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No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Supermarket Heroes 500 Race Advance

by MikeMay 30, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Mustang team venture a little more than four hours to the north and west from their Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) headquarters to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500. Custer will make his first Cup Series start at the Tennessee track and 12th career Cup Series start.

The No. 41 Ford Mustang will sport the colors of co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, HaasTooling.com, for the short-track event. Haas Tooling was launched a few weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools are sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end users.
Custer spent the last week honing his craft at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the season’s longest race – Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600, and Thursday night’s Alsco Uniforms 500k. His first Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile track last Sunday netted Custer a 12th-place finish after recovering from falling one lap down earlier in the race. He earned an 18th-place finish in Thursday night’s 500-kilometer – 310-mile – race after battling a loose-handling No. 41 Mustang.
The Cup Series has completed one race at a short track this season at Phoenix Raceway in March, where Custer and the No. 41 team finished ninth. The series will run a similar package this weekend at Bristol and the HaasTooling.com driver hopes to capture another top-10 this weekend.

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Custer had six consecutive starts at Bristol from 2017 through 2019. Five of those resulted in top-five qualifying positions. The California native has two Xfinity Series pole awards at Bristol – April 2018 and 2019. Custer has four top-10 finishes in the series at Bristol, with 31 laps led. Custer also has three Bristol outings in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Bristol, all starting in the top-10 with a pair of top-10 finishes and 111 laps led.
While the NASCAR season has resumed, the sport also continues to do its part during the COVID-19 pandemic. SHR’s partnership with Novant Health continues to expand. So far, SHR has helped transport and deliver millions of face masks for Novant, in addition to building intensive care unit webcam carts. Now, SHR is now providing 25,000 square feet of property adjacent to its shop in Kannapolis, North Carolina, for Novant’s partnership with Zipline, the world’s only national-scale, on-demand drone logistics service. Zipline will deliver medical supplies via its fleet of drones to Novant Health’s integrated system of physician practices, hospitals and outpatient centers. Click here to download b-roll of site build, drone delivery and interviews.

In SHR’s 70 starts at Bristol, the team has earned two pole awards and two victories. The championship team has 10 top-fives, 29 top-10s and 873 laps led at the high-banked, concrete oval.
Haas Automation, founded by Haas in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together. Custer was the third-highest-finishing rookie at Charlotte Thursday night and looks to improve his position Sunday afternoon at a track where he’s run well in the past.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’ve wrapped up a couple races at a mile-and-a-half track. Do you feel like you learned a lot, and can apply some things to the other mile-and-a-halves coming up?

“We’ve learned a ton as a team over the last four races and running the 550 horsepower package. I think I have a better understanding of the cars now and it’s just applying it in the future.”
In the Xfinity Series, you’ve done really well at Bristol as long as you haven’t had something happen. Why do you think you excel there, or what makes it suit your driving style so much?
“Bristol has been a good track for me in Xfinity. It’s a track that has always come a little natural to me, I feel like. I like the feel of it and being able to move around in the lanes. It’s a lot about keeping momentum. The bottom is about hooking the line. Sunday it’s just a matter of running a lot longer race and a lot of cars to pass, which makes it chaotic.”
You had a ninth-place finish at Phoenix earlier this year. You’ll run the same package at Bristol. Do you favor the 750 package?
“I think the 750 horsepower package is definitely something that’s more natural to me because it’s similar to the Xfinity car. A lot of the stuff I did in the Xfinity car transfers over to this 750 package in the Cup Series. It doesn’t do that with the 550 horsepower package we run at a lot track in Cup. So I’d say I’m more comfortable and used to the 750.”
We’re going back to a little bit of a traditional NASCAR schedule with one race per week. Are you looking forward to going back to more of a traditional schedule? Or were you really starting to like the two races per week schedule?
“I think it was nice to kind of mix it up with the mid-week races. It was interesting and I think it might get used in the future some. I don’t think it’s something you could do all year long though. You need to have a break at some point. It’ll be nice to go back to our week by week schedule to catch our breath and look at what we learned to apply to future races.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 9 of 36 – Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol

Car No. 41: HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Lauren Emling with True Speed Communication (Lauren.Emling@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Bristol Motor Speedway Notes of Interest:

Cole Custer will make his first Cup Series start Sunday afternoon at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The start will bring his career Cup Series total to 12.
The California native earned 12th- and 18th-place finishes at the series’ most recent events at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
The Ford driver has six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol, all from the top-10 position on the grid, and he has two top-five finishes and four top-10s. Two of his top-10 starts were from the pole – April 2017 and April 2018. He also has three NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series starts at the half-mile track with a best finish of sixth.

