Category: Pre-Race Reports

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series makes the second stop on its three-race West Coast swing Sunday when the green flag drops on the Camping World 500k at the ultra-fast Phoenix International Raceway mile oval.

The 2017 season marks a time of change for both the iconic desert racetrack and No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion driver Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer has climbed into the driver’s seat vacated by retired, three-time champion Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), where the four-car team switched to Ford Performance in the offseason. The changes have returned Bowyer to the front of the field with 10th- and 11th-place finishes in the last two races. The No. 14 Ford is 12th in the season standings and is expected to contend for victory Sunday.

“I’m going there with a new team in Stewart-Haas Racing and a new manufacturer in Ford, so going to Phoenix will be like a whole new world for me,” said Bowyer, who has enjoyed success on the Arizona oval that’s surrounded by the Sierra Estrella Mountains. He owns two top-five finishes and six top-10s and has led 22 laps at Phoenix.

“Right now, we are really just trying to figure out these Fords, figure out my guys, and get that communication down that everyone knows is so important. I’m looking forward to the challenge of Phoenix. My teammate (Kevin Harvick) is really good out there – five victories (in the last seven races) – so I’ll be leaning on him. He represented SHR at the Phoenix test in February, so hopefully with what he learned all of us will be good when we go back there this weekend.”

The Phoenix racetrack is undergoing a resurgence of its own.

In January, it announced a $178 million renovation project that will be completed by November 2018. It includes: a new pedestrian tunnel to the infield and the relocation of the start/finish line to the current dog leg, grandstand seating capacity for 45,000, upgraded and new suites, new escalators and elevators, new souvenir areas, as well as multiple new restrooms. Also included is a new Fanzone in the infield, a new midway, new NASCAR Xfinity Series garages, new guest services and ticketing buildings along with a new public address system, plus increased Wi-Fi availability for fans.

Bowyer said making race venues more attractive to the fans will pay dividends in the long run and not just for the 52-year-old Phoenix track, but all of NASCAR.

“Phoenix has always been a great racetrack, but I think it’s getting older,” he said. “It was nothing to roll into Phoenix for testing and see a rattlesnake curled up in the corner of the garage. The fans are just awesome out there, so giving them a little bit better atmosphere in the infield is the biggest deal of everything they are doing there.”

Phoenix weekend marks a busy time of the season for all NASCAR Cup Series teams. After spending 10 days in Daytona, then traveling to Atlanta for the March 5 race, the teams raced in Las Vegas last weekend. After the race, they exchanged their primary and backup Las Vegas cars for the primary and backup cars they’ll run this weekend. After Sunday’s race, they’ll repeat the effort, swapping the Phoenix cars for the cars they’ll race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., next weekend.

Bowyer said being thousands of miles away from home for three consecutive weeks requires extra planning to take care of both people and racecars.

“Logistics are such a big thing on that West Coast swing,” he said. “You can’t come back and totally reboot and rebuild racecars. What you’ve got out there is what you’re going to have until you get home and get a chance to re-baseline and figure out where you’re at, where you need to work. You just don’t have time to logistically get any better.”

“I mean, hey, let’s face it – people have families, so it’s tough on everyone. It’s a long time being gone, so you better be ready and you better be prepared.”

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

What are your thoughts on Phoenix International Raceway?

“It’s always fun to go to Phoenix. It’s a cool racetrack, one of my favorites. It was my first racetrack where I made a start in the NASCAR Cup Series. I started with Richard Childress Racing and Bill McAnally, so it is always special to go back there. I think the new downforce package is going to be exciting. Obviously, since the repave, that place is pretty slick and the tires are hot, so I think it is going to be pretty good.”

What is the key to success at Phoenix?

“The key to success at Phoenix is just having a good neutral racecar. Both ends of the track are quite different with turns one and two being a pretty tight arc and turns three and four being a pretty open, sweeping corner. So, there’s really no perfect setup. You have to find a happy medium with good balance, then find a middle ground. After that, it’s track position that’s important. You have to qualify well and make sure you stay up front.”

What is the biggest challenge at Phoenix? 

