Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Racing: Kevin Harvick Folds of Honor 500 Advance and Team Report

Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Racing: Kevin Harvick Folds of Honor 500 Advance and Team Report
KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (March 11, 2020) – Kevin Harvick will have a new look for Sunday’s Folds of Honor 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 

The No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will be sponsored by Hunt Brothers Pizza and FIELDS, two longtime supporters of Harvick.

 

Hunt Brothers Pizza has sponsored Harvick in NASCAR for 11 years and last visited victory lane with him when he won the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta.

 

Harvick has also won two NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races with Hunt Brothers as a sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, both in 2011. The company also sponsored him in the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race in 2014 and 2015, which were conducted at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Harvick finished second in both races.

 

For 2019, Hunt Brothers moved up to the Cup Series for three races and, in 2020, will be on Harvick’s car five times.

 

With more than 7,800 locations in 30 states, Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go “Hunk” perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with “All Toppings No Extra Charge®.” Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Hunt Brothers Pizza is family owned and operated with more than 25 years of experience serving great pizza to convenience store shoppers through its store partners. To find a Hunt Brothers Pizza location, download the Hunt Brothers Pizza app by visiting www.huntbrotherspizza.com/app/

 

FIELDS has sponsored Harvick in Xfinity Series races in 2017 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, where he finished sixth, and in June 2018 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where he scored an eighth-place result. Harvick took FIELDS to victory lane in 2017 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race.

 

FIELDS, one of the Sports Fields Inc., companies, is the preeminent builder of fields and sports parks in the country. FIELDS is committed to “Building Sports Parks of Distinction.” The fields produced facilitate peak team performance and are constructed using the industry’s best resources and embody the essence of durability, precision, technological innovation, service and quality.

 

By combining the premium quality of the fields with the best in customer care, FEILDS creates sports parks of distinction that wow teams, coaches and guests.

 

As both Hunt Brothers and FIELDS have won with Harvick, they’re now teaming up in hopes the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Ford Mustang will find victory lane at Atlanta.

 

Harvick has only two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins at Atlanta, but has been strong there since 2008 with 12 top-10 finishes in 15 races. He’s led a series-high 1,197 laps and has led 100 laps in six of the last eight races. He’s also won four of his last six NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the 1.54-mile oval.

 

Atlanta has always been a special place for Harvick as he scored his first career Cup Series victory there in 2001. Following Dale Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of that year’s Daytona 500, Harvick was named the driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and made his series debut the following weekend at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, where he finished 14th. On March 11, less than one month since his debut in

NASCAR’s top series and in just his third start, Harvick won his first Cup Series race at Atlanta.

 

Harvick is hoping that he can take two longtime partners to victory lane in Atlanta. And, as a bonus, it would be the site of his first and 50th NASCAR Cup Series wins.

 

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing: 
You’ve had a solid start to the year so far. What are your thoughts going to Atlanta?

“I don’t know. As you go there, Atlanta is a place where you expect to run well. As you look at all the differences in cars and changes in tires and the differences we’ve had to face this year, you’ve got to go run the race and wrap your arms around where everything is.”

 

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.”

 

You were a rookie in 2001 and won your first race at Atlanta. What do you remember about your rookie year?

“Well, it wasn’t supposed to be my rookie year. We didn’t run the Daytona 500, obviously. And then, you know, Dale Earnhardt died, (I) got in the car the next week, I got married. I think 70 or 71 races between the Cup Series and the Busch Series that year. Raced for both championships. Won my first Cup race, we won a Busch Series championship, we won the Cup rookie of the year. But I was so sheltered from everything that was going on. The only real taste I got of the magnitude of the Earnhardt situation, really, I can think back to and say, ‘You know, that was a massive situation.’ Obviously, I know it was, now. But when I think back to that first press conference that we had in Rockingham and the magnitude and the reach of what was in that tent that day, that was really the only thing I was exposed to that year was, ‘Um, wow, this is a huge moment.’ Even winning that first race and I’m not one to go back and just watch the videos and listen to the chatter of the media and the things that are happening. And we were testing either the Busch car or the Cup car or we were racing. We built our first truck that year. I ran that at Richmond. So there were so many things that were moving around that I honestly don’t remember really anything from that year. Other than, you know, I remember building that truck in Ed Berrier’s garage with my Busch team – with Todd Berrier and those guys. After we would get done at work, they’d come over and help me build the truck. But really, everything else is kind of a blur because there was so much happening. And it wound up being a good thing to be sheltered from what was going on and all the talk and all the hype and everything.”

Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Racing Team Report
Round 5 of 36 – Folds of Honor 500 –Atlanta

 

Car No.: 4 – Hunt Brothers Pizza/FIELDS Ford Mustang

 

PR Contact: Joe Crowley, True Speed Communication (704) 875-3388 ext. 808 or Joe.Crowley@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team Members:
Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Car Chief: Robert Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin
Engine Builder: Roush-Yates Engines
Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina
Engine Specialist: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama
Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

 

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

 

Tire Carrier: Mike “Shrek” Morneau

Hometown: Oxford, Maine

 

Gas Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

 

Jackman: Stan Dolittle

Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina

 

Windshield: Shawn Hopkins (also serves as interior mechanic)

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia

Road Crew Members:

Truck Driver: Rick Hodges and Stephen Mitchell

Hometowns: Raleigh, North Carolina and Woodville, Ohio, respectively

 

Engineers: Dax Gerringer and Stephen Doran Hometowns: Gibsonville, North Carolina and Butler, Pennsylvania,respectively

 

Mechanic: Richie Bean

Hometown: Bradford, Vermont

 

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski

Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

 

Shock Specialist: Michael McCarville

Hometown: Kensington, Prince Edward Island, Canada

 

Mechanic: Allen Mincey

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Atlanta Notes of Interest:
· Dynamic Duo: While this isHarvick’s 20th year in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s his seventh with crew chief Rodney Childers, which is the longest pairing of any current driver-crew chief combination. Since joining forces at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014, Harvick and Childers have combined to produce 26 points-paying victories, a victory in the non-points-paying 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 25 Busch poles, 108 top-five finishes and 157 top-10s while leading 9,770 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Kyle Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

 

· Harvick has career totals of 49 wins, 31 poles, 208 top-fives, 366 top-10s and 14,202 laps led in 686 starts.

 

· His most recent Cup Series win and Busch Pole bothcame in November 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

 

· Harvick’s 49 career NASCAR Cup Series victories puts him in a tie with his boss, Tony Stewart, for 14th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. He is third on the active driver list behind Jimmie Johnson and Busch. Harvick’s next win will tie him with Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett for 13th on the all-time list with 50 wins.

 

· At the Homestead season finale in 2019, Harvick became just the 11th driver to have led 14,000 laps in his NASCAR career. He’s led 14,202 and trails 10th-place Busch, who has led 17,446, and Johnson, who is ninth with 18,847 laps led.

 

· Points Position: Harvick arrives at Atlanta first in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 164 points, one marker ahead of second-place Joey Logano.

 

· Overwhelming Start – First Cup Series Win: Following Dale Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Harvick was named the driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and made his Cup Series debut the following weekend at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway, where he finished 14th. The following Wednesday, as the series headed west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Harvick married his wife DeLana. The following Sunday, Harvick scored his first career Cup Series top-10. Then, on March 11, less than one month since his debut in NASCAR’s top series, Harvick scored his first Cup Series win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

 

· Harvick in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta: The Folds of Honor 500 will mark Harvick’s 30th career NASCAR Cup Series start at Atlanta. Harvick has two wins, eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10s at the 1.54-mile oval. The 44-year-old driver has led a series-best 1,197 laps, has an average starting position of 16.3, an average finish of 16.3, and has completed 98.2 percent (9,217 of 9,390) of the laps he’s contested there.

 

· Harvick in the Xfinity Series at Atlanta: Harvick has won four of his last six NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and has top-five finishes in 11 of his last 12 starts. Harvick has five wins, 11 top-five finishes and 13 top-10s and has led 937 laps. He is not scheduled to compete in the 2020 Atlanta Xfinity Series race.

 

· 110 and Counting – Harvick scored his 100th career win in NASCAR’s top three series with his March 2018 Las Vegas win. He now has 110 total victories – 49 in the Cup Series, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Truck Series. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have passed 100 wins in NASCAR’s top three series: Richard Petty, David Pearson and Busch.

