Cole Custer | The MotorSportsNews.Net(work)

22nd-Place Result for Custer at Darlington

by MikeMay 18, 2020

Ford Driver Completes First Cup Race at South Carolina Track

Date: May 17, 2020

Event: The Real Heroes 400

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.366-mile oval)

Format: 293 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/108 laps)

Start/Finish: 14th/22nd (Running, completed 293 of 293 laps)

Point Standing: 24th with 88 points, 130 out of first

Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-90):

● Cole Custer started 14th and finished 21st.

● Within the first 10 laps Custer worked his way into the top-10.

● On lap 12 he reported his HaasTooling.com Mustang was tight.

● The Ford driver reached the eighth spot by lap 18.

● During the competition caution on lap 30, Custer reported his Mustang was still too tight while in the ninth position.

● He restarted on lap 39 after a pit stop for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

● Ended Stage 1 in the 21st spot with a tight Ford Mustang. Pitted during the break for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his tight condition.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185):

● Custer started 18th and finished 22nd.

● During the lap-110 caution Custer radioed to his crew that his HaasTooling.com Mustang was much better that run, but still a little tight. He pitted from 14th and restarted 15th on lap 116.

● During a caution on lap 125 Custer said his car was tight and pitted from 21st for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

● Restarted 17th on lap 130.

● Caution displayed on lap 156 with Custer in the 22nd position. He reported his Mustang “wasn’t bad” during that run and visited pit road for service.

● Restarted 22nd on lap 161, and was in the 19th spot on lap 165.

● Caution once again on lap 173 and Custer reported his car was decent from the 19th spot. Pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments, and restarted 21st.

● Custer came down pit road during the Stage 2 break from 22nd for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help loosen his Mustang.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-293):

● Custer started 22nd and finished 22nd.

● Caution on lap 211 with the California native in the 22nd position. He reported his HaasTooling.com Mustang was pretty good, but was struggling to pass.

● Restarted 22nd on lap 218 and was 23rd when the next caution was displayed on lap 250.

● Pitted on lap 254 for fuel, four tires and adjustments to loosen up his Ford Mustang. Restarted 22nd on lap 258.

● With 25 laps left, Custer was back in the top-20.

● The Cup Series rookie finished 22nd in his first series start at Darlington.

Notes:

● There were 10 caution periods for a total of 57 laps.

● Only 24 of the 40 drivers in The Real Heroes 400 finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 28-point advantage over second-place Bowman.

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

“Definitely wasn’t the day we wanted at Darlington. We started off the race really good. We were in the top-10 and I was pretty confident with the car, but I think I probably started out too conservative. I didn’t want get the Darlington stripe and ruin our day my first time here in a Cup car. I think I put us too far behind and it was so hard to come back from there. I’m looking forward to Wednesday. I feel like I learned a lot and we’ll be a lot stronger.”

Next Up:

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Darlington on Wednesday, May 20 for a 500-kilometer race. It starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

COLE CUSTER Ready To Return to Racing at Darlington

by MikeMay 12, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 11, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will make the two-hour drive to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for Sunday’s 400-mile race. Custer’s Mustang will showcase a new livery that represents Gene Haas’ newest holding, Haas Tooling. Haas Tooling was launched just weeks ago as a way for CNC machinists to purchase high quality cutting tools at great prices. Haas’ cutting tools will be sold exclusively online at HaasTooling.com and shipped directly to end-users.

After a nine-week shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented large gatherings, the NASCAR Cup Series season resumes Sunday at the track that’s “Too Tough To Tame.” The remaining 2020 schedule is still fluid, but race fans and sports fans alike finally can rejoice with live racing action. While fans will not be allowed in the grandstands due to restrictions, NASCAR’s longtime television partner FOX will do its best to heighten the race action in living rooms across the nation and abroad.

