup Series starts, but has yet to reach victory lane in NASCAR’s top series. He seems to be getting closer, however, as he’s scored three top-five finishes in his last five Cup Series starts at Pocono, including runner-up finishes in August 2014 and June 2015.

In August 2014, Harvick started sixth, led five laps and finished second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. by .228 of a second. In June 2015, he started fifth, led 39 laps and was runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. by 1.346 seconds.

Harvick does have a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Pocono, scoring the win from the pole position while driving for his own team on Aug. 7, 2011. He led 44 of 53 laps to beat Kyle Busch to the finish line by 1.140 seconds.

The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion would like nothing more than to score his first Cup Series win Sunday at Pocono. 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 Busch Beer Ford Fusion:

What is most unique about going to Pocono?

“I’m not sure people will know this unless they’ve been to Pocono the last couple years, but Pocono has changed so much in the last three years. For me, my wife and son actually ask to go to Pocono, now, because they like going to the water parks and they like going to the golf course. You drive into the racetrack and it’s like a big party. Those guys have done such a great job up there of kind of turning the atmosphere around and making it a cool environment to go up to. There is a ton to do up there if you go and look for it.”

Are you nervous to be the lead announcer for the all-driver Xfinity Series broadcast at Pocono?

“I’m most worried about what (Clint) Bowyer is going to say or do and that it’s going to be on my watch. That’s really my problem. Logano is going to be up there with me but, having Bowyer standing up there, I just hope they have the little beeper button ready – (laughs) – just in case he says something he shouldn’t.”

The group at Pocono have done so much to improve the infrastructure and fan experience. What does that mean for the racetrack?

“Well, people see effort. When you go to Pocono, you see effort from the time you turn in to the tunnel and see the waterfall – going through the tunnel to the guardrails all the way to the campgrounds – everything there has been in a transition. You feel like you’re having more fun when you go to Pocono, now, than you did, say, six or seven years ago.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is looking to break into the win column for the first time in 2017 when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Dover (Del.) International Speedway Sunday afternoon. Luckily, Harvick likes to emulate his sponsor, Jimmy John’s, who is known for being “Freaky Fast.”

In terms of pure speed, Harvick has been one of the fastest at Dover since joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, scoring one win, one pole and two top-five finishes. What is more impressive is that he has led 810 of 2,405 laps in six races there – nearly 33.7 percent of the total laps raced since the beginning of 2014. Jimmie Johnson ranks second during that span with 389 laps led – 421 laps fewer than Harvick.

Harvick’s most impressive Monster Mile performance came in October 2015, when the No. 4 team arrived at Dover ranked 15^th in the playoff standings and trailing Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 23 points for the final transfer position into the Round of 12. A solid finish wouldn’t do – Harvick needed a win to advance. With everything on the line, he delivered the most dominant race of his NASCAR Cup Series career. He started 15^th after rain cancelled qualifying Friday afternoon, but he quickly raced his way to the front and led 355 of 400 laps to beat runner-up Kyle Busch to the finish line by 2.639 seconds.

According to NASCAR Stats and Information, he registered a 149.7 driver rating out of a possible 150.0, narrowly missing his fourth perfect driver rating in a NASCAR Cup Series race. He previously registered perfect 150.0 driver ratings at Phoenix International Raceway on three occasions – November 2006 and 2014, and March 2015.

However, luck has not always been on the side of the No. 4 team at Dover.

In June 2014, Harvick started eighth, led 24 laps, but finished 17^th as the first car one lap down after he had a valve stem issue during a pit stop that caused a tire to go down on the following restart.

He won the pole at Dover in September 2014, when he turned a lap of 22.095 seconds at 162.933 mph in the second round of qualifying. On race day, he stayed at the front of the field for 223 laps but had to settle for a 13^th-place finish after another valve stem issue led to a flat tire following a pit stop and caused him to fall a lap down to the leaders.

Harvick started from the pole after qualifying was rained out in May 2016. He led 117 laps early in the race before he was caught in an 18-car accident and finished one lap down in 15^th.

The 2014 Cup Series champion has been the class of the field when it comes to Cup Series qualifying in 2017, scoring three poles through the first 12 races. No other driver has scored multiple poles this season.