“Since the repave, the track has changed quite a bit, so your driving has to also change. I was probably better with the old, worn-out surface and softer tires. Now, with the harder tires, the new repave and new construction off turn two, plus the difference in the track – it’s been a challenge for me. But again, this is a new world, with new equipment. I’ve learned already, in just a short amount of time, things here at SHR seem to be easier.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is considered a favorite nearly every time he visits Phoenix International Raceway, but Sunday’s Camping World 500k Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race marks a new beginning behind the wheel of a Ford Fusion for the first time at the mile oval in the desert.

Harvick has an unmatched and impressive list of accomplishments at Phoenix headed by a series-high eight NASCAR Cup Series wins, including five of the last seven and six of the last nine. He is the only Cup Series driver to win four consecutive races at Phoenix. He won the November 2013 race, swept the 2014 races and won in March 2015 before ending the streak with a second-place finish in November 2015. Only five drivers have won consecutive Cup Series races at Phoenix and Harvick is the only driver to win consecutive races twice. He swept both races in 2006 to go with his back-to-back wins in 2014.

According to NASCAR loop data, Harvick is the only driver to score a perfect 150.0 driver rating on three different occasions at Phoenix. Harvick scored his first perfect rating at the mile oval in November 2006, when he started second and led 252 of 312 laps on his way to victory lane. He accomplished the feat a second time by winning the November 2014 race, which he started third and led 264 of 312 laps. His third perfect score came in March 2015, when he won the pole, led 224 of 312 laps and beat Jamie McMurray to the finish line by 1.153 seconds.

Harvick scored his first and only Phoenix pole in NASCAR Cup Series competition in March 2015 with a lap of 25.577 seconds at 140.751 mph.

In addition to the Cup Series, Harvick has five other NASCAR touring series wins – four in the Camping World Truck Series and one in the Xfinity Series. The 2014 Cup Series champion won the Truck Series events at Phoenix in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009. He scored his lone Xfinity win at Phoenix in 2006.

Luckily for Harvick and the No. 4 Jimmy John’s team, they were able to participate in the NASCAR test session at Phoenix on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. It was the team’s first outing with the No. 4 Ford Fusion and allowed valuable track time in preparation for this weekend’s event.

Harvick and the Jimmy John’s team hope to return to their winning ways at Phoenix this Sunday and secure their position in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. A win Sunday would be their first of the 2017 campaign and would extend Harvick’s series-best win total at Phoenix.

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

What makes racing at Phoenix unique?

“Phoenix is a really flat racetrack where you want to have the freshest tires possible, but track position is really important. A lot of what happens at Phoenix depends on the weather and how hot it is – how much (tire) fall-off and how you have to manage track position throughout the day. The cooler the day is, the more you have to manage your track position. The hotter the day, the more you have to manage the fall-off. Better-handling cars will have a little easier time getting through the field.”

You’ve had great success at Phoenix but, on top of a new aero package there this season, does your team have to adjust to a whole new car with the switch to Ford?

“I think those were some of our biggest questions when we went to the first test of the year at Phoenix. We had to run down some checklists of really basic things to try to figure out exactly where we need to be, what we need to do, what we need to work on. The main thing is that we now have a starting point to work from. There’s not a lot of guessing anymore. We know what’s going on and where we are at and going around a racetrack is what we needed to be doing, so we know where to work from here.”

Did the Ford Fusion feel similar to what you were expecting or compared to what you’ve run in the past?

“Yes, there was really no surprise with the way it felt. The things we worked on are very similar to what we have worked on in the past. I think this particular aero package – with the spoiler and splitter – is very similar to a lot of the things we fought last year at the end of the season. Now we can dive into the problems and try to solve those issues, but they are very similar to the things we’ve had in the past.”

When you went to the test, did you notice much of a difference in the balance of the car?

“The drivability of the Ford Fusion is not that big of a difference, but the balance of the car is definitely different than what we’ve had in the past. I think there is just not one reason for that, though. I think that’s a bit of where we are right now. We have to look at it and say, ‘Is it the balance of the car? Is it the balance of the new aero package?’ But that doesn’t matter – you know what the problems are that you’re going to fight there. It’s irrelevant what it is really, at this point. We just have to address the handling and make it better at this point.”

Fresh off of a 17th-place effort last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) enter Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to gain momentum to help propel them to greater successes through the rest of the year.

