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Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Toyota 500k Race Report from Darlington

by MikeMay 21, 2020

Date: May 20, 2020

Event: Toyota 500k

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

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

Format: 228 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/65 laps/103 laps)

Start/Finish: 25th / 27th (Running, completed 207 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 30th with 54 points, 204 out of first

Note: Race called official 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance due to rain.

Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

Stage 1 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

● Started 25th, finished 30th.

● The opening lap saw Suárez drop a position as the green flag flew, then restart 23rd on lap seven after the day’s first caution period, then fall back to 27th when the caution flag flew again on lap 10. He said the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry lacked overall grip even though it was turning well in the opening laps.

● Suárez restarted 34th after right-side wedge and air pressure adjustments enabled him to pick up five spots by the time a scheduled competition caution period arrived on lap 25. He restarted 30th after the competition caution and held that position to the end of the segment while reporting the car was “a little better balanced.”

● A solid four-tire pit stop, during which the No. 96 Toyota crew made just air pressure adjustments, enabled Suárez to pick up six spots and restart 24th to begin the second segment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 60-125):

● Started 24th, finished 27.

● The segment restarted on lap 68 and the caution flag flew just six laps later. The team decided to gamble by keeping Suárez on track, and he restarted 12th on lap 76. But with most of the rest of the field having pitted for fresher tires, he dropped 16 positions over the next six laps before the caution flag flew once again.

● Suárez pitted for tires this time and restarted 25th. He dropped two positions over the next 21 laps before the next caution, reporting the Today. Tomorrow. Toyota struggled on short runs but seemed to improve on longer runs. He also said he was surprised the track grew more free as the race progressed to that point, rather than get tighter as is typical during nighttime racing at Darlington.

● He restarted 27th on lap 113 and held that position to the end of the stage. The team made a multitude of adjustments during the break – air pressure, wedge, track bar – in an effort to tighten up the car.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 126-228):

● Started 27th, finished 27th.

● Suárez held his relative position throughout the final stage, which started with the longest green-flag run of the night – 46 laps.

● He was called to the pits under green on lap 175 while working his way up to 17th as one of the last cars to cycle through green-flag stops. One lap later, the caution flag flew, and he restarted on lap 185 in 28th, one lap down.

● The yellow flag flew again on lap 195, and Suárez pitted from 28th for fresh tires and adjustments to counter those that were made during the prior segment break in an effort to free up the car.

● Suárez gained a position to 27th before rain began to fall and the red flag flew on lap 208. Officials called the race shortly thereafter, 20 laps short of its scheduled 228-lap distance.

Daniel Suárez, driver of the No. 96 Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

“We are building, so from that standpoint, I think Dave (Winston, crew chief) and the team did a good job. Compared to Sunday, I think we brought a lot more speed with our Today. Tomorrow. Toyota Camry this time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to capitalize. I was surprised from the early to the middle part of the race how the car was getting more and more free. Darlington is a track that always gets tighter and tighter as the race goes. I thought the loose car actually seemed to be working for us on the longer runs. Then we made some big changes in the middle part of the race and the car got too tight. We were kind of stuck with that because of the long run. Other than that, I feel like we’re heading in the right direction. The car had more raw speed tonight even though the balance wasn’t as good as we would like it to be. We just need to keep building.”

Race Notes:

● This was the first NASCAR Cup Series race to be held on a Wednesday in 36 years. The last time: July 4, 1984 when Richard Petty scored his 200th career victory at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

● Denny Hamlin won the Toyota 500k to score his 39th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his third at Darlington.

● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 54 laps.

● Only 23 of the 39 drivers in the Toyota 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Darlington with a 34-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Next Up:

The next NASCAR Cup Series event for Suárez and the Gaunt Brothers Racing team is the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 6 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Kevin Harvick Socially Distances Himself From the Field in Darlington Return

by Chuck AbramsMay 20, 2020May 20, 2020

I suppose it isn’t a surprise that Kevin Harvick, The Closer, sealed the deal on Sunday with a dominating final stage push that left everyone else in the dust. Harvick led 150 laps overall, essentially doubling the 80 laps led by Brad Keselowski.