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Racing: Aric Almirola Bristol I Race Advance

by MikeMay 30, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) continue their return to racing after the COVID-19 postponements with a fan and driver favorite – short-track competition at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Sunday, avid and new fans of the NASCAR Cup Series will get the chance to witness the typically action-packed, 500-lap race that will test the physical and mental stamina of its drivers.

“Bristol is the ultimate test of physical stamina mixed with finesse of how you position your racecar,” Almirola said. “You’re on the edge of your seat every lap and the slightest mistake can set you back. It helps to be in great shape for races like Bristol when you get toward the end of the long, green-flag run. During the break, I stayed busy with my workout regimen to prepare for races like this with heat training and cycling.”

After four races in 12 days, Almirola and the Smithfield Ford team are excited to mix up the racing styles and get back to short-track racing – something they think the fans will enjoy.

“NASCAR has done such an incredible job getting us back racing,” Almirola said. “We’re one of the only sports to watch right now and Sunday will be a prime time for new fans to see what NASCAR is all about. They’re going to see beating and banging the entire race, cars barely holding on, and frustration from a lot of us drivers. I think we’re going to gain a lot of new race fans Sunday and I hope the No. 10 Smithfield car is up front to gain some new fans for ourselves.”

Almirola’s 2019 outcomes at Bristol were not favorable for the 36-year-old – not of his own fault. After a solid sixth-place qualifying run in the April 2019 Bristol event, Almirola was struck by the No. 24 car and taken out of the race on lap three. Following another solid fifth-place qualifying effort in the August race, Almirola made contact with a lapped car that ultimately led him to finish 18 laps off the pace.

“Bristol is a track I always look forward to going to,” Almirola said. “We just haven’t had luck on our side the last few races there. I feel confident there, too. We just need some things to go our way to actually finish a solid race.”

Almirola and the Smithfield Ford team have restarted the season with one top-10 and have held their ninth-place position in the standings with 225 points – 106 behind leader Kevin Harvick.

He has one top-five and three top-10s in 20 starts at Bristol since 2007. His best finish there was third in the Food City 500 on March 16, 2004. In addition to his Cup Series experience at Bristol, Almirola has seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts with four of those resulting in top-10 finishes.

Almirola will sport the iconic black, white and gold Smithfield Ford Mustang this weekend at Bristol. Smithfield Foods Inc., who will sponsor Almirola’s car at the majority of races this season, is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing “Good Food. Responsibly®,” and have made it one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies.

The starting grid for Sunday’s race was determined Friday by random draw in order of owner points positions. Almirola will start the Food City Presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 from second.

Aric Almirola: Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

How does Bristol’s track surface change during the race?

“Bristol is one of those places where the track changes throughout the run, especially in the last couple of years, when they put the (traction) compound down on the bottom groove. That has tended to get rubbered up and get really slick as the run moves on and the cars migrate to the top of the racetrack. The top of the racetrack is not very good when it’s clean but, when it starts to rubber up, it actually gains momentum and gets faster, so the groove moves around a lot from run to run and throughout the run, and that makes it fun and it makes it exciting. As a driver, it gives you the option to search around and look for speed.”

Sunday’s race honors Supermarket Heroes. How important is it to recognize these essential workers in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak?

“The food workers are every bit as important as the front-line workers. We have to have food to survive as a nation and we have to have medical resources. You can’t have just one or the other. I think it’s so cool that we are acknowledging them this weekend because they are the heartbeat of our nation. We wake up every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Without them, we don’t have that.”

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report
Round 8 of 36 – Food City Presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol Motor Speedway

Car No. 10: Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Dakota Hunter with True Speed Communication (Dakota.Hunter@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

Driver: Aric Almirola

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Mike Bugarewicz

Hometown: Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Racing

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Spotter: Joel Edmonds

Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Gas Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Front Tire Changer: Clay Robinson

Hometown: Simi Valley, Calif.