Patrick started the season with a 33rd-place finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, but the result wasn’t indicative of her No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team’s overall performance during Daytona Speedweeks. Patrick earned finishes of fourth and sixth in the Advance Auto Parts Clash and Can-Am Duel, respectively, and she was scored as high as second in the Daytona 500 before her solid performance ended prematurely due to a multicar accident.

Last weekend in Atlanta, Patrick started 24th, was scored as high as 15th and came back from being two laps down to finish on the lead lap in the 17th position. While the results of the first two race weekends haven’t been as good as Patrick would like, they have put her and the No. 10 team well ahead of where they were at this point last year. In 2016, Patrick entered the race in Las Vegas ranked 29th in the driver point standings. This weekend she heads to the track 22nd and hopes to continue to improve.

While Patrick has yet to finish inside the top-20 at the NASCAR Cup Series level at Las Vegas, she is no stranger to success at the 1.5-mile track. In 2011, she brought home a fourth-place finish in Xfinity Series competition. That effort marked the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by the late Sara Christian in a NASCAR Cup Series race in 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway.

As Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team return to Las Vegas this weekend, they plan to improve upon her NASCAR Cup Series results at the track in an effort to continue building momentum.

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

Are you a fan of going to Las Vegas?  

“I have to say I’m not a gambler at all. However, I am definitely a huge foodie and I love checking out great restaurants. Las Vegas has a ton of great options, so I do enjoy going out there to check out some of the great food the city has to offer.” 

There are a lot of logistics involved in the West Coast swing. What do you do? Do you stay out West or do you commute like you would to other NASCAR races?

“I stay out on the West Coast. I lived in Phoenix full-time for 10 years. My house is there, so I base in Phoenix and it’s perfect. Those are long trips, back-and-forth, from the West Coast. Those are four- and five-hour plane rides each way, so it definitely functions logistically a lot easier to just base myself on the West Coast and I think more and more people are doing that. I think it’s smart.”

Coming out of Daytona, we hit a stretch of the season that includes Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. How important is that slate of races?

“The first five races of the year are super-critical for the points championship but, in particular, they’re a good indicator of how the rest of the year is going to go from a performance standpoint. With those tracks, you’re covering all the bases with a short track, being Phoenix, a mile-and-a-half with Atlanta, a mile-and-a-half with Vegas – with Vegas being high-grip and Atlanta being low-grip – and then you go to Fontana, which is a 2-mile, flat, wide oval, so you’ve got a lot of different challenges. If we can perform well as a team at all of those tracks and have the mechanical handling that we need, and good understanding as to what we need there to balance out the aerodynamics – which, hopefully, aero-wise, we’re in good shape – then we’ll have a great start to the year.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is leading the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to Las Vegas for this weekend’s Kobalt 400. His impressive start to the 2017 campaign through the series’ first two events has led to a four-point lead over the 2017 Daytona 500 champion, fellow SHR teammate and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, in the season standings.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the No. 4 Mobil 1 team securing the top spot in the Cup Series standings is that it has done it while transitioning through the offseason to Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Company as its manufacturer.

The new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point system rewards racing at the front of the field throughout each event and, ultimately, winning stages. The No. 4 team has three stage wins through the first two events of the season and has led 342 of 525 total laps – more than 65 percent of the possible total. The driver who ranks second in laps led is Chase Elliott with 39.

Harvick’s three stage wins have also allowed him to score three playoff points. He ranks second behind teammate Busch and Atlanta winner Brad Keselowski, who each have five playoff points.

The Bakersfield, California native has reason to believe his strong start will continue at the 1.5-mile track in Las Vegas this weekend.

Harvick dominated the Kobalt 400 in 2015 to score his first win of the season and his first at Las Vegas in only the season’s third race. His No. 4 car led five times for a race-high 142 laps en route to his 29^th career Cup Series win.

The 41-year-old driver also has two wins in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at Las Vegas. His first came in March 2004, when he started 11th, led 14 laps and raced his way to victory by .119 of a second over runner-up Kasey Kahne.