(more…)

Kevin Harvick The Real Heroes 400 Race Report from Darlington — HARVICK WINS!!

by MikeMay 18, 2020

Harvick Scores Career Win Number 50 at Darlington

Busch Light #YOURFACEHERE Ford Mustang Driver Leads Race High 159 Laps

Date: May 17, 2020

Event: The Real Heroes 400

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (1.336-mile oval)

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

Start/Finish: 6th/1st (Running, completed 293 of 293 laps)

Point Standing: (1st with 218 points, 28 points ahead of Alex Bowman)

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

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

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

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-90):

● Kevin Harvick started sixth and finished fourth and earned seven bonus points.

● Harvick was in second-place when the competition caution came out on lap 30. Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a half-pound out of the right-rear tire.

● After early on saying he had a vibration and the alternator possibly not working, both were no longer a problem by the first pit stop.

● Told crew chief Rodney Childers, “The car is good. We’re in the ballpark.”

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185):

● Started first and finished fourth and earned seven bonus points.

● On lap 93, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.

● Harvick brought the No. 4 Busch Light #YOURFACEHERE Ford Mustang to pit road on lap 112 for four tires and fuel. Came in first and exited in first.

● On lap 126, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Came in first and left first again.

● Harvick pitted on lap 157 for four tires and fuel. Team attempted to add tape to the grill but it wouldn’t quite stick. Came in first and exited first again.

● On lap 174, Harvick pitted for four tire, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Had a small issue on the stop and lost seven spots. Will restart eighth.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 186-293):

● Started fourth and finished first.

● On lap 187, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Said the No. 4 Busch Light #YOURFACEHERE Ford Mustang is “Loose, loose, loose.”

● On lap 216, Harvick pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment. Came in fourth and left first.

● Harvick pitted on lap 255 for four tires and fuel. Came in first and left first.

● On the final restart on lap 260, Harvick had a really good battle with second-place Alex Bowman, but managed to get past him after a lap and went on to win by 2.154 seconds.

Notes:

● Harvick’s victory in The Real Heroes 400 was his 50th career NASCAR Cup Series win and it ties him with NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series win list.

● This was Harvick’s 27th NASCAR Cup Series victory since joining SHR in 2014.

● This was Harvick’s first victory of the season and his second victory in 24 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington.

● Harvick’s margin of victory over second-place Alex Bowman was 2.154 seconds.

● Harvick’s victory marked the 73rd overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 56th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win, its first of the season and its second at Darlington.

● Harvick is responsible for SHR’s previous win at Darlington (2014 Southern 500).

● This was SHR’s milestone 20th NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. The team won its first race with Ford when former driver Kurt Busch captured the 2017 Daytona 500.

● This was Ford’s milestone 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Darlington. NASCAR Hall of Famer Curtis Turner won Ford’s first race at Darlington in 1966.

● This was Harvick’s second straight top-two. He finished second in the series’ last race March 8 at Phoenix Raceway.

● This was Harvick’s third straight top-five at Darlington. He finished fourth in the series’ previous visit to the track last September.

● Harvick has never finished outside the top-10 at Darlington since joining SHR in 2014, a streak that began with a win in the 2014 Southern 500.

● Harvick finished fourth in Stage 1 to earn seven bonus points and fourth in Stage 2 to earn seven more bonus points.

● Harvick led twice for a race-high 159 laps to increase his laps-led total at Darlington to 740.

● 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.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light #YOURFACEHERE Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I want to thank everybody from NASCAR and all the teams for letting us do what we do. I didn’t think it was going be that much different and then we won the race and it’s dead silent out here. We miss the fans, just gotta thank everybody from Busch Light, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Mobil 1, Jimmy John’s, everybody from Ford who helps on this car. It’s a pretty big honor to win 50 races in this deal and I just have to thank all my team guys and everybody for what they’re doing. This Dr. Josh Hughes is one of my really good friends. I spend a lot of time with him and have seen how this whole pandemic has affected our front line workers in person on a weekly basis, so thank you, Josh. We’re thinking of you. I want to say hi to DeLana and my kids at home. I guess we’ll bring home the trophy.”