What makes this weekend particularly unique for Custer is that he’s a rookie in NASCAR’s premiere series and will take the green flag on Sunday without ever turning a lap in NASCAR’s top series at the 1.366-mile oval. Even though that will present challenges to the California native, he’s ready. “I think the best thing I can do is learn and figure out as much as I can in the first part of the race and get more aggressive as it goes,” Custer said. “When you don’t have practice, you don’t have the time to learn how much you can push all the lanes and the track in general, so I’ll have to work up to it a little.”
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington, the 22-year-old has three starts and managed stellar statistics. He hasn’t started or finished outside the top-10 in the Xfinity Series at the South Carolina track. He has one runner-up finish, as well as a victory, earned last year in the No. 00 Production Alliance Group Ford Mustang after the car that crossed the finish line first was disqualified. “It was a really strange ‘win’ for us,” Custer said. “I ran second there two years in a row and was definitely a little mad because that’s the coolest track you can win at. Then we ended up winning about an hour after the race was over. It’s definitely not the same as a real win, but we can take a little pride in it that we could go there and compete for wins with the best of them.”
During the quarantine period, the young driver figured out that do-it-yourself projects are not as easy as they’re made to seem on popular television shows. Custer spent several days working on a seemingly easy project of installing a brick pathway from his garage to his house. He chronicled the effort via his Twitter account, but the project is at a standstill after he felt like he needs to call in professional help. “I’ve reached a point of where it’s beyond my abilities,” Custer said. “I got everything dug up and got the stuff I need, but I need to move the edging around so I can fit the pavers and I really don’t trust myself with that project.” Additionally, he released another episode of Cole Custer’s Cold Custard Review with his first store-bought custard review and a homemade version.
The Ford driver participated in three eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series iRaces – Talladega, Dover and North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Raceway. The virtual races have aired on FOX and provided an outlet for drivers to participate in at some form of racing from home.
SHR has 35 starts at Darlington and one victory earned by No. 4 driver Kevin Harvick in 2014. In total, the Kannapolis-based Ford team has 10 top-fives and 18 top-10s in the Cup Series at the historic track.
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 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 highest finishing Cup Series rookie at Phoenix Raceway with a ninth-place finish in March.

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

What have you been doing to stay in race-ready shape?
“Since I haven’t been able to go to the gym or anything, the best thing I feel like I’ve been doing is running to stay in shape. It definitely helps running long distances because it relates to how we run long races in the car.”
Midweek races were a hot topic heading into this season. They’re going to happen now, unexpectedly. What do you think about that?
“I think it’s cool that during this time we can kind of try things in the sport that we can’t during regular seasons. It will be cool getting to see how midweek races work and how we will manage that as a team.”
NASCAR hasn’t seen a break like this before. Do you feel like you’re starting the season over now, since it has been so many weeks since the last race?
“It’s definitely a little strange because, during the offseason, you still have things to work on for the next year. But, during this time, we weren’t really allowed to. So we went completely without racing for a couple of months and it has us all dying to get back.”
You talk to your teammates before each race, but you seem to really rely on Kevin Harvick for advice. Have you talked to him yet about Darlington? Or do you plan to? It seems his advice may be more important than ever, given that you will not have any time on the track there before you climb in the car.
“Yes, it’s definitely going to be more important than ever to talk with my teammates about what to expect going into the race. They’ve been some of the best to get advice from and, especially for a track like Darlington, you’ll want as much advice as you can get.”
What do you think it’s going to be like to be at the track but not have any fans on pit road or in the stands?
“It will make before and after the race very strange, not having the fans in the stands. But, once you get in the car and get racing, you’ll be focused on trying to not hit the wall more than anything at Darlington.”
You’ve participated in a few virtual meet-and-greets with sponsors. How unique was that?
“It’s pretty cool because you can really spend just as much time or more with guests and have them ask questions. It’s pretty personable, too, because you’re in the same situation as they are – sitting at home.”
The new car for next season has been put on hold given the current situation. How much of an advantage is that for you, given that you’ll get another season in this year’s car? Whereas, before, you were going to spend time this year learning this car, then having to turn around and have to learn a whole different car for 2021.
“It will definitely help me and the team having the new car delayed. Having that extra time to learn and figure that car out will be important, and I think something we all just don’t want to rush into.”
Normally, you know every racetrack you’re going to and when, well before the season starts. Now there are changes in the schedule and you only know a few weeks out which track you’re going to. Does that make things more difficult for you? Or do you typically break the schedule up in sections, anyway, and not get too far ahead?
“I think the toughest part about it is getting prepared for the races when you only have a few days in between. When you have to go over everything from pit road, to the track, to restarts and everything in between, it makes it hard to get that all done in a couple days.”