Harvick’s second Xfinity win at Las Vegas came in February 2010. Driving his own No. 33 car for Kevin Harvick Inc., he started second, led 82 laps and beat runner-up Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 1.361 seconds. It was the sixth win for Harvick’s team in the Xfinity Series.

He is still searching for his first Cup Series pole at Las Vegas, but he did win the pole for the Xfinity race in 2007, when he turned a lap at 181.111 mph.

Harvick’s goal now is to score his first win of the 2017 campaign and score his second Kobalt 400 win Sunday on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.

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

You got married in Las Vegas, you’ve won a Cup Series race there, two Xfinity Series races, and celebrated your Sprint Cup championship in Las Vegas. Does the city have a special meaning to you?

“I have raced there for a long time but I don’t know that it has that special meaning other than the fact that we got married out there. Usually, DeLana and I eat at the same restaurant, we go to the same places and try to have some fun. It’s definitely been a good racetrack for me. It’s still a place where I have a lot of family and friends and people I enjoy. It’s a busy weekend but, all-in-all, it’s still a fun place to go.”

From the driver’s seat how does the new points system change your approach to a race?

“For us, that’s the good thing. For us, Rodney Childers (crew chief) has always been pretty pressing on going out there and trying to get everything you can out of the car in practice, qualifying and at the beginning of the race to try and position yourself for the end as early as possible. That opens up a lot of windows, you know, where your car is, and we’ve tried to race that way for the last three years. When you go back and look at the history, the regular-season points, the segment wins and those types of things have been very good for us and hopefully that trend continues as we move forward.”

Does the new race format and points system fit your driving style?

“I think that fits our team well just to the fact that we’re an aggressive bunch of people. We want to go out and lead laps. We want to go out and try to position ourselves as far forward as we can because you just never know when it’s going to change and what’s going to happen. We’re definitely going to treat it aggressively and try and gain as many bonus points as you can.”

Event:               Boyd Gaming 300
Date:                 Saturday, March. 11, 2017
Location:          Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Layout:             1.5-mile oval

Cole Custer Notes of Interest

• Code 3 Associates will be the primary partner onboard Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer’s No. 00 Ford Mustang at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time this season.Code 3 Associates is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in animal rescue and recovery in disaster areas. Formed in 1985, Colorado-based Code 3 Associates is a national response team that, at the request of local government officials, provides animal rescue and recovery in times of disaster. The organization has evolved from one unpaid volunteer to approximately 75 professional responders and thousands of members around the country, which include animal welfare, law enforcement, fire, EMS and veterinary specialists from the United States and Canada. While its focus is animals and their owners, Code 3 Associates trains its responders to the standards of human rescue, and Code 3 Associates also provides training to conduct thorough investigations into animal welfare issues, all of which is accredited by Colorado State University and the school’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

• The Boyd Gaming 300 event will mark Custer’s first NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

• On Saturday, Oct. 21, 2016, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas, Custer led three laps prior to earning a third-place finish – his only start at the 1.5-mile oval in any series.

• This weekend, NASCAR is headed West. Custer a Ladera Ranch, California, native grew up racing in grassroots series across the Western United States and, while this will be his first start at Las Vegas in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series, the young gun isn’t a stranger to racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway campus. Custer began racing at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011, earning a victory in the USAC Young Gun division to help him to secure the USAC National Focus Young Gun Championship. Then, in 2012, he became the youngest Late Model division winner at the Bullring, also earning the NASCAR Nevada Rookie of the Year title.

• 00 crew chief Jeff Meendering isn’t a stranger to success at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Meendering was named crew chief for Bobby Labonte throughout the 2008 season, earning a top-20 finish in his third race with the team. He has come close to victory lane at the West Coast track as a car chief for Jeff Gordon, earning a fourth-place finish in 2005, a fifth-place finish in 2006 and a second-place finish in 2007.

• As 19-year-old Custer heads into this weekend’s race at Las Vegas, he is already two races into his campaign for Rookie of the Year honors. After an incident not of his own fault at Daytona set him back in the points, he gained ground with a top-10 effort Saturday at Atlanta. He now trails the 2017 Rookie of the Year lead heading into Las Vegas by 11 points over first-place William Byron. Custer has accumulated 17 rookie points this year through the first two races. He has a history of performing well as a NASCAR Rookie of the Year contender, earning third in the Truck Series rookie standings in 2016.