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris McMullen

Hometown: Canton, Michigan

Jackman: Corbin Martin

Hometown: Winston Salem, North Carolina

Notes of Interest:

● Almirola will make his 22nd Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway start in the NASCAR Cup Series Sunday to bring his total of career Cup Series starts to 325.

o The Smithfield driver is looking to capture his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

● In Almirola’s three NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series starts at “The Last Great Colosseum,” he finished second, sixth and 32nd, the latter due to an accident.

● The Smithfield driver has seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol with one top-five finish and four top-10s.

● Career: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 18 top-five finishes, 64 top-10s and 543 laps led in 324 starts.

● Points: Almirola sits ninth in the driver standings with 225 points – 106 behind leader and SHR teammate Kevin Harvick.

● Last win: Almirola’s Oct. 14, 2018 win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was his most recent in the Cup Series.

● ‘Beyond the 10’ – Almirola is back with season two of his YouTube documentary series, where fans can get VIP, behind-the-scenes access by subscribing to his YouTube channel. Episodes showcase never-before-seen footage of Almirola at the racetrack, on iRacing, and “A Day in the Life” during the week, as well as all that goes into a NASCAR Cup Series driver’s season. Click here to subscribe on YouTube and watch the latest episode.

● Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz is in his fifth full-time season at SHR and his first with Almirola. To learn more click here.

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Racing: Aric Almirola Charlotte II Race Advance

by MikeMay 25, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 25, 2020) – Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will head back to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Wednesday night for its second of back-to-back races at the 1.5-mile oval.

Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford team endured a difficult evening at Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. After starting in the rear from adjustments made on the car after slight contact with the wall in qualifying, the No. 10 team persevered and made its way back to the top-10 after 398 laps. On the final restart, Almirola was shuffled to the middle lane with no help and finished 16th. If it weren’t for the final caution, Almirola would have been the highest-finishing SHR driver and third-highest Ford driver.

As the Smithfield Ford team heads back to the 1.5-mile oval, it will take some things it learned from Sunday night’s race and apply it to Wednesday night’s 208-lap race, which is nearly half of the Coca Cola 600’s.

“Sunday was a long day,” Almirola said. “We battled loose-handling conditions, then neutral, then extremely tight conditions with those long runs and it made it so difficult to pass. We won’t have those same issues coming back here on Wednesday with the stage lengths being so much shorter, so that’s something that we’ll have to adapt to. It’s nearly half of Sunday’s race, so you’re going to see completely different strategies from teams.”

Almirola will again run a special red, white and blue patriotic paint scheme with Smithfield adorning the hood. Smithfield Foods Inc., who will sponsor Almirola’s car this weekend and at the majority of races this season, is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly®,” and have made it one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies.

Last weekend, Almirola ran the same patriotic paint scheme that featured United States Army SPC Seth Blevins, who paid the ultimate sacrifice in 2011 in Eastern Kunar Province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

“It was a big deal,” Almirola said. “I was honored to have him and his family on my car. We get to do whatever we want, whenever we want, because he paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

The 36-year-old Almirola has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte and garnered one top-five finish, three top-10s and has completed 99.4 percent of all possible laps. He also has two Charlotte starts in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, which both resulted in top-10 finishes.

Almirola has three top-10s this season and sits 10th in the driver standings with 208 points – 83 behind first-place SHR teammate Kevin Harvick.

After a rollercoaster of difficulties and perseverance Sunday night, Almirola has a simple approach to his second Charlotte race in three days.

“We’ll regroup and get ’em on Wednesday night,” he said. “We did it in Darlington.”

Aric Almirola: Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Will there be takeaways from the Coke 600 to apply to a race with almost half the laps?

“Yes and no. We’re still racing at night, so that applies, but we won’t see those extremely long runs. The team and I have to take our notes from shorter runs similar to what we’ll see Wednesday night. It will be action-packed, and track position and perfection on pit road will be even more important because there won’t be many laps to catch up.”

What do you do to prepare yourself for four races in 11 days?

“I’ve done a lot of heat training and I stay extremely active on my bike at home. It’s something I have always seen as a boost to my career. I know I’m physically prepared when I get in that car and, at the end of the race, I feel hydrated and ready to go.”