Mike Shiplett: Crew Chief of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What have you been doing during the break besides working from home? Any house projects, car projects, anything like that?
“I’ve been working on house projects that I have been putting off for too long. Working in my garage on my 1937 pickup truck. It’s a complete rebuild into a hotrod with a stock-looking body and modern suspension. It’s one of those long-term projects.”
There has been talk of midweek races for a while and now they’re happening this year, unexpectedly. What do you think about that? How hard will it be to prepare for multiple races in one week, especially given the restrictions placed on employees at the shop?
“I think it’s a great idea to have races on Wednesday night. It gives the fans something to look forward to during the week. It will be hard to get four cars ready to race in two weeks, but we always find a way to get it done. We do have to limit the amount of people that are in the shop at one time, which makes it harder to get things done. We have a great group of people at the shop and I’m confident they will build great Fords to take to the track.”
As of right now, it sounds like you’re going to go through tech and then race immediately. How do you prepare for that? Would this be similar to getting ready for a situation when qualifying and practice are rained out?
“When we go to the track and we have practice and qualifying rained out, we usually don’t know that going into the weekend, so we have spent a lot of time working on our practice plan. Since we know going into this race we have no practice, that’s more time we can use our tools we have to build a setup for the race. We will have to use our teammates’ notes to help us, since Cole has never been to these tracks with a current Cup car. It will make it a little more challenging, but we have a great group of engineers on the No. 41 team that will get the job done.”
Will Darlington sort of feel like the first race of a new season since it has been several weeks since the last race?
“It will be the first time back at a track since this happened, but we have been doing all the same stuff each week, just from home. It’s different during the offseason with just having a shut down. We never knew when we would get back to the track. In the offseason, you know when Daytona is going to happen, and you count down from the last race of the season before.”
What advice do you have for Cole, or do you have a plan to give him for Darlington? He’s a rookie in a completely different car, at a track he hasn’t been to before in the Cup Series, and this is a difficult situation to be put in at a track that’s known to be one of the toughest.
“Go run every lap and we will work on the car each pit stop. Seat time is the best way to learn, and he will get a lot of that in the next few weeks.”
How many hours do you expect Cole to spend in the simulator getting ready for Darlington?
“We will get him into the simulator as many times as possible. Since all the Ford teams use the same simulator, time will be at a premium.”
Do you see the first Darlington race as a little bit of test and practice for the second Darlington race for Cole, since he hasn’t been there before in Cup?
“Our whole plan from the start of the season was to use the first quarter of the races as a test for each week to build for the future. With the current car being able to race next year, this will help Cole in his learning curve a lot. We’ve never had back-to-back points races at the same track before in NASCAR, so I feel it will help all the teams to be better for the next race three days later.”
You’ll be driving to races for the next several weeks. Does that kind of bring back an old-school feel when several of the tracks were within driving distance of the Charlotte area?
“Sort of, but we would all go in one van. This time, we all have to drive ourselves to keep safe distancing practices.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Team Report
Race 5 of 36 – Darlington 400 – Darlington

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

Darlington Raceway Notes of Interest:

Cole Custer will make his first Darlington (S.C.) Raceway NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday, bringing his total of career Cup Series starts to eight.
The 22-year-old finished ninth at Phoenix Raceway, the most recent Cup Series event in early March.
2020 mark’s 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 HaasTooling.com driver has three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 1.366-mile track in South Carolina. His lone victory at Darlington came last year after the original winner was disqualified. In 2018, Custer finished the race second in only his second Xfinity Series start. In all three career Xfinity Series outings, he has started and finished inside the top-10.

Richmond Preview: Harvick and Bowyer Similarly Locked In for Sunday’s Invitational

by MikeApril 17, 2020

Details:

• Race: Toyota Owners 150 (Round 4)

• Series: eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series

• Time/Date: 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 19

• Location: Virtual Richmond Raceway (.75-mile oval)

• Distance: 150 laps (112.5 miles)

Where to Watch:

• FOX network

• Announcers: Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds, with in-race commentary from Clint Bowyer.