Cole Custer, Driver Q&A

Describe a lap behind the wheel at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It’s pretty much just really fast and you’re wide open. You’re going to start racing around the bottom, but you’ll be able to move around a bit by the end of the day. The biggest challenge is just trying to get used to the edgy feeling that you’re going to have from running wide open.” 

How confident are you going into Las Vegas after your top-10 finish at Atlanta?

“We’re definitely really confident. I felt like we had a really fast car that was maybe even a little bit better than where we finished. We’re really confident just to get going at Las Vegas and see what we have with that same package. I think we’re going to be pretty good and we’re looking forward to it.”

Describe your relationship with Code 3 Associates and what it means to represent their organization in Vegas.

“I’ve always had pets when I was younger so I love hearing that they are helping all kinds of animals after natural disasters. It’s awesome to have a company behind you like that because it’s such a great cause and one that I believe strongly in. I’m just going to go and try to make them proud because they are giving us so much support. Hopefully we can make them proud this weekend with a good run.”

You grew up racing on the West Coast and even at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. What are you most looking forward to about heading closer to home and about racing at Las Vegas?

“It’s definitely going home for me, so it’s cool to see some friends throughout the West Coast swing. I’ve been to Vegas a lot of times, so it’s a familiar territory and it’s awesome to race at the speedway. I definitely ran a lot of races at the Bullring and it was a really fun track to race on. It was neat because I would look at the big track and think about racing there someday, but I was just the smaller guy working my way up back then and hoping to race there one day and now I’m actually racing there. It’s pretty humbling to think I’ve come this far.”

Jeff Meendering, Crew Chief Q&A

What are the biggest challenges you will need to overcome on racing at Las Vegas? Does the new package come into play?

“The challenges at Las Vegas are mostly in the track characteristics. It’s pretty bumpy getting into turn one and you can have a hard time setting up the car around that. While some teams are still talking about the new package, honestly, the package change this year doesn’t really come into play as much for us because we’re a new team so everything is new. It’s kind of nice because as far as we’re concerned everything is new and we have the Cup notes to work off of the aero balances and the XFINITY balances are really close to what the Cup aero balances were last year, so we can kind of gauge everything off of that to help with set up right now.”

Knowing that Cole finished in the top three in his only start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, does this give you a level of confidence going into this weekend?

“I’m really confident. Most of our intermediate setups are carrying over from one track to the next so it’s just fine tuning from there with springs and shocks. I feel like after having that strong run there in Atlanta that momentum should keep carrying over to all of these intermediate tracks.”

Few people must live up to a number like Clint Bowyer will in 2017.

This year, Bowyer inherited the steering wheel of the No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion from three-time champion Tony Stewart, who retired last season after a 49-win Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and hundreds of other victories in many forms of racing. Since starting Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with co-owner Gene Haas in 2009, Stewart has piloted a car carrying the No. 14 to victory lane 16 times – the most of any driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Stewart selected No. 14 for a good reason.

His boyhood hero A.J. Foyt made the number legendary in open-wheel racing. Foyt’s driving career included four Indianapolis 500 wins among his hundreds of open-wheel victories, plus checkered flags in NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and sportscar racing’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the record, Foyt also drove the No. 14 in 42 NASCAR races, but with that number he was winless with just a single top-five finish.

Stewart lived up to his hero’s standards since taking over the No. 14.

His win at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June last year was the 42nd overall NASCAR Cup Series win for the No. 14 in 1,132 races. In addition to Stewart’s 16 victories, Fonty Flock won 14 races in the No. 14, including the first for the number at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough, North Carolina in April 1951. Three other drivers have scored wins in the No. 14: Jim Paschal with seven, Herschel McGriff with four, and Bobby Allison with one.

Bowyer relishes his turn with the famous number and wants to join the group.

“I respect that and love that,” Bowyer said. “Who isn’t an A.J. Foyt fan and loved his attitude and everything he was about? Tony did that number good, too. Tony represented that number every bit as much as A.J. did and there is history behind those numbers. It’s going to mean a lot to me and does mean a lot to me to drive the 14, as well, for those reasons.”