You now have 50 wins.

“It doesn’t seem real and I think as you look at Darlington I think as you look at the things that happened this weekend I really thought that it would definitely play into our hand just because our guys are so good at hitting the car off the truck for the most part. We put a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of studying, a lot of meetings and just have to thank everybody at the shop who has built all these cars and just, man, I’m excited. It is weird just because there’s nobody up there, and you can go to Busch Beer.com and maybe have your face on the car next week, up here on the hood. I’m speechless.”

You race on Wednesday again. What do you have to do to go back-to-back?

“It’s gonna be a little bit different. Hopefully, we have at least one more race before we come back with the XFINITY cars. It’ll be night, so I think you definitely have to figure out what you want to do with your car.”

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.

M&M’S Thank You Heroes Racing: Kyle Busch Race Recap for The Real Heroes 400 from Darlington

by MikeMay 18, 2020

Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota Camry

Race Recap for the The Real Heroes 400

Date: May 17, 2020

Event: The Real Heroes 400 (Round 5 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

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

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

Start/Finish: 4th/26th (Running, completed 292 of 293 laps)

Point Standing: 14th (122 points, 96 behind leader)

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):

● Kyle Busch started 4th, finished 15th

● Busch drew the fourth starting position in Thursday night’s draw. However, the No. 18 team failed pre-race inspection twice and was forced to start the race at the rear of the field, despite officially being scored as starting in fourth.

● The M&M’S Thank you Heroes Toyota Camry didn’t stay in the rear of the field for long, moving up to 32nd by lap 1 and 25th by the time the competition caution waved on lap 30.

● The 2019 Cup Series champion told Crew Chief Adam Stevens that his splitter was dragging on the track for the first 20-25 laps of the race and still touching the surface in the bumps. He suggested to Stevens that he tighten up the car on their pit stops.

● With Darlington being the first race back and no on track activity prior to the race weekend, NASCAR gave teams the opportunity to make two pit stops under yellow without losing positions under the lap 30 competition caution only.

● Busch came down pit road on lap 33 for adjustments and then back down pit road on lap 35 to take on four tires and fuel.

● Busch restarted 25th when green flag racing resumed on lap 39.

● The M&M’S Thank You Heroes driver slowly worked his way up through the field, finding himself in 20th by lap 50, 18th by lap 56 and all the way up to 15th when the stage ended on lap 90.

●Busch radioed to Stevens that he was pretty good overall, but was lacking overall grip everywhere as the stage ended.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185):

● Busch started ninth and finished 16th

● Busch came to pit road on lap 93 for four tires, fuel and tires pressure adjustments. The M&M’S team gained Busch five spots on pit road and Busch moved up one more spot as a car ahead of him was penalized for speeding on pit road, and he restarted in ninth for the start of stage 2.

● The M&M’S Thank You Heroes driver came to pit road under caution on lap 111 for four tires and fuel as Busch told Stevens that his car was just a little tight landing in the corner, and Busch restarted in ninth on lap 115.

● Busch restarted ninth, but fell several positions after the restart as he told Stevens that he couldn’t get going. Busch reported his car was really loose getting into turn three during the first two laps of the green flag run. Fortunately, Busch was saved by a caution on lap 123.

● Stevens called Busch down pit road on lap 125 to take on four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment that they hoped would make Busch better on restarts.

● Busch restarted 20th on lap 129, and moved up to 17th by lap 134. However, on lap 143 Busch hit the outside SAFER barrier exiting turn 4, causing fairly significant right side damage to the M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota.

● Good news for Busch was the caution waved for debris on lap 155, and Busch pitted on lap 157 to fix significant damage and make sure the tires were not rubbing on the wheel well of the No. 18 Toyota.