• FS1 (DIRECTV Channel 219 and Dish Channel 150)

• FOX Sports app

• FOX Sports Racing for fans in Canada

• Twitch.tv/StewartHaaseSports

DYK?:

• Trivia Question: What are the three most-watched esports events on TV in United States history? Answer: The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series and the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. The March 29 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway was the most-watched esports event on TV in United States history. Simulcast on FOX and FS1, 1.34 million viewers tuned in, breaking the previous record set by the first eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race March 22 at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway by 47 percent. That broadcast earned 903,000 viewers on FS1 alone, which bested the previous record of 770,000 viewers when Mortal Kombat aired on The CW in 2016.

• But Wait, There’s More!: The last eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race April 5 at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway averaged 1.179 million viewers across FOX and FS1, making it the second most-watched sports telecast of the weekend and the No. 1 sport among adults age 18-49.

• Bet On It: The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series has been cleared and approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for wagering. Two types of bets are allowed for the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: winner of the race and head-to-head winner between drivers. Provisions for licensing the event includes a posting of the official rules for the tournament organizer and that all bets must cease once a race has started. Additionally, each bookmaker is allowed to create its own odds.

Overview:

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is an exhibition esports series featuring a collection of past and present racecar drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series.

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is a multi-week series emulating the original 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

• With the sports world on a necessary hiatus to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series exists in place of actual NASCAR events.

• The iRacing undercard event the day prior to Sunday’s headlining eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race is the Saturday Night Thunder race where 43 drivers will compete in virtual NASCAR Xfinity Series cars. The Thunder event complements the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, and NASCAR Cup Series drivers not competing in Sunday’s race are eligible for this race. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe will compete in Saturday Night Thunder.

• The livestream of Saturday Night Thunder begins at 8 p.m. EDT on eNASCAR.com/live. Single-car qualifying begins at 8:05 p.m., which sets the lineup for the four, 10-lap heat races, with each heat race including as many as 15 drivers. Six cars advance from each heat to the feature, with the final two spots in the 26-car field coming from the top-two finishers of a 15-lap consolation race, which takes place after the heat races and is comprised of drivers who have not yet qualified. The 125-lap feature race then follows.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang:

“I’ve been trying to practice one hour a day. I’ve got Busch Light on my Ford Mustang and I’m going to have fun with it. I did win a street stock race this week (on iRacing)…after I wrecked in the first four. I won a Legends race by default because the whole field crashed. But those are really my only two iRacing wins. They’re not pretty. I did wreck the whole field in a Legends race the other day after starting on the front row on lap one. So, that was high entertainment. I figure the whole iRacing thing is really something that’s supposed to be fun for everybody, supposed to be filler for a gap in time during this crazy pandemic. The whole iRacing thing has introduced me to a whole new network of people and it’s opened my eyes to a whole new group of racers. It’s a different culture, but it’s still a racing culture.”

• This is Harvick’s first eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race.

• In actual NASCAR Cup Series racing at Richmond, Harvick has three wins, 15 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes in 38 career starts.

• Harvick’s three wins came in September 2006, September 2011 and April 2013.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang:

“iRacing is extremely realistic. You’re using the same mechanics, the same forces, and the same movements you use in real life to make your car go fast, and that includes your hand-eye coordination and your feet. You drive these things so much with the pedals, with the gas, the brake, the steering input. All of those inputs in your mind are the exact same thing we use to put our car to the front of the field on any given Sunday. That being said, the only sense that you don’ t have in a simulator is the feel from the seat of your pants. We kind of call it the ‘butt dyno’. You balance a racecar kind of like if you put a plate on the end of an ink pen. That’s how you balance a racecar. That thing wants to go on all four different axis’, whether it’s the right-front, left-front, right-rear, left-rear, you can feel all those things, and that’s how you balance a car is through the seat of your pants. In iRacing, you don’t have that. All you have is your visuals, so once you have the hang of that and your mind finally catches on, it’s kind of like riding a bike. It’s a struggle for a little while, but once you catch on to that and realize what’s going on with the movements of your car and the movements of the track and things like that – when to pick up the gas, your timing – once you get all that set, it’s exactly like what we do in real life with our PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang.”