Bowyer is already off to a good start in the No. 14. He finished second in his qualifying race for the Daytona 500 two weeks ago and ran well before a midrace accident left him with a 32nd-place finish in the race. Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 14 started 25th and moved to third late in the race before contact with another car set off a chain of events that ultimately left him with an 11th-place finish.

The Atlanta finish left him, fittingly enough, 14th in points after two races.

This weekend, Bowyer makes his 400^th NASCAR Cup Series start when he takes the green flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It marks his 12th start at the 1.5-mile oval where he earned a second-place finish in 2009 plus two other top-10 finishes. Bowyer seeks his ninth career Cup Series victory.

He’d love nothing better than to become the sixth driver to win in No. 14. But, he isn’t the only family member adjusting to the No. 14. His 2-year-old son Cash is making the adjustment from rooting for Bowyer’s past number 15 to the new number 14.

“Lorra (Bowyer, wife) has been working on him all winter long about it’s not 15 in anymore, it’s 14,” Bowyer said. “I think after Daytona qualifying I came around the corner and I had my firesuit on and he’s like, ‘Yay, number 14.’ It clicks. So, last year is behind us and I think he’s dead set on 14 and, hopefully, I can get him in victory lane. There would be nothing neater than to have my family in victory lane.”

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

Did you feel like caged animal during last year’s wait to officially join Stewart-Haas Racing?

“Yeah, I waited a long time on this opportunity. I signed this opportunity about a year and a half ago. That’s a long time. The biggest thing is, I was really excited to get the year started off with a group that I feel like wants nothing more and works for nothing more than race wins and the championship. That’s all they talk about. That’s all they do is win and be successful and, if they don’t, they go back to work and do what it takes to go back and win. Obviously, everybody’s goals are to go out and win, but there are only a select few organizations that truly are set up to know, no matter what the cost or expense or amount of dedication, that’s what they’re there to do and the word no is non-existent. It’s, ‘What do we have to do to win?’”

TONY STEWART, Co-Owner of the No. 14 Haas Automation Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How has Clint’s transition to SHR gone?

“The transition with Clint, I think once Homestead was over, you could see an immediate change in his confidence. He was excited all winter. You guys know Clint. It’s like dropping a Super Ball off the top of a building and watching it bounce around nonstop. The only thing we’re trying to figure out is what size shock collar we need to get on him to keep his attention and keep him focused (laughs). His enthusiasm has been really fun to watch at the shop and around all the guys and around Kurt (Busch) and Kevin (Harvick) and Danica (Patrick.) They’re enjoying having him around. I’m enjoying having him around and I know the 14 team is excited to have him in the car. I’ve never seen him this excited. Obviously, last year wasn’t the year that he wanted, by any means, and this is a fresh start for him, so I know he’s excited.”

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will attempt to add a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win to his impressive resume at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday in the Folds of Honor 500.

He won his first NASCAR Cup Series race there in only his third career start on March 11, 2001. The circumstances surrounding the month leading up to Harvick’s first career Cup Series win in 2001 make it all the more remarkable.

Following Dale Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Harvick was named the driver of the No. 29 car for Richard Childress Racing and made his Cup Series debut the following weekend – Monday, Feb. 26 – at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, where he finished 14^th. Two days later, Wednesday, Feb. 28, as the series headed west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick married his wife DeLana. The following Sunday, March 4, Harvick scored his first career Cup Series top-10 finish. Then, on Sunday, March 11, less than one month since his debut in NASCAR’s top series, Harvick won his first Cup Series race at Atlanta.

Harvick’s first win didn’t come easily. He was in third place with five laps remaining and chased down NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett for second, then overtook Jerry Nadeau for the lead. Once in front, Harvick had to hold off another future Hall of Fame driver, Jeff Gordon, to secure the win. As he and Gordon raced door-to-door to the finish line, Harvick prevailed to secure his first Cup Series win by .006 of a second.