While Harvick has raced up front and scored 388 points to rank fourth in the Cup Series standings with three stage wins to his credit, he is still in search of his first Cup Series race win of the season. He would like to add his second career Dover win to go with his October 2015 victory. If he succeeds, he will secure his spot in the 2017 NASCAR playoffs.

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

Why is Dover one of the more challenging racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule?

“I think as you look at Dover, if you look at our history, when I was at RCR (Richard Childress Racing), it was probably one of our worst racetracks. It’s been one of our best since I came to SHR in 2014. For me, the thing I love about Dover is just the fact it’s hammer down and you’re up on top of the wheel for 400 laps there. It’s violent. Everything about Dover is violent. It’s fast. You can just be aggressive with the car and you have to get in there and wrestle that thing all day because it’s bumpy, slings you up out of the corners, dumps you down in the corners, and there’s just a lot going on. The car is bouncing around a lot and, with as rough as the cars have been just as the ride goes, we are in for a rough ride when we get to Dover this weekend. It’s one of my favorite racetracks to go and race on.” 

Describe what it’s like to take a lap around Dover.

“Dover is the racetrack where you feel the sensation of speed more than anything. It’s a place where you drop off into the corner and slam into a lot of banking and then, as you come out of the corner, it’s kind of like jumping out of a hole and up onto the straightaway. It’s a really fun place to race. You feel that sensation of speed and you can be really aggressive.”

After weeks of poor finishes, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) travel to Dover (Del.) International Speedway hoping to have luck on their side for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism race.

The track, completed in 1969, is a mile in length and features 24 degrees of banking in the corners and 9 degrees of banking on the straightaways. Known for being tough on both drivers and equipment, Dover was nicknamed the “Monster Mile” in the mid-1970s. And in 1995, Dover was resurfaced with concrete, making it one of just two completely concrete tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit, with Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway being the other.

Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team enter the weekend at Dover on the heels of a string of poor finishes that have been out of their control. In the April event at Bristol, Patrick was sidelined after contact from another driver sent her car into the outside wall two-thirds of the way through the race and left her with a 36th-place finish. Two weeks later, Patrick was collected in an 18-car accident at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway that put her 38th in the final results. The following week, the No. 10 Ford was involved in a fiery accident at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City as a part failure on the No. 22 car resulted in contact with Patrick that sent her spinning into the wall. She went home with a 36th-place finish. Then, last weekend at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Patrick ended up 25th after running over debris early in the race and suffering two cut, right-front tires in the later stages of the event.

After surviving all of that bad luck, Patrick heads to Dover, a track where she has nine NASCAR Cup Series starts under her belt. In that time, she’s earned two top-20 finishes, including a 13th-place result the team scored last May. That effort marked Patrick’s career-best finish at Dover.

In addition to her NASCAR Cup Series experience at Dover, Patrick has made three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, finishing a career-best 16th in the September 2012 race. Patrick also earned a sixth-place result in the 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Dover.

With a solid performance last spring, Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team will be looking to turn their luck around in hopes of scoring yet another good result Sunday at the “Monster Mile.”

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

How tough is Dover to drive?

“It can be a real challenge. It’s quite quick and, when you come off turns two and four, it drops you down like a roller coaster. You just have to have a good setup and make sure everything is working right or it can be a long day. It’s actually a pretty long race, so you have to be prepared. But it’s a fun track and I’m looking forward to it.”

What are your thoughts about Dover?

“I always like going to Dover. The track is pretty fun. I remember everyone telling me how unique and challenging Dover was prior to my first race. At the time, I didn’t have a whole lot to compare that track to. They said it was like a larger version of Bristol, but I hadn’t raced at Bristol yet, either. Dover is fun. It’s fast and it can make for a really long day of racing. I think that’s part of the appeal of it – how demanding it can be. We definitely want to stay out of trouble, which is easier said than done at these types of tracks.”

No. 14 Haas Automation Ford driver Clint Bowyer will pay extra attention to FOX Sports 1’s coverage of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Dover (Del.) Speedway.

Bowyer would typically watch the Xfinity Series race to learn lessons he plans to apply Sunday when he races the No. 14 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Dover’s concrete, mile oval. He’ll do that again Saturday in Delaware, but he’ll also be watching the broadcast knowing, the following week at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, the entire Xfinity race broadcast will fall on the shoulders of he and several Cup drivers.