• Bowyer started 32nd and finished 11th in the previous eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Bristol.

• Bowyer considers himself a hobby iRacer. Sunday’s race at Richmond will be just his fourth official iRacing start in a virtual NASCAR Cup Series race.

• Bowyer’s eponymous iRacing team competes in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series with drivers Brandon Kettelle and Brian Schoenberg, and Bowyer’s dirt late model team has been sponsored by iRacing for several years.

• In actual NASCAR Cup Series racing at Richmond, Bowyer has two wins, five top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 28 career starts.

• Bowyer’s two wins came in May 2008 and September 2012.

Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Ford Project Apollo Ford Mustang:

“My goal is to just finish the race clean in my Haas Automation/Ford Project Apollo Ford Mustang. I haven’t done much iRacing before, so it’s definitely a little hard to get used to, but hopefully I can get some laps under my belt and get better as I go. I’ll look at the format and figure out what type of strategy I want, and see how I’m running and go from there. There’s going to be some learning because I’ve never done it. I’m definitely going to have someone around me helping through the race. It will be hard keeping track of everything because it is new to me and there’s a lot to handle. I’ve been talking with Chase Briscoe a little about it. He’s had iRacing for a little while now and is pretty good at it, so just getting a general idea of what to look for is important. I’ve also asked Justin Bolton, SHR’s iRacing driver, some questions. I’ve worked with him in the past because he was an engineer on my Xfinity team last year and he obviously knows a lot about it.”

• This is Custer’s first Saturday Night Thunder race.

• In actual racing, Custer has made a total of eight starts at Richmond – one in the NASCAR Cup Series and seven in the Xfinity Series.

• Custer is a winner at Richmond, as he earned an Xfinity Series victory at the track in April 2019.

• Custer also has the opportunity to race his way into Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race. After the Saturday Night Thunder event, Custer will compete in a 25-lap race at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday. Should he finish first or second in that race, he will earn a starting spot in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang:

“I’m ready to get back in my No. 98 HighPoint.com/Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang at Richmond. In the real world, Richmond is a track that I struggled at my first time there, but like anywhere else, I was able to improve with experience. The same things apply to sim racing. The more you do it, the more comfortable you get. Richmond is a tough track, so if you haven’t put in the time to test it out, it’s probably going to be a struggle. I enjoy short-track racing. It’s always exciting and I think we’ll see a lot of those same short-track racing characteristics in the iRacing event Saturday night. Hopefully, I’ll qualify well and have a good run in the heat race to lock into the main so we can put on a show.”

• This is Briscoe’s first Saturday Night Thunder race, but he is a regular iRacer, with most of his races coming in the Xfinity Series.

• In actual racing, Briscoe has never competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is currently in his second full season of Xfinity Series racing.

• Briscoe has three Xfinity Series starts at Richmond. He has two top-10s, with a best finish of fifth in September 2019.

About Stewart-Haas eSports:

NASCAR is the ultimate test of driver acumen and mechanical know-how, where teams scrutinize every detail in a never-ending quest for speed. Stewart-Haas Racing has thrived in this environment, winning races and championships to firmly establish its presence in NASCAR. Stewart-Haas eSports emulates these efforts in the virtual world, where sim technology provides a visceral experience that amplifies the grit and determination of NASCAR drivers in the real world. Stewart-Haas eSports is a natural extension of Stewart-Haas Racing, where competition and simulation are one. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com/esports and follow on Twitter @SHR_eSports.

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the title-winning NASCAR team co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America. The Kannapolis, North Carolina-based organization has won two NASCAR Cup Series titles, one NASCAR Xfinity Series championship and more than 70 NASCAR races, including such crown-jewel events as the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500. For more information, please visit us online at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing, on Twitter @StewartHaasRcng and on Instagram @StewartHaasRacing.

Drivers, Crew Members Leave Their Mark At Bill McAnally Racing

by MikeApril 16, 2020May 21, 2020

ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Bill McAnally Racing made its debut in what was then known as the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1992 at Shasta Speedway in Anderson, California, with car owner Bill McAnally behind the wheel.