Since that maiden NASCAR Cup Series win, Harvick has reached victory lane at Atlanta on five other occasions, four times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – including three of his last four Xfinity starts – and once in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Harvick came close to adding a second Cup Series win at Atlanta in each of his last three starts at the 1.54-mile oval. In September 2014, he won the pole and led 195 of 335 laps before late-race tire strategy by several drivers led to a multicar accident involving his No. 4 car. He started from the outside front row in 2015, led 116 laps and finished runner-up to race-winner Jimmie Johnson by 1.802 seconds. In his most recent Atlanta start, he began sixth, led a race-high 131 laps and finished sixth after being shuffled back on a late-race restart.

If the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champ plans to achieve success Sunday at Atlanta, he is going to have to do it utilizing NASCAR’s new 2017 lower-downforce aerodynamic package as this is the package’s debut in a race event.

This weekend, Harvick will attempt to add that elusive second Cup Series win at the 1.54-mile oval in Sunday’s Folds of Honor 500. He will also debut Stewart-Haas Racing’s new No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang on Saturday in search of his fourth Xfinity Series win at Atlanta in five years.

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

What’s it like to be back at the site of your first NASCAR Cup Series win?

“You can’t ever win the first one twice. To come back here and know everything that was attached to that first win is something you look back on and realize the magnitude of the situation. I guess the second thing is I can’t believe we haven’t won there since. It’s definitely one of my favorite racetracks and we’ve led a ton of laps there. For whatever reason, on Sundays, we haven’t been able to put the finishing touches on it. Fridays and Saturdays in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series, we’ve won a ton of races but, hopefully, we can end that Cup Series streak this weekend. I’m looking forward to having Folds of Honor there this weekend. They’re a big part of all the sponsors on our car and I would call Major Dan a good friend. He participates a lot in the activities we do. Usually, for whatever reason, when we’re around Major Dan, we’ve had a lot of success over the next weekend’s race so, hopefully, we can go to victory lane and have someone from the Folds of Honor hand us that trophy.”

What do you like about the Atlanta Motor Speedway layout?

“I just love the abrasiveness of the racetrack. It still has a lot of speed for the first three or four laps, but then it has a lot of fall-off and a lot of bumps that give it character. As a driver, you just love the challenge that comes with racing at Atlanta. This is always one that I circle on my calendar as a favorite and I look forward to racing in Atlanta this weekend.”

After getting caught up in a late-race incident Sunday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are ready to return to the site of Patrick’s career-best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points-event finish: Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Patrick earned finishes of fourth and sixth in the Advance Auto Parts Clash and Can-Am Duel, respectively, and she was scored as high as second Sunday before her solid performance in the 59th running of the Daytona 500 ended prematurely due to a multicar accident that sent the No. 10 team to the garage at lap 128. With the conclusion of Daytona Speedweeks, the “regular” NASCAR Cup Series season commences with Sunday’s Folds of Honor 500 at Atlanta.

When Patrick and her No. 10 team visited Atlanta in August 2014, she started 27th in the Oral-B USA 500. She rallied from a lap down twice in the early stages of the race. By the halfway point, Patrick worked her way into the top-15 and would stay there for the rest of the night. Her lap times continued to improve and, by the 300-lap mark, she was solidly in the top-10. Patrick managed to run as high as fourth before taking the checkered flag sixth. The effort beat her previous best finish – a seventh-place run at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in May 2014 – by one position.

Patrick’s sixth-place run was the best by a female at Atlanta. The previous record was Janet Guthrie’s 10th-place finish on March 19, 1978. Only a fifth-place result by Sara Christian in a NASCAR Cup Series race on Oct. 2, 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway tops Patrick’s 2014 effort at Atlanta. Christian also finished sixth at Langhorn (Pa.) Speedway on Sept. 11, 1949, and Guthrie finished sixth at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

Last year, newly paired with crew chief Billy Scott, Patrick scored a 20th-place finish at Atlanta. This weekend, the pair returns to the track with a year’s worth of experience working together.

As the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford team returns to Atlanta, it is ready to improve on last year’s results and hopefully make more history with Patrick.

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

You recorded one of your best finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta. Talk about heading to Atlanta this weekend.

“I like Atlanta. It’s a place that I’ve done pretty well at. I’ve actually done pretty well at tracks that are a little odd or challenging or different. I think grip is a premium at Atlanta, obviously, as the tires fall off there maybe more than anywhere else we go. I feel like our car will be good and hopefully it will be another fun Atlanta weekend.”