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report
Round 7 of 36 – Alsco Uniforms 500k – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Car No. 10: Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Dakota Hunter with True Speed Communication (Dakota.Hunter@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

Driver: Aric Almirola

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Mike Bugarewicz

Hometown: Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Racing

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Spotter: Joel Edmonds

Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Gas Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Front Tire Changer: Clay Robinson

Hometown: Simi Valley, Calif.

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris McMullen

Hometown: Canton, Michigan

Jackman: Corbin Martin

Hometown: Winston Salem, North Carolina

Notes of Interest:

● Almirola will make his 15th NASCAR Cup Series start at Charlotte Wednesday night to bring his total of career Cup Series starts to 324.

o The Smithfield driver is looking to capture his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

Almirola has one career Cup Series top-10 finish at Charlotte, along with one pole award – both earned in 2012.

● Career: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 18 top-five finishes, 64 top-10s and 543 laps led in 323 starts.

● The 35-year-old has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte with one top-five finish, three top-10s and a lap-completion rate of 99.4 percent. Almirola also has two starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Charlotte, which both resulted in top-10 finishes.

● Points: Almirola sits 10th in the driver standings with 209 points – 83 behind leader Kevin Harvick.

● Last win: Almirola’s Oct. 14, 2018 win at Talladega was his most recent in the Cup Series.

● Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz is in his fifth full-time season at SHR and his first with Almirola. To learn more click here.

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Racing: Aric Almirola Charlotte 1 Race Advance

by MikeMay 22, 2020

ARIC ALMIROLA

Racing for Those Who Make Freedom To Race Possible

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 21, 2020) – Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will head just a few miles down the road from the race shop for Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. This marks the third race in eleven days to continue NASCAR’s return to racing amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Almirola and the No. 10 team returned to racing strong by moving up a position in the point standings after a 12th-place finish in the first Darlington race and earning his best finish of eighth in the second Darlington race on Wednesday.

“I feel like we might have become even more competitive now that we’ve picked back up than we were before,” said Almirola. “We’ve got one of the crown jewels coming up this weekend. The 600-mile race at Charlotte is one everyone has on their bucket list to win. I’m excited based on the way we’ve run the last few races here at Darlington. I’m excited to continue the momentum from Darlington and see if we can get ourselves a win there.”

Once again joining the Memorial Day weekend tradition of honoring America’s fallen service members as part of the NASCAR Salutes initiative, the windshield header of each NASCAR Cup Series car will feature the name of a fallen service member. The No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang will feature United States Army SPC Seth Blevins. Army SPC Blevins was a 2008 graduate of Eastern High School in Sardina, Ohio, where he was in the band, ran track, played basketball and soccer. His academic and extracurricular activities qualified him for National Honor Society.

SPC Blevins was heavily involved in his local community as a youth, participating in a number of activities including the Brown County Fair. He attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied criminal justice. After being accepted into Ohio University in Athens, he applied for the ROTC program and joined the Army a year after.

The soldiers on the No. 4 (Army Staff SGT Kristofferson B. Lorenzo), 10 (SPC Blevins) and 14 (Army PFC Andrew M. Krippner) were all members of the same unit that made the ultimate sacrifice in the same incident . On May 23 in eastern Kunar province, Afghanistan, their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. They were nominated by SHR fabricator Matthew Ridgway – who didn’t know them personally, but joined their battalion after the incident and according to him, “knows them as well as you could know someone you’ve never met based on the stories from fellow soldiers he served with.”

“It is such an honor to drive a race car in memorial day weekend and honor and remember some of fallen heroes that have paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we get to do what we do,” Almirola said. “It is so cool and such a humbling experience to represent these men and women. For me personally, I’ll be able to represent Seth Blevins and to have his name on the windshield is just a very cool experience. To be able to pay my respect to someone like Seth who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country so we can be free every day is amazing – but it’s not free. People like Seth and many more of our fallen heroes have paid that sacrifice and we’re so grateful and thankful for all of them men and women who serve our country.”

Almirola will run a special red, white, and blue patriotic paint scheme with Smithfield adorning the hood. Smithfield Foods Inc., who will sponsor Almirola’s car this weekend and at the majority of races this season, is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly®” and have made it one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies.