● Even with lengthy time on pit road to fix damage, Busch did not lose a lap, but the repairs forced the M&M’S driver to start in 29th at the tail-end of the lead lap.

● Busch worked his way back into the top-20 by lap 167 and after a caution and another pit stop, Busch finished the second stage in 16th-place.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 186-293):

● Started 17th and finished 26th.

● Busch pitted after stage 2, and took on four tires, fuel and more adjustments as the M&M’S driver restarted 17th for the third and final stage.

● Busch moved his way back up to 13th by the time the next caution waved on lap 212. Stevens called Busch to pit road two laps later for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments, as the M&M’S over-the-wall crew gained two spots on pit road and Busch restarted 11th on lap 218.

● The Las Vegas native moved up into the top 10 by lap 247 and sat in ninth when the caution waved on lap 252. Busch came to pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 255, and the M&M’S pit crew gave him another phenomenal stop, getting him off pit road in the fifth position.

● Busch dropped a few positions after the restart to seventh. Just five laps into the green flag run Busch radioed to the M&M’S team to get ready, as he had an apparent problem.

● On lap 266, Busch did indeed come to pit road for four tires with an apparent loose wheel. He returned to the track in 27th-place, one lap down.

● Busch and the M&M’S Thank You Heroes team got themselves into the free pass position over the final laps, but the caution they needed never came, and the No. 18 team finished a once promising race in 26th.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Thank You Heroes Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

“Really disappointing to have to start at the back when we had a fourth-place starting position. That was going to be a great day for us to just kind of be up front, ride up front, and hopefully stay up front all day and make our M&M’s Thank You Heroes Camry better. But we didn’t start where we thought we would. Instead, we had to make up the whole day. Finally we got to fifth and restarted there late in the race, but fell to eighth or ninth on a restart. Our car was so slow on restarts, but also I was too loose on that restart. Then got in the wall and had to go back to the back and worked our way back up to the front again. Then got back to fifth again for the final restart and had a loose wheel. My guys had a good pit stop, but obviously too good of a pit stop where we didn’t get all the lugnuts tight and it was a loose wheel. Ended up having to come down pit road and service the car again to make it to the end. Just didn’t get the result we wanted for the effort that was put out today.”

Next Up: The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Darlington on Wednesday, May 20 for the Toyota 500k. It starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Michael McDowell Post-Race Report: Darlington Raceway

by MikeMay 18, 2020

Michael McDowell

No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang

Started: 31st

Finished: 23rd

Stage One: 26th
Stage Two: 23rd
Stage Three: 23rd

Michael McDowell took the green flag in Sunday’s Real Heroes 400 from the 31st position at Darlington Raceway. He noted early on in Stage 1 that his CarParts.com Ford Mustang was, “tight in the center of turn three and four” which made it hard for him to run the bottom of the race track and would go on to finish Stage 1 from the 26th position.

Under the Stage 1 caution, the No. 34 CarParts.com Ford came to pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Once racing resumed, McDowell noted that he had a bad vibration in the rear end of the race car. Over the course of a handful of cautions, the team was able to make the appropriate adjustments and resolve the issue as McDowell would go on to finish Stage 2 in the 23rd position.

During the Stage 2 caution, McDowell brought his CarParts.com Ford down pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment in hopes of loosening up his tight race car. As the green flag flew on the final stage of racing, McDowell noted that his racecar was still tight and lacked turn. McDowell would go on to take the checkered flag 23rd at Darlington Raceway.

McDowell on Darlington:

“It was fun to get back racing again today. Our CarParts.com Ford Mustang started out pretty decent, but then unfortunately we had a loose wheel and had to overcome that. A really great effort by John hunter Nemechek and everybody on the No. 38 crew. It was a great finish for Front Row Motorsports and now we have some good notes to look at for Wednesday’s race. Overall, it was a great day for our team as we learned a lot and hopefully we can get both cars in the top-10 next week. Lastly, I would like to thank CarParts.com for coming on board today. I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the CarParts.com Ford Mustang on Wednesday.”