How important is it to run well at Atlanta and the other intermediate tracks early in the season?

“Well, you have to do well to have momentum. There’s no promise there. It might not go well at all but, on the other hand, it might be awesome. I think that’s the case for every team – you really don’t know how you’re going to do until you really get out there and actually get running. Despite getting wrecked last weekend, the Aspen Dental Ford team got off to a strong start in Daytona as a whole. Atlanta is a very tough track, but I’ve had success there before and I’m confident my team is ready for this weekend.”

Coming out of Daytona we hit a stretch of the season that includes Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana. How important is that slate of races?

“The first five races of the year are super-critical for the points championship but, in particular, they’re a good indicator of how the rest of the year is going to go from a performance standpoint. With those tracks, you’re covering all the bases with a short track, being Phoenix, a mile-and-a-half with Atlanta, a mile-and-a-half with Vegas – with Vegas being high-grip and Atlanta being low-grip – and then you go to Fontana, which is a 2-mile, flat, wide oval, so you’ve got a lot of different challenges. If we can perform well as a team at all of those tracks and have the mechanical handling that we need, and good understanding as to what we need there to balance out the aerodynamics which, hopefully, aero-wise, we’re in good shape, then we’ll have a great start to the year.”

NASCAR XFINITY Series Overview

Event:             NASCAR XFINITY Series 250 at Atlanta
Date:               Saturday, March. 04, 2017
Location:        Atlanta Motor Speedway
Layout:           1.54-mile oval (Quad-oval)

Kevin Harvick Notes of Interest

• The No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) makes its XFINITY Series debut at Atlanta.
• Harvick is scheduled to make five XFINITY Series starts in the No. 41 Ford Mustang for SHR in 2017.
• He is making his 16th career NASCAR XFINITY Series start at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
• Harvick has four XFINITY Series wins at Atlanta, including three consecutive wins from 2013 – 2015.
• He also has nine top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 15 XFINITY Series starts at Atlanta.
• His XFINITY Series history includes 46 wins, 178 top-five finishes, 250 top-10s, 25 poles and 9,322 laps led in 335 starts.
• Harvick will share the field with SHR teammate Cole Custer in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang at Atlanta.

Kevin Harvick, Driver No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang

“It’s a great weekend for us to feature the new Textron Off Road name for the XFINITY Series debut of the No. 41 Ford Mustang. Just for the fact that I’ve had a partnership with Textron for a long time and have used their off-road vehicles for many years. I was able to test the new Stampede vehicle a few months back. It was a lot of fun to drive and tough enough to take virtually anywhere. Hopefully we can take them on a ride this weekend in Atlanta and celebrate their new name in victory lane.”

Richard Boswell, Crew Chief No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford Mustang

How did your opportunity to join Stewart-Haas Racing materialize?

“I worked with Kevin (Harvick) over at JR Motorsports for about two years as an engineer on the XFINITY side. When Stewart-Haas Racing was looking for a crew chief for the next XFINITY Series deal, Matt Goslant reached out to me. He knew that I had worked with Kevin in the past. I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to try. I’d been looking for an opportunity to move up to the crew chief role and this was too good to pass up.”

What made working on the No. 41 Textron Ford Mustang team at Stewart-Haas Racing’s appealing to you?

“The opportunity to work with Kevin Harvick was big especially since we’d worked together in the past, but this was a chance to take a step up into a higher level role. This is a part-time deal and I’m used to full-time racing, so that’s taking a little bit of getting used to. Being at the racetrack every week helps you learn a lot, but working with one of the best drivers in the garage helps you learn a lot too. That was really the biggest reason is it was a chance to work with Kevin and Stewart-Haas Racing.”

This team is starting from scratch. What has been the biggest adjustment so far?

“The biggest adjustment so far is really just trying to manage all the different areas that a crew chief has to touch. I’m trying to be as hands on in every area so that I can help the guys that are working on the car and still know what we’re bringing to the racetrack when we unload. Managing all of that has been a bit of an adjustment.”

Is this a new Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang?

“It’s a brand new car. It’s the first Ford Mustang that we’ve built from top to bottom in-house at Stewart-Haas Racing for the XFINITY Series.”