The 36-year-old has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte and garnered one top-five finish, three top-10s and has completed 99.4 percent of all possible laps. He also has two starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Charlotte, which both resulted in top-10 finishes.

Almirola has three top-10s this season and sits seventh in the points standings with 186 points – 72 behind first place Kevin Harvick.

Aric Almirola: Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What does it take to win at Charlotte?

“It takes the same thing to win at Charlotte as it does Darlington honestly. You’ve got to have a car that handles well with grip and it’s a fast track. It’s got to be a fast car and unload fast with no practice and I feel like our organization has really closed the gap on where we were a year ago. We were not very good at Darlington last year and then I felt like we could have had all SHR cars running in the top-10 this year. As an organization we have certainly closed the gap and I think that will translate to Charlotte as well.”

Why is Charlotte a race that drivers have on their bucket list?

“Charlotte has been really good to me. I think it will be nice to race at Charlotte at home. It still stinks we can’t have fans here, but it’s still nice racing at home and knowing our shop is just a few miles up the road from the race track. We have a lot of pride running at Charlotte knowing it’s a home race for the teams and the crews guys and everyone.”

How is racing three times in 11 days?

“Racing Darlington two weekends in a row is unique and challenging itself. Being able to go from Darlington to the next new race track will bring back some normalcy like we’re used to. I’m excited about that and excited to get back in the routine and get back going from track to track.”

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report
Round 6 of 36 – Coca-Cola 600 – Charlotte Motor Speedway

Car No. 10: Smithfield Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Dakota Hunter with True Speed Communication (Dakota.Hunter@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

Driver: Aric Almirola

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Mike Bugarewicz

Hometown: Lehighton, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Racing

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Spotter: Joel Edmonds

Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Gas Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Front Tire Changer: Clay Robinson

Hometown: Simi Valley, Calif.

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Chris McMullen

Hometown: Canton, Michigan

Jackman: Corbin Martin

Hometown: Winston Salem, North Carolina

Notes of Interest:

● Almirola will make his 14th NASCAR Cup Series start at Charlotte Sunday to bring his total of career Cup Series starts to 323.

o The Smithfield driver is looking to capture his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

● Almirola has one career Cup Series top-10 finish at Charlotte, along with one pole award – both earned in 2012.

● Career: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 18 top-five finishes, 64 top-10s and 543 laps led in 322 starts.

● The 36-year-old has eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte with one top-five finish, three top-10s and a lap-completion rate of 99.4 percent. Almirola also has two starts in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Charlotte, which both resulted in top-10 finishes.

● Points: Almirola sits seventh in the driver standings with 186 points – 72 behind leader Kevin Harvick.

● Last win: Almirola’s Oct. 14, 2018 win at Talladega was his most recent in the Cup Series.

● Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz is in his fifth full-time season at SHR and his first with Almirola. To learn more click here.

No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang: Cole Custer Folds of Honor 500 Race Advance

by MikeMarch 12, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (March 11, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will compete at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday in this season’s second event at an intermediate track. Custer will make his first career NASCAR Cup Series start at the 1.54-mile track in Sunday’s Folds of Honor 500.

Custer heads to Atlanta coming off of his best career Cup Series finish, ninth, earned at Phoenix Raceway. The young driver was also the highest finishing 2020 Rookie of the Year contender. The Haas Automation driver started 16th and battled an intermittent power steering problem along with a tight-handling Mustang and finished ninth in the 316-lap event. It was a solid day for the four-car SHR organization with all four entries finishing in the top-10 in the season’s fourth race.
For the last five seasons, Atlanta was the second race of the season. The track is significant because it’s a 1.5-mile layout and a majority of the tracks on the Cup Series circuit are that length and similarly shaped. If things go well this weekend at Atlanta for Custer and the SHR organization, it bodes well for the team’s competitiveness on the same style of track for the rest of the season.
SHR has two wins at the Georgia track – Kevin Harvick in 2018 and team co-owner Tony Stewart in September 2010. Additionally, the Kannapolis, North Carolina team has amassed four pole awards and a total of nine top-fives and nine top-10s, in 39 starts there.
Custer has three starts at Atlanta in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with two top-10 finishes in three starts. Last year, he captured the pole position and finished second to Christopher Bell. He has one Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series start at Atlanta. He started sixth in 2016 and finished 17th.
In his last nine Xfinity Series starts at 1.5-mile tracks, Custer earned two wins, four top-fives, six top-10s and one pole award. The victories were captured at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, and Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. He led a total of 410 laps in the nine starts on his way to an average finishing position of 10.4 and an average starting position of 3.2.
The 22-year-old has made two starts at intermediate tracks behind the wheel of a Cup Series car, both at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The first occurred in March 2018, when he started 30th and finished 25th for the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing team. The second was in his No. 41 Mustang last month, when he started 17th and finished 19th.
“The Xfinity cars have more horsepower than the Cup cars at the bigger tracks, but the Cup cars have a lot more downforce and drag,” Custer said. “The Cup cars are going slower down the straightaways, but much faster in the corners. For me, the biggest difference is getting used to how much speed I can actually carry into the corner with the Cup car, when I’ve been doing something different for three years.”
Haas Automation, founded in 1983 by SHR co-owner Gene Haas, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1 million-square-foot Oxnard manufacturing facility and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.
Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for the honor with notables Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together.