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.

Bowyer Finishes 17th in Darlington Return

by MikeMay 18, 2020

No. 14 Ford Mustang Raced At Front Until Final Laps

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: 13th/17th (Running, completed 293 of 293 laps)

Point Standing:10th with 135 points, 83 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):

● Clint Bowyer started 13th and finished seventh to earn four bonus points

● Despite no track time before the race, the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford Mustang enjoyed a smooth start until a crash at the back of the field brought out the caution on lap one.

● Bowyer reported his car was tight and dropped to 17th before rallying back to 14th at the lap-30 competition caution.

● The Kansas native restarted the race in 14th on lap 40 and moved to 10th within two laps turning top-five lap speeds.

● Bowyer continued a steady climb to the front turning ultra-quick times before finishing the stage in seventh.

● Minor air pressure changes plus a quick stop by the No. 14 crew moved Bowyer from seventh to fifth during the stage break.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185):

● Started fifth, finished fifth to earn six bonus points.

● The No.14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford Mustang stayed in the top eight through cautions on lap 109 and 123.

● Bowyer raced in fifth at the lap-135 mark as he searched for the fastest way around the 1.33-mile, egg-shaped oval.

● The Ford driver battled for fourth midway through the stage with Denny Hamlin before another round of stops for a lap-154 caution.

● After all cars pitted under caution, Bowyer restarted the race in sixth for an eight-lap shootout to conclude the stage.

● Bowyer used a good restart to climb to fifth before the stage ended.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-293):

● Started seventh, finished 17th.

● The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford Mustang dropped to ninth on the restart but moved to sixth with 70 laps remaining.

● Bowyer raced in seventh with 60 to go when he reported his car was starting to get very loose.

● Bowyer faded to 10th with 50 laps to go telling the crew, “I’m in trouble. I don’t know what happened here.”

● A caution allowed Bowyer to visit pit road to tighten the car, but trouble during the stop dropped him to 15th with 34 laps to go.

● Bowyer suffered debris on the grill in the final laps and dropped to 17th by the time the checkered flag flew.

Notes:

● Bowyer’s 17th-place finish plus 10 bonus points earned in the first two stages moved him from 13th to 10th in the standings.

● Harvick’s victory marked the 73rd overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 56th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series win, its first of the season and its second at Darlington.

● This was SHR’s 20th NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. The team won its first race with Ford when former driver Kurt Busch captured the 2017 Daytona 500.

● Harvick is responsible for SHR’s previous win at Darlington (2014 Southern 500).

● This was Ford’s milestone 30th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Darlington. NASCAR Hall of Famer Curtis Turner won Ford’s first race at Darlington in 1966.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“That stunk. I don’t know how that got away from us. Really disappointed with what happened. I’ll be mad about this for a while, but we’ll get over it and be ready for Wednesday night. Our Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford was fast and it was cool to be back racing today, just wish we had a better finish. Glad Kevin (Harvick) got SHR and Ford to victory lane.”

Almirola Finishes 12th at Darlington

by MikeMay 18, 2020

Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Driver Runs Top-Five Before Penalty Derails Day

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: 5th/12th (Running, completed 200 of 200 laps)

Point Standing: 7th (151 points, 67 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):

● Aric Almirola started fifth and finished sixth, earning five bonus points.

● The No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang fell outside of the top-10 and Almirola raced his way back to eighth before the lap-30 competition caution. He took four tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments.

● During the restart, Almirola raced his way to sixth place.

● Spotter Joel Edmonds told Almirola he was turning top-three lap times on lap 86.

● At the end of the stage, Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and wedge adjustments. He said he needed more front turn.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 91-185):

● Almirola started seventh and finished 21st.

● The No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang raced to the top-five in the opening laps.

● On lap 112, the caution was called with Aric in the seventh position. He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments.

● Almirola pitted again on lap 125 under caution from 10th place for four tires, fuel and more chassis adjustments.