In the 28 years since then, BMR has won nine series championships – a record for the series and for all of NASCAR Regional Touring. In addition, the team has scored a record 99 wins overall in what became the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.

Although McAnally was initially an owner/driver, he eventually opted to turn over the driving duty and focus on his role as a team owner. Including McAnally, 80 drivers have wheeled a BMR entry in the series now branded as the ARCA Menards Series West. Some drove for BMR in multiple seasons, some for only one season, and some for a select race or races.

There’s also a long list of crew members who contributed to the success of the team based in Roseville, California. Some of them called the shots as crew chiefs, some honed their skills as specialists and some worked as general mechanics. Some moved on and worked their way up to a team at the national level in NASCAR and some chose to remain on the West Coast.

“We’ve been fortunate to have some very talented drivers at BMR and we’ve had some great crew members through the years, as well,” said McAnally. “Together, they deserve the credit for BMR’s record success.

“It’s been great to see drivers develop their skills with our team,” he said. “Some spent multiple seasons with the team, as they honed their talent in the series, and others passed through more quickly as they moved up the NASCAR ladder. Others took advantage of the opportunity with BMR to compete in a select event or get experience at a particular track.”

Many crewmembers have done likewise, according to McAnally.

“Some crewmembers chose to remain on the West Coast and some chose to move on after gaining experience,” he said. “When you walk through the garage at a Cup Series, XFINITY Series or Truck Series race, it’s remarkable to see the number of crew members there who worked at BMR.”

Drivers who have competed in the series in a BMR entry, meanwhile, include current NASCAR Cup Series regulars Christopher Bell, with three BMR starts; Clint Bowyer, two starts; Alex Bowman, one start; Cole Custer, with four starts and one win; and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with one start. The list also features Chase Briscoe, three starts; Riley Herbst, 16 starts; Bryan Herta, one start; Trevor Bayne, one start; Travis Pastrana, two starts; Sarah Fisher, 13 starts; Kerry Earnhardt, eight starts; and Michael Waltrip, seven starts. Even legendary driver Hershel McGriff competed in 16 events for BMR.

Eric Holmes tops the list of drivers with starts and wins for BMR, competing for the team in 81 series events and scoring 15 of his 17 career series wins with BMR. A three-time series champion, he captured two of those titles with BMR, in 2008 and 2010. In addition to his victories, Holmes notched 44 top-five and 63 top-10 finishes in BMR’s iconic blue and gold NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry.

Austin Cameron and Todd Gilliland are tied for second on the team’s list of winners.

Cameron scored 13 of his 15 career series victories with BMR. His 44 starts in a BMR entry, meanwhile, ranks him fifth in that category. A major win for Cameron and BMR came in the inaugural NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, a prestigious post-season event that drew drivers and teams from across the country to California’s Irwindale Speedway.

Vl At Fontana 2001 W Gaughan And Bill — Brendan Gaughan in Victory Lane with Bill McAnally Racing at Fontana, California in 2001. (Courtesy BMR)

Gilliland also had 13 series wins with BMR. In addition, he captured two championships, with back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. In his two full seasons with BMR, Gilliland also scored five wins in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Derek Kraus is fourth on the list of BMR wins in the K&N West. He scored 10 wins in 42 starts during his three years racing in the series for BMR – capping things off with a championship in 2019.

Rounding out the top five list among drivers with wins at BMR is Chris Eggleston, who notched nine victories. He captured the series title in 2015 and his 45 series starts with BMR ranks him fourth on that list.

Other drivers who captured a series championship with McAnally were Brendan Gaughan – who won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001, while scoring eight wins – and Sean Woodside, who won BMR’s first series championship in 1999.

Ranked second in terms of series starts at BMR, is Moses Smith – who raced for the team in 64 events. Smith, a four-time Most Popular Driver in the series, accumulated 17 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes between 2007 and 2011.

McAnally’s 56 starts ranks him third on the list of races with BMR. He registered three top-five and 16 top-10 finishes while building the team from its infancy.