Eight drivers will make up the entire on-air team during the Pocono Xfinity Series race, although the network’s regular broadcasters will be standing by for assistance. SHR teammate Kevin Harvick will be the play-by-play announcer, and he will be joined in the main broadcast booth by Joey Logano and Bowyer. Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will be pit reporters, and Denny Hamlin and fellow SHR driver Danica Patrick will work in the network’s “Hollywood Hotel” mobile studio.

“I think it is going to be a heck of a lot of fun and, yes, I am excited,” said Bowyer, who estimates he, Harvick and Logano will have the easiest jobs. “But, we are going to mess this up.

“For us in the booth, it’s going to be pretty easy to talk about the race because that’s what we do whether we’re in the booth, in the garage or in our motorhomes. We’re always talking about racing. All of that will come pretty easy. We’re just going to have to do our homework.”

Bowyer, who served as the Xfinity Series analyst for FOX at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway last weekend, said he already has an inkling of how his boothmates will perform during the broadcast.

“I think Harvick will be good because he’ll put in the research, time and energy,” Bowyer said. “I will probably be terrible and Joey (Logano) will be somewhere in-between.”

FOX said it will be the first time a national broadcast of a live sporting event will exclusively feature a broadcast crew made up of active athletes who compete in the same sport.

Bowyer predicts the most entertaining moments of the broadcast will come from Jones, Blaney and Stenhouse, who’ll man pit road and the garage in charge of reporting on race strategy and interviewing drivers who exit the race.

“I can’t imagine having to go interview a driver after he just crashed because I know how pissed you are – it really is a touchy situation,” said Bowyer, who couldn’t resist a zinger at his friend Stenhouse. “Usually, they (television networks) send a cute girl to try to get you to talk about the incident. So when you see a guy like Ricky show up with a microphone, I’m sure none of those guys are really going to want to talk to him.”

While Saturday will be fun, Sunday will be all business for Bowyer, who enters his 23rd race at Dover. He’s enjoyed success on the Monster Mile, posting two top-five finishes and 12 top-10s. After 12 races, the No. 14 team is ninth in points in Bowyer’s first season replacing three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired from NASCAR racing at the end of the 2016 season.

“I’m really looking forward to going back to some of these tracks a second time,” Bowyer said. “We’ll have notes on what worked and didn’t work and have a base of information. Right now we’re going to these tracks for the first time as a group. I think we’ve done OK, but all of us expect even better performances in the second half of the season.”

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

What are your thoughts on Dover Speedway?

“Dover is always a cool track that I think every driver looks forward to because it’s a driver’s track. You’ve got to man up, get on top of that wheel and make things happen. There’s just so many things going on there on that concrete surface and high banks. It’s a lot of fun. If you win there, you’ve earned it.”

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will approach this weekend’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism with two agendas. While his immediate focus will be on the task at hand, getting as good a finish as possible, he’ll also approach the race as a test session for when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the concrete mile oval in October.

The June race at Dover is the 13th event of 26 that make up the regular season of NASCAR’s 2017 schedule. While this race pays the same amount of points as the rest of those races, it carries with it some additional importance for Busch. Having already won a race this year, the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Busch knows that his presence in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is all but guaranteed.

That’s why Busch will approach the weekend thinking about October and Dover’s significance in the 10-race playoff. As the third race in the opening round, Dover serves as the first elimination event. If Busch has solid outings in the first two playoff races at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois and at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, he can head to Dover with a little less pressure. Should he need a solid finish when he comes back to Dover, a racetrack that has given him struggles over the years, he’ll hope that some of the notebook he and his Tony Gibson-led team build this weekend can give them what they need to find success.

Dover is a high-banked, concrete, mile oval with a penchant for chewing up racecars and veteran drivers alike. It can be one of the more taxing racetracks on drivers and equipment with its abrasive surface and high banking. The “Monster Mile,” as it is affectionately known, is an appropriate nickname considering the speeds carried through its high banks and short straightaways that allow little to no room for error.

Busch has conquered Dover just once in his career, in October 2011. He pulled away from Jimmie Johnson on a pair of late-race restarts to earn his 24th NASCAR Cup Series victory. Otherwise, it’s been a struggle. He’s earned just one top-five finish since then – in this race last year when he was able to overcome a tough day of obstacles to record his seventh top-five at the concrete oval.