● Another caution was called on lap 154. Almirola pitted for four tires, fuel and reversed prior adjustments.

● He was handed an uncontrolled tire penalty and was demoted to the rear of the field.

● Almirola raced back to 21st before the stage ended. He took four tires, fuel and adjustments following Stage 2.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 186-293):

● Almirola started 21st and finished 12th.

● Almirola said the No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang was building tighter at lap 202.

● He pitted under caution on lap 216 for four tires, fuel and adjustments from the 17th position.

● On lap 243, Almirola and the No. 10 Ford team began to see top-five lap speeds.

● Almirola pitted on lap 255 for four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments and came off pit road 16th.

● He gained four spots on the final restart and raced just outside of the top-10 before the checkered flag waved.

Notes:

● This was Almirola’s third straight top-12. He finished eighth March 1 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and eighth in the series’ last race at Phoenix.

● Almirola’s 12th-place result was just shy of bettering his previous best finish at Darlington – 11th, earned in the 2015 Southern 500.

● 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.

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/#GoodFoodChallenge Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It was a decent day for us. When we had track position we ran up front. That was nice. Then we lost track position and got put to the back of the field. We just had to fight and climb our way back up for the rest of the race, but I’m really proud of my guys and I thought we had a top-10 car. We scored some stage points and had a solid day. I’m proud of everybody. I’m proud of NASCAR being

the first sport to get things going again. It was kind of eerie to walk out to pit road and not see anyone in the grandstands, but it sure felt good to get back in the race car and that thrill of competition was much needed. I hope everybody enjoyed it and I hope everybody got their fix on sports from watching us race. We’re one step closer back to normal. We’ll try again here Wednesday night and see if we can’t get it done. Congrats to Harvick on the win.”

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.

Shell Leverages NASCAR and Team Penske Relationship to Advance Support of Feeding America

by MikeMay 15, 2020

We are experiencing unprecedented times in our history and the COVID-19 pandemic has spread through the world, changing the lives of Americans. It is creating greater demands on health care and front-line workers, first responders, food banks, and in these challenging times, children, seniors, and families are going hungry.

Shell in the U.S. is focused on doing their part to aid in the response and will continue to contribute to COVID 19 relief efforts across the country, and through national efforts with Feeding America®. To date, Shell in the US has contributed more than $2 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts across the country. Shell is also providing 2.5 million* meals to help fight hunger in communities in need via Feeding America®

This weekend the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang, driven by 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano, will carry the Feeding America® logo on the deck lid of his race car in NASCAR’s return to racing in the Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 17^th. It will remain on the car for the second Darlington event as well as both Charlotte races. Joey also recorded the video above to bring awareness to the cause.

Fans can go to fuelrewards.com/moreforgood and they’ll also have the opportunity to make a donation to Feeding America® themselves.

Gaunt Brothers Racing Hires Nick Ollila as Technical Director

by MikeMay 12, 2020

Motorsports Veteran Joins NASCAR Team from Virgin Australia Supercars Championship

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 11, 2020) – Gaunt Brothers Racing, which fields the No. 96 Toyota Camry for driver Daniel Suárez in the NASCAR Cup Series, has hired Nick Ollila (pronounced Oh-li-lah) as its technical director, with the motorsports veteran overseeing the team’s engineering department.

Ollila comes to Gaunt Brothers Racing after a three-year stint as the technical director for Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. The Warren, Michigan-native returned to the United States late last week in time for the resumption of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, which begins May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway as NASCAR becomes one of the first major North American sports to return to action since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nick brings considerable insight into what we’re doing with our current inventory of racecars and what we’ll be doing with our NextGen car in 2022,” said Marty Gaunt, president and CEO, Gaunt Brothers Racing. “He has deep experience in all forms of motorsports, specifically in embracing technology and managing people. Nick also has a strong rapport with our partner Toyota, as many of the people he worked with when he was at Red Bull are the same people there today. He’ll be able to hit the ground running, which is good, because with two to three races a week, we’re all going to be running.”