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Cherry Vanilla Coke Racing: Daniel Suárez Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Preview

Cherry Vanilla Coke Racing: Daniel Suárez Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Preview
MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (March 11, 2020) – Daniel Suárez and the iconic Coca-Cola brand have enjoyed a fun and flavorful relationship dating back to the Mexican driver’s first full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015. They celebrated an Xfinity Series championship together in 2016, and their partnership has grown to be as strong as ever through what is now Suárez’s fourth season in the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series.

 

This weekend, Suárez will help introduce a brand new flavor combination when he gets behind the wheel of his No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) during the Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just down the road from Coca-Cola headquarters.

 

Cherry Vanilla Coke may be the newest addition to the company’s product lineup, but research shows it’s a pair of flavors its fans have combined on their own using the already existing Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke products – the equivalent of more than 105 million cans of “Cherry Vanilla Coke” since 2017. That’s nearly a can a minute over a three-year span, and the research shows the combination has proven to be most popular on Christmas Day and the month of April.

 

With their racecar adorned with the colorful Cherry Vanilla Coke paint scheme, one of the newest driver-and-team combinations in the NASCAR Cup Series – Suárez and GBR – look to continue their inaugural, full-season run together at the fast, 1.5-mile Atlanta oval. They’re coming off the annual three-race West Coast Swing, where they showed steady progress with finishes of 30th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 28th at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and 21st at Phoenix Raceway.

 

This weekend, they’ll take to the track where, in his three previous Cup Series appearances, Suárez has a best start of fourth in 2018 with Joe Gibbs Racing and a best finish of 10th from the fifth starting position last season with Stewart-Haas Racing. In two Xfinity Series outings at Atlanta, both with the Gibbs team, he has a best start of third and best finish of seventh, both en route to the series title in 2016. In a pair of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races at Atlanta, he has a best start and finish of fourth in 2015 driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

 

Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 62 Cup Series races atop the pitbox, called the shots at two previous races at Atlanta. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the 2014 race, starting 30th and finishing 35th. His driver Michael McDowell started 32nd and finished 33rd in the 2016 race driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.

 

This weekend marks the second Atlanta Cup Series start for the No. 96 GBR Toyota. In the 2019 race, driver Parker Kligerman drove it to a 30th-place finish from the 34th starting position.

 

With the colors of the exciting new flavor combination adorning his racecar and firesuit and a legion of Coca-Cola associates and guests rooting them on at their home track, Suárez and his GBR teammates hope to take a giant step forward this weekend at Atlanta after showing steady progress in their first four weekends together this season.

Daniel Suárez: Driver of the No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:
 

You’re introducing the brand new Cherry Vanilla Coke flavor combination at Atlanta this weekend. What does that mean to you?

“Coca-Cola has supported me since 2015 and it’s definitely an honor to be representing such an iconic brand that’s so popular all over the world. I grew up enjoying Coca-Cola in Mexico and I never dreamed I’d be driving a racecar for them in the U.S. It’s very exciting to have the unique Cherry Vanilla Coke paint scheme on my racecar and on my firesuit this weekend. We’ll be doing a lot of really cool things with the Coca-Cola folks this week, leading up to the race. We’ll also have an on-board camera on our racecar all weekend. So I hope we can give them our best result of the season on Sunday.”

 

What’s the key to posting a good result at Atlanta Motor Speedway?

“It’s a very fast mile-and-a-half oval and the surface is very old and very hard on the tires. So you have to have a well-balanced racecar that will make it possible to get the most out of your tire wear each run. You can usually run the top and the bottom of the racetrack, so you have to find where you’re going to get the most out of the car. All of that is why the races at Atlanta are always so exciting.”

 

You and the team nearly scored your first top-20 finish in just your fourth race weekend together Sunday at Phoenix. How do you feel about the progress you and the team have been making?

“The best thing about this team is all the great support we are getting from Coca-Cola, CommScope and Toyota, and we know that there will be a day when we will be competing for race wins with them. It’s obviously very early and everyone has very realistic expectations, considering this is a one-car team that is running the full season for the first time. I’ve said all along that the goal is to go out every weekend and do better than we did last weekend. So far, the results at the end of the race have shown that. But, believe me, it’s a very challenging process and we just have to keep working hard.”