Busch also owns nine top-10 finishes in 33 starts. While he’ll look to earn both his second career Dover victory and second of 2017 Sunday, it would not be a disappointment to simply survive at one of the most difficult racetracks on the circuit and get a strong baseline for October. But he knows that scoring the win would also give him and his No. 41 team another five valuable bonus points for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

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

What is it about Dover that makes it such a challenging racetrack, and what do you have to do be successful there?

“The tough thing about Dover is things happen so quickly. At any moment at any time, somebody can spin in front of you or you can lose control off the corners and you are going to wreck. There is no real forgiveness about Dover. That is what makes it tough. To be good there, you have to be good on corner exit. The track really rubbers in so you can see the concrete change to black as the weekend progresses. On corner exit, you get really tight or really loose. The time I won there, I could almost hold it wide open on corner exit. That is what you’ve got to have.”

Do you feel it has earned its nickname?

“It’s called the Monster Mile for a reason – the track can chew up cars and spit them out. It’s because of those tough transitions into the corners with the high banking and even the high-banked straightaways. It’s tough to do that sharp of a turn on a mile racetrack. It’s like you literally jump down into the corner and then jump back up out of the corner onto the straightaway, and so those points of the track are the toughest part – the transition from straightaway to corner. It’s a fun track to drive.” 

How physically demanding of a racetrack is Dover? 

“You’re just on edge there and, the speed that you have to carry on corner exit, you’re right there at the wall every corner exit and you do it 800 times with 400 laps and two corner exits. That makes it tough. This race will wear you out, for sure, and you have to pace yourself.”

What’s it like heading off into turn one at Dover? Do you focus more on corner entry to exit there?

“The drop into turn one is definitely tough. It’s one of the biggest ones we encounter on the circuit. You have to have the car nice and soft when it lands, but then the suspension has to be rigid enough to not allow the car to hit too hard. It’s a nice balance that you have to find at Dover to be successful. Most importantly, though, it is getting that corner exit when the track rubbers in because you can’t get on the tight side.”

Things seem to happen very fast at Dover. Do you approach it like a short track or more like a superspeedway? 

“It is more like a mile-and-a-half track. It’s an intermediate-style track even though the lap times are quick and things happen very quickly like they do at short tracks. It has a mile-and-a-half tendency where you get in that rhythm and then you have the aero that you are battling there, as well.”

Event:             Hisense 4K TV 300
Date:               Saturday, May 27, 2017
Location:        Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
Layout:           1.5-mile oval

Kevin Harvick Notes of Interest

• Hunt Brothers Pizza makes second start with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) as a primary sponsor with driver Kevin Harvick.
• Harvick is making his third of six scheduled XFINITY Series starts in the No. 41 Ford Mustang for SHR in 2017.
• He scored a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in March and a third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April in his two XFINITY Series starts of 2017.
• Harvick is looking for his first XFINITY Series win at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
• He has started from the pole position at Charlotte on three occasions (May 2001, May and October 2003).
• His XFINITY Series career includes 46 wins, 180 top-five finishes, 252 top-10s, 25 poles and 9,386 laps led in 337 starts.
• Harvick will be joined Saturday by SHR teammate Cole Custer in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang at Texas.

Kevin Harvick, Driver No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang 

“I’m ready to get back behind the wheel of the No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford. We had a good test at Charlotte a couple weeks ago and the No. 41 guys are working hard to make our cars better each and every time we go out. (Richard) Boswell (crew chief) has really been working hard, just for the fact that he’s building a team from scratch and we should have a great shot at running up front and competing for SHR’s first XFINITY win.”

Richard Boswell, Crew Chief, No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang

What has the No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza team been doing since its last start at Texas Motor Speedway?

“We went and tested Charlotte with Kevin a couple weeks ago. That kept us busy. You prepare for a test the same way you prepare for a race. Last week we went and tested with the No. 00 guys at Darlington, so we’ve been staying plenty busy. Between our tests and now, we’ve again done everything we can to prepare to go to the racetrack. Although we haven’t been at the racetrack, we’ve been doing plenty to keep us busy.”

Is it extra motivation to try and get Kevin his first XFINITY Series win at Charlotte?