Seven crew chiefs, meanwhile, have won championships with the McAnally-led team. Shane Wilson and Chris Lawson lead the way, each with a pair of titles. Wilson teamed with Gaughan in winning championships in 2000 and 2001. Lawson was paired with Gilliland as he won titles in 2016 and 2017. Wilson went on to win races as a crew chief in all three of NASCAR’s national series, as well as winning a championship in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Lawson continued on as a key member at DGR-Crosley.

Other championship crew chiefs at BMR include John Camilleri, who won the title last year with Kraus behind the wheel, and Roger Bracken, who was the champion crew chief with Eggleston in 2015. Camilleri and Bracken serve as crew chiefs at BMR this season.

Also winning championships as crew chiefs at BMR were Matt Goslant, with Holmes in 2010; Ty Joiner, with Holmes in 2008; and Chris Diederich, with Woodside in 1999. Joiner also won a title with Holmes for car owner Allen Beebe in 2006.

Rookie drivers at BMR have also captured the series spotlight through the years, with six drivers winning the Rookie of the Year Award. They include Andrew Lewis in 2005, Peyton Sellers in 2006, Paulie Harraka in 2009, Todd Gilliland in 2016, Derek Kraus in 2017 and Hailie Deegan in 2018.

Deegan set several major records while driving for BMR. In her rookie season, she became the first female driver to win a series race and the first woman to win a pole award in the series. She went on to also become the first woman to win the Rookie of the Year Award in the series.

In 2019, Deegan became the first woman to lead the championship standings of a series at the regional or national levels of NASCAR. In finishing third in points that year, she set a new mark for the highest ranking by a female driver in the final standings in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, East or West.

Dover International Speedway’s coveted Monster Trophy ranks No. 2 in NASCAR.com list of top Cup Series awards

by MikeApril 4, 2020April 4, 2020

DOVER, Del. (April 3, 2020) – One of the few certainties in motorsports is that all drivers are eager to add Dover International Speedway’s Monster Trophy to their collections.

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Drivers Justin Bolton and Dylan Duval Ready for First Short Track of 2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Season

by MikeApril 1, 2020

Details:

• Event: eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series (Round 4 of 20)

• Time/Date: 9 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 31 (TONIGHT)

• Location: Virtual Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

• Distance: 250 laps (133.25 miles)

Where to Watch:

• eNASCAR.com/live

• Facebook.com/NASCAR

• YouTube.com/NASCAR

• Twitch.tv/iRacing

Overview:

• This is the first time in 2020 that the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will compete on a short track. All of the series’ previous races have come at tracks 1.5 miles in length or longer.

• This is the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series’ fourth visit to the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway, but only its second since 2011.

• Last year’s eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series race at Bristol was run under the lights. This year’s edition is a daytime affair.

• Stewart-Haas eSports drivers Justin Bolton and Dylan Duval come into Bristol after each earned their season-best result in the series’ last race at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. Duval finished 15th and Bolton was 17th.

• Duval finished 25th in last year’s race at Bristol, while Bolton makes his Bristol debut tonight.

Justin Bolton, driver of the No. 10 Get Busch Delivered! Ford Mustang:

“We’ve run well, but we don’t have the finishes to show for it. We were up toward the top-five at the end of the first run in our last two speedway races, but haven’t been able to get it done when it mattered. We’re going into Bristol optimistic that we can turn our season around. I’ll be driving the No. 10 Get Busch Delivered! Ford Mustang, and we’ve been spending a lot of time working on this setup. We feel confident that we’ll have something to compete with. And for those of you who are 21 or older, go to Busch.com/delivery and then enter your zip code to see what options are available in your area. From there, you can get Busch delivered right to your doorstep. While we’re racing, you can relax and unwind with an ice-cold Busch.”

Bolton is a 25-year-old engineer on Stewart-Haas Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team who helped Cole Custer to a career-high seven victories in 2019. Bolton has raced in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series off and on since 2014, accumulating 49 starts with nine top-five finishes and a career-best points result of ninth in 2015. The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, native also has real-world racing experience, as Bolton has raced Legends cars and Late Model stock cars, winning the 2013 Fall Classic at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in the Limited Late Model division.