Gaunt first worked with Ollila in 1997 when the two were at Kranefuss-Haas Racing. Gaunt was the general manager of the NASCAR Cup Series team and Ollila was its chief engineer. Their NASCAR paths crossed again 10 years later when both worked at Red Bull Racing – Gaunt as general manager and Ollila as chief aerodynamicist.

“It’s the people who make the cars go, and Nick has been making cars go since the early ‘70s,” Gaunt said. “We’re lucky to have a lot of long-term employees who have been with us for 10 years, but scaling up from running a part-time schedule to a full schedule meant bringing in more people. Coming up with the recipe of having all the right people in all the right places isn’t easy, but Nick is a good chef.”

NASCAR is where Ollila has spent the bulk of his career, which includes being the drivetrain specialist at Rod Osterlund Racing in 1980 when Dale Earnhardt won the first of his seven NASCAR Cup Series championships.

“Motorsports is my passion, and I’m proud to have turned it into a career,” Ollila said. “I’ve spent time in a variety of racing series, but NASCAR is the one that intrigues me the most. The level of competition is unmatched, so success is very satisfying. I’ve known and worked with Marty Gaunt and many of the people at Gaunt Brothers Racing for years. They’ve got a great foundation and they’re building for the future, and I’m very happy to be a part of shaping that future.”

Ollila’s racing career began at Team Penske in 1972 as a mechanic. He prepared cars for each of the series in which the organization competed, a lineup that included INDYCAR, NASCAR, Can-Am, Formula 5000, sports cars and Formula One.

NASCAR became Ollila’s focus in late 1976. He joined DiGard Racing as the team’s drivetrain specialist, working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip until the end of the 1978 season, whereupon he went to work for Osterlund.

INDYCAR and Penske beckoned in 1982, and Ollila returned as the team’s engine builder, enjoying four championships (1982, 1983, 1985 and 1988) and four Indianapolis 500 victories (1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988).

That Penske connection led Ollila back to NASCAR in 1990, where he became the lead engineer for Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. It was the beginning of a 20-year stint in NASCAR.

Ollila worked at Kranefuss-Haas Racing from 1995-1997 where he established and led the engineering and aerodynamics departments. He then went on to an eight-year career at Roush-Fenway Racing as its chief engineer and director of aerodynamics. In 2005, Ollila moved to Richard Childress Racing as its director of aerodynamics where he implemented Indoor GPS, a laser-based measuring system for large-scale metrology that was a first for the industry.

In September 2007, Ollila joined nascent Red Bull Racing as chief aerodynamicist. His efforts greatly aided the team’s development, a point punctuated by driver Brian Vickers scoring the outfit’s maiden victory in August 2009 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and qualifying for the NASCAR Playoffs.

Ollila served as a consultant specializing in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computer-aided design (CAD) from 2010-2016 before heading overseas to Australia, where his first stint was at Arise Racing. There, he was the operations manager and technical director, which segued to his role with Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship in late 2017.

About Gaunt Brothers Racing:

Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) fields the No. 96 Toyota Camry for driver Daniel Suárez in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based team is owned by Marty Gaunt, the CEO of Triad Racing Technologies. Gaunt founded GBR in 2010, with his eponymous team starting out in the Canada-based NASCAR Pinty’s Series and the U.S.-based NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Its first driver, Jason Bowles, scored GBR’s maiden victory in the 2011 Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway in California, with the precursor to that win being the pole position in track-record time at the 2011 Streets of Toronto 100. After seven years competing in NASCAR’s development divisions, Gaunt stepped up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2017, entering the Daytona 500 with driver D.J. Kennington. After running a part-time NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2018 and 2019 where GBR made a total of 37 starts with a handful of drivers, GBR committed to a full schedule in 2020. For more information, please visit us online at www.GauntBrothersRacing.com, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GauntBrothersRacing, on Twitter at @GauntBrosRacing and on Instagram at @GauntBrothersRacing.