“He made sure to let us know that he’s never won in the XFINITY Series at Charlotte during the test we had there. Every week we go to the track, we go with what we think is the best. Obviously, with a test under our belts, it gives us that much more stuff to look at with Kevin and our car, so that always helps. Anytime you take Kevin to the track, if you don’t feel confident, then we haven’t done a good enough job. We are confident. We feel like we go there just like we did with Atlanta and Texas with a good car, a great driver, and it boils down to the last few laps of these things. Anything can happen. We are very confident that he can get it done. We just found out that they’re putting some track prep down, so that’ll change things from the test, obviously, as far as the top lanes go. Fortunately, we ran the top of turns one and two at the test, anyway, so hopefully that plays into our favor some.”

How did the test go for the team?

“It went well. It started off a little shaky but, once we got the balance closer, the speed was very close. We concentrated mainly on long runs. I think our last three runs were 20-plus laps. A lot of the other teams concentrated on five- or six-lap runs to get the speed there, so we feel like what we may lack in the first five or six laps we’ll make up for at the end of the run. We feel good about that.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is going to the Coca-Cola 600 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend looking for performance, reliability and success. Luckily, the No. 4 Ford Fusion is riding with Mobil 1, a partner with a proven track record of those traits, on the hood and in the engine of the car as Harvick attempts to tackle the longest, most grueling race on the Cup Series schedule.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s technology partnership with Mobil 1 is a unique combination of experience, expertise and innovative thinking that strives to consistently deliver performance-enhancing results on the track. The partnership allows the SHR teams to head into the series’ only 600-mile event with a level of confidence that its cars will be there to compete at the end.

Mobil 1 continues to perform rigorous testing with the SHR teams in the garage with its products and support to improve on-track performance, including the reduction of frictional loss in the engines to maximize fuel mileage, increase horsepower and turn more revolutions per minute (RPMs). Mobil 1 works to reduce engine temperatures to increase engine efficiency. The products allow the No. 4 racecar to reduce rolling resistance, which contributes to increased acceleration on restarts on the way to reaching top speed.

The Mobil 1 products reduce friction in the suspension components, as well, providing maximum tire grip and helping to reduce steering compliance to give precision control and improved handling for Harvick behind the wheel.

Harvick and the No. 4 team hope the benefits provided by Mobil 1 products and technology will help carry them to victory lane in the Sunday’s traditional Memorial Day-weekend event, during which their racecar will honor a fallen soldier on the windshield header as part of NASCAR’s “600 Miles of Remembrance” initiative.

The name of Capt. Brent Morel of the United States Marine Corps will be featured on the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion this weekend.

Morel, who lived in McKenzie, Tennessee, was killed in action on April 7, 2004, when his platoon was ambushed during a reconnaissance mission in the Sunni Triangle in Fallujah, Iraq.

He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as Platoon Commander, 2^nd Platoon, Company B, 1^st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1^st Marine Division, 1 Maine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Corps Forces, Central Command in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Morel left his vehicle and led a determined assault across an open field and up a 10-foot berm in order to maneuver into firing position. The boldness of his first assault eliminated several insurgents at close range, forcing their retreat. Observing his Marines pinned down from enemy fire, he left the safety of his position and continued the assault, eliminating the enemy’s attack.

During this valiant act, he fell mortally wounded by a withering burst of enemy automatic weapons fire. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Morel reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Morel graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1999 with a degree in history. He became a commissioned officer in the Marines the following week. Another week later, he married Amy Mullins.

While Harvick has raced up front and scored three stage wins this year, he is still in search of his first Cup Series race win of the season. He has two Coca-Cola 600 wins in his Cup Series career and would like to add his third this weekend to add to his history of performance, reliability and success in one of NASCAR’s top races on Sunday afternoon.

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

What does it mean to honor and remember a military member on your No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion this weekend?

“There isn’t any sport that honors the military any better than NASCAR. I know a lot of sports do a lot of things for our military but, when you roll into this particular weekend with the Coke 600 and you are a part of the celebration and remembrance for all the things that have happened with our military, to see the support that NASCAR and everybody in our garage gives the military, especially on this particular weekend, is something that gives you goosebumps. We are honored to carry the names on our cars.”

Is the Coca-Cola 600 more physically or mentally challenging?