Dylan Duval, driver of the No. 41 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang:

“Coming into the season, Bristol is the track I had circled as being the one I was most concerned about. Last season at Bristol, I really struggled and wasn’t happy with how we performed. The racing at Bristol is so close quarters – having an ill-handling car can lead to a very long night of racing. We’ve turned a lot of laps and have explored many setup options to get our PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang dialed in for tonight’s race. There are a lot of unknowns going into it. It’s our first race on the low-downforce package, and this race will be in the daytime as opposed to last year’s race, which was at night. We’ve done our homework, though, and I think we’re prepared. This season has started off pretty rough for us – having an issue on pit road at Daytona and struggling with dirty air and passing at California. Going into Homestead last week, we needed to start turning our season around and we did exactly that with running inside of the top-10 and, ultimately, finishing 15th. Coming into Bristol, I’m hoping to build off of what we did at Homestead and continue to make up some points.”

Duval is a 24-year-old from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The graphic designer debuted in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series in 2012 and is the first Canadian iRacing winner in series history, taking the checkered flag at the virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2016. Duval has made 76 starts in his seven-year career, scoring eight top-fives and earning a best points finish of fifth in 2016.

About Stewart-Haas eSports:

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Clint Bowyer Finishes 11th in O’Reilly Auto Parts 125; Chase Briscoe Gets Spun in Qualifying Race, Doesn’t Advance to Feature

by MikeMarch 30, 2020

Details:

• Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 (Round 2)

• Series: eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series

• Date: Sunday, March 29

• Location: Virtual Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

• Distance: 125 laps (187.5 miles)

• Winner: Timmy Hill of MBM Motorsports

• Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 125-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Stewart-Haas eSports Results:

• O’Reilly Auto Parts 125

• Clint Bowyer (Started 15th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 130 of 130 laps)

• Qualifying race

• Chase Briscoe (Started 7th, Finished 15th / Running, completed 30 of 30 laps)

Clint Bowyer, Driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang:

“Today was all about survival, guys. I needed a redo for my Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang because I got together with (Greg) Biffle, ‘The Biff’, off of (turn) two. I guess we were three-wide. I didn’t realize we were three-wide. My spotter Jeff Gordon, I had to fire him halfway through the race and moved to Larry McReynolds. Larry said nothing when we were three-wide and I wrecked and collected a bunch of them. But again, a great time was had by all. Timmy Hill, big win for him and his brand. It’s going to be a lot of fun to compete in this over the next few weeks. But, man we are all in this together! Looking forward to next week.”

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com Ford Mustang:

“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it through the qualifying race this week, so we’ll have to wait and give it another shot next weekend at Bristol. We had a really fast Ford Performance Racing School/HighPoint.com Mustang and it would’ve been interesting to see how we stacked up against the Cup drivers.”

Notes:

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is an exhibition esports series featuring a collection of actual racecar drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.

• Xfinity and Truck Series drivers have to race their way into the feature event, and only four open spots were available for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 125. Alex Labbe won the 30-lap qualifying race, followed by Anthony Alfredo, Ty Majeski and Ruben Garcia, Jr.

• As an Xfinity Series driver, Briscoe was one of 32 drivers in the qualifying race attempting to finish in the top-four to earn a place in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 125. Briscoe was spun on lap 14 while running sixth, effectively ending his opportunity for a top-four finish.

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is a multi-week series emulating the original 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

• With the sports world on a necessary hiatus to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series exists in place of actual NASCAR events.

• Each race in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series consists of 35 drivers and all races are broadcast by FOX Sports.

Next Up:

• Stewart-Haas eSports returns to action on Tuesday, March 31 in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series race at the virtual Bristol Motor Speedway with drivers Justin Bolton and Dylan Duval.

• The race starts at 9 p.m. EDT with live coverage via:

• eNASCAR.com/live

• Facebook.com/NASCAR

• YouTube.com/NASCAR

• Twitch.tv/iRacing

• Duval and Bolton come into Bristol after each earned their season-best result in the series’ last race at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. Duval finished 15th and Bolton was 17th.

About Stewart-Haas eSports:

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

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.

Joey Logano Scores Second Win of the 2020 Season

by Chuck AbramsMarch 10, 2020March 10, 2020

Just four races in and Joey Logano can easily say he has won half the races this season. That’s the magic of the early part of the racing season. But all kidding aside….

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