 

No. 96 Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry Team Report
Race 5 of 36 – Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 – Atlanta
 
Car No. 96: Cherry Vanilla Coke Toyota Camry

At Track PR Contact: Laz Denes with True Speed Communication (Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

 

Driver: Daniel Suárez

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

 

Crew Chief: Dave Winston

Hometown: Miami, Florida

 

Car Chief: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

 

Engine Specialist: Kirk Butterfield

Hometown: Carrollton, Ohio

 

Engine Builder: Toyota Racing Development

Headquarters: Costa Mesa, California

 

Spotter: Steve Barkdoll

Hometown: Garrison, Iowa

Over-The-Wall Crew:

 

Gas Man: Cory White

Hometown: Vinson, Iowa

 

Front Tire Changer: Mike Mead

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

 

Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Traino

Hometown: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

 

Tire Carrier: Mason Harris

Hometown: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

 

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois

 

Windshield: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

Road Crew:

 

Truck Driver: Gary “Turtle” Clem

Hometown: Eaton, Ohio

 

Shock Specialist: David Stillman

Hometown: Appleton, Wisconsin

 

Mechanic: Evan Snider

Hometown: Scottdale, Pennsylvania

 

Tire Specialist: Liz Prestella

Hometown: South Lake Tahoe, California

 

Mechanic: Cory White

Hometowns: Vinson, Iowa

 

Mechanic: Glenn “Cheeseburger” Hilchey

Hometown: Bennington, Vermont

Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Notes of Interest:

 

  • After piloting the No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018, then the No. 41 Cup Series entry for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Suárez has joined the single-car No. 96 Toyota Camry effort for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) for the full 2020 season.
  • Suárez will make his 112th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 on the 1.5-mile oval at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has career totals of eight top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and 241 laps led, with an average start of 15.6 and an average finish of 17.3. He also has qualified on the pole twice.
  • In three previous Cup Series outings at Atlanta, Suárez has a best start of fourth in 2018, when he finished 15th in his Gibbs Toyota, and a best finish of 10th from the fifth starting position last year in his Stewart-Haas entry.
  • In a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta, Suárez scored a best start of third and a best finish of seventh in his most recent outing en route to the 2016 series championship for the Gibbs team.
  • He also has a pair of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series outings at Atlanta with a best start and finish of fourth, both in 2015 driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.
  • Suárez competed from 2009 through 2014 in the NASCAR Peak Mexico Series. In 76 starts, he earned 10 victories, 26 top-five finishes, 39 top-10s and qualified on the pole 13 times. He had an average start of 8.7, an average finish of 12.4, led 1,216 laps, and had best finishes of second and third in the season standings in 2013 and 2012, respectively.
  • Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 62 Cup Series races atop the pit box, called the shots at two previous races at Atlanta. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the 2014 race, starting 30th and finishing 35th. His driver Michael McDowell started 32nd and finished 33rd in the 2016 race driving the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.
  • This weekend marks the second Atlanta Cup Series start for the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Toyota. In the 2019 race, driver Parker Kligerman drove to 30th-place finish from the 34th starting position.
  • At last Sunday’s FanShield 500k on the Phoenix Raceway mile oval, Suárez started 31st and finished 21st. Suárez arrives at Atlanta 31st in the Cup Series standings, 132 points out of first.
  • Coca-Cola and CommScope continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing. The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title. CommScope, a leader in communication network technology, has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.
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NASCAR DRIVER TO MEET FANS & HONOR LOCAL HERO AND RACE FAN

NASCAR DRIVER TO MEET FANS & HONOR LOCAL HERO AND RACE FAN

LifeLink® of Georgia and Donate Life Georgia to host

NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Gase to honor organ, eye & tissue donors

 Hampton, GA (March 11, 2020) – Following his mother’s death in 2011 from a sudden brain aneurysm, NASCAR driver Joey Gase made the decision to donate her organs, eyes and tissues, which ultimately touched the lives of 66 individuals in desperate need of a transplant.  Since then, Gase has become as passionate about donation as he is about racing.  In 2015, he was awarded NASCAR’s inaugural COMCAST Community Outreach Award for his work supporting organ, eye and tissue donation and donor families. Rick Ware Racing is excited that Gase will pilot the No. 53 entry in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. (more…)

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