“It just depends on how hot it is, honestly. If it’s a good weekend and the weather is nice, then it’s more mentally challenging than physically challenging. Either way, it’s still challenging both mentally and physically in some way, shape or form. The hardest part mentally is just getting yourself to overcome those last hundred miles because you are used to the 400- or 500-mile races.”

What do you think of Charlotte adding VHT to the racetrack in an attempt to build an outside groove?

“I think that’s a good game plan. Adding VHT to the outside groove and the middle groove, the only groove that was there for the All-Star race was the bottom groove. I went up there and tried the middle and tried the top, and while you could go through there, you just couldn’t make any speed like you could on the bottom. You have to applaud NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway and everybody for trying to make the racing better. I think it’s definitely going to do something. I think, as you look at it, it’s definitely going to make a difference and hopefully it widens the racetrack out and we can have grooves all over the track.”

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend has long been a special day for racing enthusiasts around the world. Considered by many as the “Greatest Day in Motorsports,” it starts with the Grand Prix of Monaco, where Formula One drivers navigate through the streets of Monte Carlo. That’s followed by the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the day closes with the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Racing on Memorial Day weekend is nothing new for Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), as she’s done it at the professional level for many years. For seven years, Patrick competed in the 500-mile race at Indianapolis, and on Sunday Patrick will make her sixth start in the Coca-Cola 600.

In the seven years Patrick competed in the IndyCar Series, nowhere did she perform better than in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” In May 2005, she stunned the world by leading three times for 19 laps and finishing fourth in her first “500” – becoming the first woman to lead laps and score a top-five finish in the iconic race.

She set numerous records during her Indy 500 debut and set the tone early when she posted the fastest lap on the opening day of practice. She went on to set the fastest practice lap five times throughout the month, including Pole Day and Carburetion Day. On race day, with 11 laps remaining in the 200-lap event, Patrick blew past leader Dan Wheldon and held the point until lap 194, when she was forced to slow down in order to conserve fuel to make it to the finish. Her efforts earned her Rookie of the Year honors.

All told, Patrick scored six top-10 finishes in seven starts at Indianapolis and qualified 10th or better five times. Her third-place result in 2009 is the best finish ever for a woman in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

For the sixth consecutive year, however, Memorial Day weekend will be different for Patrick, as she’ll watch the Indy 500 on television as she prepares to race in the Coca-Cola 600.

When Patrick hits the track this weekend, her No. 10 Ford will carry the colors of Code 3 Associates, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing professional animal disaster response and resources to communities, as well as administering professional training to individuals and agencies involved in animal-related law enforcement and emergency response. Its mission is accomplished through hands-on animal rescue and care operations during disaster events in the United States and Canada, and through certified animal welfare training seminars, which include animal cruelty training for investigators.

While Patrick’s best result in the Coca-Cola 600 is a 21st-place effort she earned last May, her best finish at the track is an 11th-place result she scored last October in the Bank of America 500.

Entering Sunday’s race, Patrick and the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford team hope to improve on last fall’s performance at Charlotte and close out the night celebrating the “Greatest Day in Motorsports” with an ice-cold Coca-Cola.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the NASCAR schedule. Do you notice those last 100 miles?

“The Coca-Cola 600 is obviously our longest race, but it very much depends on how the car feels. If the car feels good and you’re racing hard and trying to have a great finish at the end of the night, that’s one thing. I’ve also been in some where there’s crash damage and you just can’t get out of the way fast enough and those last 100 miles seem like 400. So, it very much depends on the state of your race. Hopefully, it feels like it just (snaps fingers) whizzes right by this year.” 

What are your overall thoughts about racing at Charlotte? 

“I like Charlotte. It’s really nice for the crews because it’s a home race for them. They get to sleep in their own bed and a lot of their family and friends are there. So, you want to give them a good performance. It’s fun for me at Charlotte because a lot of the crews have young kids, so it’s fun to meet them and see them around the hauler during the race weekend. It’s just a bit of a different experience than a lot of the tracks we go to.”

How much do you pay attention to the goings-on with the Indianapolis 500, even though it’s a few hours before you have to go racing yourself?

“I definitely set up my race day for the Coca-Cola 600 to accommodate the Indy 500. I like to watch the beginning and, of course, I like to watch the end, so usually I’ll pop on out for a couple meet-and-greets during the middle of the race, but I do really like to watch it all. I have such great memories of the Indy 500 and that’s why I also like going back to Indy in a stock car.” 