Cole Custer: Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What do you do to decompress after a race?
“It’s hard to decompress because all we think about is racing. I try and hang out with friends. We have a lake near the house in North Carolina and I like to go out on the boat with friends as a way to relax. I golf a little here and there, too.”
What is the biggest difference for you between the Xfinity and Cup Series?
“I think, for me, it is getting used to the cars. They are a lot different, especially with the 550 package, and how you work the throttle and everything. How you are going to do that is a lot different than Xfinity. At the same time, you make one little mistake and are a little off in one area, you will lose a ton of spots. Everybody here is pushing it to the limit. Everyone in the top-25 in the Cup Series is probably capable of winning races. It is a matter of trying to perfect every part of it.”
Have you had any pranks pulled on you as a Cup Series rookie?
“Nothing yet, but I’m waiting for it. I feel a guy like (Clint) Bowyer is probably going to be the first one to pull a prank on me. Who wouldn’t pick Bowyer as the first person to do it?”

No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 5 of 36 – Folds of Honor 500 – Atlanta

Car No. 41: Haas Automation Ford Mustang Team Report

At Track PR Contact: Mike Arning with True Speed Communication (Mike.Arning@TrueSpeedCommunication.com)

Primary Team:

Driver: Cole Custer

Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett

Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

Engine Specialist: Evan Cupples

Hometown: Hudson, Illinois

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engine Builder: Roush Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Fuelman: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas
Carrier: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Jackman: Brett Morrell

Hometown: Windham, Maine

Front Changer: Josh Leslie

Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Road Crew:

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot and Scott Robbins

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York and Woodfield, New Hampshire, respectively
Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn

Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut
Mechanic: Nick McIntosh

Hometown: Havre, Montana
Tire Technician: Thomas Gagliano

Hometown: East Hampton, Connecticut
Engineers: Scott Bingham and Davin Restivo

Hometowns: Lawrenceville, Georgia and Ashboro, North Carolina, respectively
Mechanic: Joe Zanolini

Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Atlanta Motor Speedway Notes of Interest:

Cole Custer will make his first Atlanta Motor Speedway Cup Series start on Sunday to bring his total of career Cup Series starts to eight.
The Haas Automation driver finished ninth last weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Custer was the highest finishing Rookie of the Year contender at the suburban Phoenix track.
2020 marks Custer’s first fulltime season in the Cup Series and he will contend for Rookie of the Year honors along with four other Cup Series competitors.
The Ladera Ranch, California native has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Atlanta. In last year’s race he started from the pole position and finished runner-up in the 163-lap event. He also has one NASCAR Truck Series starts at the intermediate oval.
Custer will sign autographs at the SHR merchandise hauler in the fan midway on Sunday, March 15 beginning at 10:55 a.m.

NASCAR Xfinity Series News & Notes – Martinsville Speedway

by WebmasterMarch 21, 2019March 21, 2019

Tyler Reddick continues to remind the series why he’s the champ

Atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series driver championship standings following the fifth race of the season at Auto Club Speedway last weekend, sits the 2018 Xfinity champion, Tyler Reddick, with a seven-point lead over second-place Cole Custer. For the second straight week the Richard Childress Racing driver holds the coveted first position in the points, reminding everyone his title last season wasn’t a fluke. (more…)