Do you have any desire to go back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an Indy car to compete in the Indy 500?  

“I feel so lucky to have competed in the event with great teams and some luck every now and again that I almost won the Indy 500 a couple of times and was always very competitive. I don’t want to do anything to take away from that just to participate. I don’t race to just participate, so if I felt like I had an opportunity to win, you never know. But I’m not necessarily seeking that out, so it would just have to kind of fall in my lap, I think.” 

Last year and again this year, there is a real reason to more than just tune in to the F1 race in Monaco. Your team owner Gene Haas will again be a part of the event with Haas F1 Team. How much do you pay attention to Monaco before you switch gears to Indy, and then finally switch gears to the Coke 600? 

“Usually Monaco comes on at home when I’m making breakfast in the morning because we’re racing in Charlotte, and since we all pretty much live here, you end up watching that at home during breakfast. Then you go to the track and have lunch and watch the Indy 500 and then you have a quick bite before you go out for the Coca-Cola 600. We watch them all. We might not catch every lap, of course, but we watch them all.” 

Looking at Memorial Day, what’s that day like for you as you prepare for the Coca-Cola 600?

“For race day, I like to carve out as much time as I can to watch the Indy 500. It’s an amazing event. I can still put myself there and feel it when I watch the race. I like to watch and see how the drivers I know are doing. It’s a great race. It’s just part of tradition. I do have to do meet-and-greets and stuff like that on race day, but I usually try to schedule them early, or during the middle of the race, so I can watch the end, for sure.”

How challenging is the Coca-Cola 600? 

“A lot is made about the Coca-Cola 600 being another 100 miles longer and it being a long race. We have a lot of races that are already 500 miles long and we have a lot of races that go from day to night, so it’s really not unfamiliar territory. It can make a bad day worse if the race is even longer. If the car is good, then the day is easy. It never feels all that long and, hopefully, it’s not super-hot out. Other than that, it’s just another race, honestly. But, it is a big event that you want to do well at.”

Event: Hisense 4K TV 300 (Round 10 of 33)
Date: May 27, 2017
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
Layout: 1.5-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• The Hisense 4K TV 300 will mark Cole Custer’s 15^th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start and his second XFINITY Series start at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

• In Custer’s first XFINITY Series start at Charlotte, he led one lap around the 1.5-mile oval and finished a career-best fourth. He was the highest-placing XFINITY Series regular behind Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano.

• Custer’s best finish in the nine XFINITY Series races run this season is fifth, earned in the sixth event April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. It was his fourth top-10 and second top-five finish in 14 career XFINITY Series starts.

• Custer is fourth in the XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year standings, 27 points behind leader William Byron and two points behind third-place Matt Tifft. He has earned two Rookie of the Race awards this season at 1.5-mile tracks (fifth at Texas Motor Speedway and 11^th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway).

• Custer is 12^th in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings, 165 points behind series leader Elliot Sadler.

• Custer’s best qualifying effort in the nine 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.

• In seven XFINITY Series starts and nine Camping World Truck Series starts at 1.5-mile tracks, Custer has three top-five finishes and eight top-10s.

• Custer has earned three of his best finishes this season at 1.5-mile tracks – Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (fifth), Atlanta Motor Speedway (10^th) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (11^th).

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Some of your best finishes in your XFINITY Series career have been at 1.5-mile tracks. Why is that?

“I think we’ve unloaded some great cars at the 1.5-mile tracks, which seems to be our strong suit this year. The team has given me some great Haas Automation Ford Mustangs that have helped me adapt to the track faster than I normally would. The team has done a great job with the cars and it has given me the opportunity to race up front.”

What is a lap around Charlotte Motor Speedway like?

“I would say it’s a really edgy racetrack. Age-wise, it’s in the middle of a grippy track and a really worn-out track. It has a lot of tiny, high-speed bumps throughout the track that will upset the car. It’s a really challenging place to get around. Honestly, it’s one of the most difficult tracks I’ve been to. You have to hit your lines and your marks just right, but it’s a fun track.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Charlotte?

“Coming back to Charlotte is pretty important because you have all of the shop members around and all of their families and friends. It’s an important race for everybody and everyone wants to step their game up to win here. On the other hand, you may have a few more distractions being home with family all around, but it’s great having all of your friends around at the race.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

You were raised in Concord, North Carolina, just a few miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway. Tell us about your background in racing.

“I started racing at the Concord Motorsports Park when I was 16 years old in the Street Stock division. I raced that division for a few years, then moved up to the Super Late Model division and ran that for about 10 years.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Charlotte?

“I’ve attended every race at Charlotte for as long as I can remember. For that reason alone, it makes the track special to me – the fact that I can sleep in my own bed over the race weekend is just a bonus. We are bringing the car that we were running well with in California before getting wrecked. Our fabrication shop hung a new Mustang body on it and I feel like it’s the best Haas Automation Ford in our fleet. We had a good test in Charlotte at the beginning of the month so, going in, I feel really good about the weekend.”

Clint Bowyer is as big of a racing fan as anyone sitting in the grandstands or watching on television. The Emporia, Kansas native races in NASCAR, runs his own Dirt Late Model team, and has his motorhome television dialed into racing most of the time. He can’t wait for Sunday.

Like everyone else, he will tune in early Sunday morning when Formula One takes the green flag in Monaco, followed by the Indianapolis 500 at noon. A few hours later, he’ll leave the couch to put on his Haas Automation Ford uniform and climb in his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) No. 14 Ford.

Bowyer and 39 other Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will battle for 600 miles Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

“Sunday is just a hell of a day of racing,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “You have one of the coolest races in Formula One in Monte Carlo, and then it’s the Indianapolis 500 – it’s one of their coolest races. Actually, no, it is their coolest race. And then the 600’s one of ours. I mean, it’s just a – It’s a hell of a day of racing.”

Bowyer has a rooting interest Sunday morning in Monaco. Haas F1 Team is owned by SHR co-owner Gene Haas and fields cars for Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

“I’ve always been a fan of F1 and admired what they do, but now that the boss has cars in it and is competing in it, you follow and pull for those guys even that much more,” Bowyer said.

After the Formula One race, Bowyer will watch the Indianapolis 500 in his motorcoach from the infield in Charlotte.

“Having the Indy 500 leading up to our 600 is awesome for a race fan and, hey, I’m a race fan,” he said. “Who’s not, right? I want to watch that race, and do. The last few years have been phenomenal.”

Normally, he’ll begin his sponsor and media obligations for the Cup Series race during the closing laps of the Indy 500, but he’ll keep a close eye on the ending.

“I remember I was with one of the sponsors, doing a hospitality deal already, and looking over peoples’ shoulders at the TV behind me, trying to focus on what I’m supposed to be talking about, and selling the 600, how we’re going to run there,” Bowyer said. “And, oh, by the way, trying to see who’s going to win the Indy 500.”

Bowyer is in his first season driving for SHR replacing three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2016 season. Stewart, who raced in five Indy 500s, plans to attend Indy on Sunday, then arrive in Charlotte before the start of the 600 race.

Make no mistake – by the time the green flag drops in Charlotte for NASCAR’s longest race of the season, Bowyer will be all business. He won at Charlotte in October 2012 and owns two top-five finishes and five top-10s and has led 119 laps. Last week in the NASCAR All-Star Race, Bowyer finished 13th after winning Stage 1 in the NASCAR Monster Energy Open. It marked the third time in four seasons Bowyer advanced from the Open to the All-Star Race.

Last week’s racing was about speed over a short distance. Sunday’s race is the longest the drivers will race all season. Bowyer said the strain of the extra distance is as much mental as physical.

“It just depends on how your ole’ hot rod is, how your night’s going,” he said. “The Coca-Cola 600 can be one of those deals where you feel like you could’ve gone another three or four hours, or it’s one of those where it’s like, ‘My God, is this thing ever going to end?’ You hope it’s the way I was describing before. You hope it’s, ‘This is easy,’ and wish it’d lasted a couple more hours.”

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

What are your thoughts on the 600?

“I think you saw from the All-Star Race that track position is going to be key. But we will have longer green-flag runs Sunday and handling will come into play. We had a really good car last week. If we could have gotten out front in the All-Star Race like we did in the Open, then we would have been tough to handle.”

Do you have any desire to compete in the Indianapolis 500?

“No. No, I don’t. Open wheels just doesn’t make much sense to me. No. They fly. I don’t like that. Flying’s just for – flying is for airplanes.”