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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.

It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Racing: Daniel Suárez Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Preview

by MikeMay 30, 2020

MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – It’s time for a little change of scenery for Daniel Suárez and the No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry team for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR). After four races in the Carolinas during an 11-day stretch that ended a 70-day hiatus for the NASCAR Cup Series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ll take to the concrete, high-banked, half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway oval for the some short-track racing.

Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500 marks the ninth race of 2020 for the Cup Series competitors and the fifth since the suspended schedule was resumed April 17 with the first of two consecutive races at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Suárez and his No. 96 Toyota finished 25th in NASCAR’s return to racing at Darlington, and followed it up with a 27th-place finish three days later in the first Wednesday-night Cup Series race in 36 years. They then moved to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for last Sunday night’s traditional Memorial Day-weekend Coca-Cola 600, followed by Thursday’s night’s Alsco Uniforms 500k, netting 28th-place results in both.

The fifth Cup Series race in the last two weeks takes Suárez and his It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry – a nod to its partner’s Parts & Service heritage – to one of his more successful racetracks. His history on the Bristol oval began in 2012 with his first of three NASCAR K&N Pro Series East outings – all in Toyota equipment. Suárez also has a pair of Bristol starts in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and six in the Cup Series. In his most recent Truck Series outing, he started second and led 77 laps before an accident ended his day 16 laps from the finish. His five top-six finishes in six Xfinity Series starts are highlighted by runner-up finishes to Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, respectively, in April 2015 and August 2017.

In last year’s two Bristol Cup Series races, Suárez brought home finishes of eighth in both, driving the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing entry, and he almost added another top-10 when he drove his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to an 11th-place finish there in April 2018. His average Cup Series finish at Bristol is 13.0, his average start 17.7. But Suárez will have to work hard to make forward progress from the wave of the green flag Sunday as he’ll start 37th on a grid for which the top 36 positions – all reserved for chartered teams – were decided Friday by random draw, and positions 37 through 40 – all non-chartered teams – lined up by car owner points.

No matter, Suárez is at his most comfortable when the battle is toughest, and he and his teammates look forward to the typical 500 laps of beating and banging among 40 competitors fighting for position in the tight quarters of the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway oval on Sunday afternoon in the hills of East Tennessee.

Daniel Suárez: Driver of the No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing:

You’re coming off a pair of 28th-place finishes at Charlotte and are headed to Bristol. Your thoughts?

“Right now, it’s all about taking baby steps – baby steps. Obviously we have a lot of work to do to get where we are going and it’s not going to happen all in one race. It’s a process and it will continue to be a process until we get there. Everyone knows we started out behind in a lot of areas. We just need time. We need races. We need practice. We need a lot of things and we continue to work very hard. We’re not in the best position, but that is why we are all here, to try to do each of our jobs the best we can and to keep making our cars better and better. We have done a good job of keeping the cars in one piece and we continue to develop what we have.”

Bristol is one of your best tracks, results-wise, since you started racing there in the K&N East Series back in 2012. How do you like racing there?

“I like Bristol a lot. It’s a fun place to race – a lot of fun. When the stands are filled with fans, it’s one of the most exciting tracks we go to. It will be strange to race there with no fans. Like I said at Darlington and Charlotte, I hope it’s not something we get used to because we’re all about the fans. Bristol is especially fun when you have a fast racecar. We’ve been working hard to show up with a setup on our It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota that is as good as possible and will make it fun for us on Sunday.”

You’ve normally started closer to the front at Bristol, but this time you’ll have to start 37th as the first of the non-chartered teams. How big of a challenge will that be?

“Starting 37th is a huge disadvantage at Bristol, but it is what it is. You start the race and you’re already half a lap down. I think it will be an even bigger challenge because we will not have practice and no qualifying. We’ll just do everything we can with what we have to work with and the challenges that we face and try and keep taking baby steps forward.”

No. 96 It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry Team Report
Race 9 of 36 – Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol

Car No. 96: It’s Good To Be Genuine Toyota Camry

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

Primary Team:

Driver: Daniel Suárez

Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico

Crew Chief: Dave Winston

Hometown: Miami, Florida

Technical Director: Nick Ollila

Hometown: Warren, Michigan

Car Chief: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

Engine Specialist: Kirk Butterfield

Hometown: Carrollton, Ohio

Engine Builder: Toyota Racing Development

Headquarters: Costa Mesa, California

Spotter: Steve Barkdoll

Hometown: Garrison, Iowa

Over-The-Wall Crew:

Gas Man: Cory White

Hometown: Vinson, Iowa

Front Tire Changer: Mike Mead

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Traino

Hometown: Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Tire Carrier: Mason Harris

Hometown: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

Jackman: Joel Bouagnon

Hometown: St. Charles, Illinois

Windshield: Mark Hillman

Hometown: Lockport, New York

Supermarket Heroes 500 Notes of Interest:

After piloting the No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2017 and 2018, then the No. 41 Cup Series entry for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019, Suárez joined the single-car No. 96 Toyota Camry effort for Gaunt Brothers Racing (GBR) for the full 2020 season.
Suárez will be making his 116th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He has career totals of eight top-five finishes, 32 top-10s and 241 laps led, with an average start of 16.2 and an average finish of 17.6. He also has qualified on the pole twice.
In six previous Cup Series outings on the .533-mile, high-banked concrete oval at Bristol, Suárez has best finishes of eighth in his two 2019 starts there in his Stewart-Haas Racing entry, and a best starts of 12th in the August 2017 and April 2018 races in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He led five laps in the April 2018 race, in which he finished 11th. Suárez’s average Bristol start is 17.7 and average finish is 13.0.
Suárez has a pair of runner-up finishes and three other top-six results in six career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol. He finished second to Joey Logano in the April 2015 race and second to Kyle Busch in the August 2017 race. His best Xfinity Series start at Bristol is third in August 2016, the year he won the Xfinity Series championship. His average Bristol start in the series is 7.7 and his average finish is 8.0.
In most recent NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Bristol in August 2016, Suárez started second and led 77 laps before an accident ended his day 16 laps from the finish. In his only other Truck Series start there in August 2015, he qualified 16th and finished 30th. Both Truck Series outings were with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Suárez also has competed in three NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races at Bristol with a best start of 17th in his most recent outing in March 2014, and a best finish of 15th in his first race there in March 2012.
Crew chief Dave Winston, a native of Miami, Florida, and a veteran of 67 Cup Series races atop the pit box, has called the shots at four previous races at Bristol. He collaborated with driver Alex Bowman in the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota in the April and August 2014 races, both which ended up with 33rd-place finishes. The duo came back for the fall 2014 race and started 33rd and finished 30th. His driver Michael McDowell finished 29th and 19th in the April and August 2016 races, respectively, for the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing entry.
On May 11, GBR announced the addition of longtime motorsports veteran Nick Ollila as technical director. The native of Warren, Michigan, will oversee the team’s engineering department and returns to the United States after a three-year stint serving in the same capacity with Kelly Racing in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship. Ollila and team owner Marty Gaunt first worked together in 1997 when the two were at Kranefuss-Haas Racing. Their NASCAR paths crossed again 10 years later when both worked at Red Bull Racing – Gaunt as general manager and Ollila as chief aerodynamicist. 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 Cup Series championships. 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, when he became the lead engineer for Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. It was the beginning of a 20-year stint in NASCAR.
Sunday marks the third Cup Series start at Bristol for the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Toyota. Both previous starts were in 2018 with driver D.J. Kennington starting 35th and finishing 27th in the April race, and Jesse Little starting 33rd and finishing 35th in the August race.
Coca-Cola and CommScope continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing. The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title. CommScope, a leader in communication network technology, has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.

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.

Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing: Kevin Harvick Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 Advance and Team Report

by MikeMay 30, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 29, 2020) – Kevin Harvick will compete in his fifth race in 15 days on Sunday, May 31 in the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. That’s a lot of races in 15 days, but not for someone like Harvick.

The driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) drove in four races in eight days back in 2007.

It was the year of the great rainout at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Harvick drove in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan on Saturday, Aug. 18 and finished third. The Cup Series race ended up running on Tuesday, Aug. 21 after it was rained out Sunday and Monday.

Harvick then headed south to Bristol for the Xfinity Series race on Friday, Aug. 24 and finished 16th. Finally, on Saturday, Aug. 25, he finished 16th in the Bristol Cup Series race.

He raced a total of 1,055.7 miles during that 2007 stretch. By the end of this past Thursday night’s 500-kilometer race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, he will have driven have driven 1,595.588 miles since the Cup Series resumed its suspended season April 17 with the first of two races at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. And he has another 250 miles coming up Sunday at Bristol.

So while the schedule has been odd, because of Harvick’s experience, he’s sort of been through this before. And he has been successful at Bristol before, as well.

Harvick has two wins, one pole, 12 top-five finishes, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 912 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol. His average start is 16.7, his average finish is 13.8 and he has a lap-completion rate of 96.7 percent – 18,401 of the 19,027 laps available.

He has competed in 29 NASCAR Xfinity Series races there with five wins, 15 top-fives and 24 top-10 finishes with two pole positions. He has driven in five NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events at Bristol and has one win and four top-10s.

Harvick will also have the support of longtime partner Hunt Brothers Pizza at Bristol Sunday.

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

Hunt Brothers Pizza has partnered with Harvick for 11 years and last visited victory lane with him when he won the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In 2019, Hunt Brothers moved up to the Cup Series as a primary sponsor for three races and, in 2020, will be on Harvick’s car five times.

Harvick has also won two Truck Series races with Hunt Brothers as a sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, and at Bristol, both in 2011. The company also sponsored him in the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte in 2014 and 2015. Harvick finished second in both races.

Harvick is hoping he can heat up at Bristol and score his second victory of 2020. And if he leads just one more lap, he will have led 10,000 laps in his SHR career dating back to 2014.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Is it hard to communicate inside the racecar at Bristol because everything happens so fast?

“It’s definitely loud and hard for the teams to hear. One of the hardest things at Bristol is just to see what’s going on. I have crashed at Bristol and gone back to watch it on TV and you’re like, ‘What in the hell were you doing? You just ran into four or five cars that have been sitting there for two seconds.’ But, Bristol is a very demanding racetrack. It’s very hard because things happen so fast, communication is hard. It’s easy to make a mistake or pile into a wreck. It’s easy to wreck somebody or to get into a fight. It’s easy to do a lot of things because there is just so much happening. It’s a tough place to race, to put it all together, and it’s mentally and physically exhausting.”

Can you talk about “the bounty” and Chase Elliott defeating Kyle Busch in the Truck Series race last Tuesday?

“I was sitting in my motorhome in Las Vegas and I woke up the next morning after Kyle (Busch) had won and saw a tweet from Kyle Larson that just had two cherries in it, which basically symbolizes cherry picking. When Delana (Harvick) and I used to own truck teams, that used to fly all over me, because I know how much time, effort and money it takes to get those trucks on the racetrack. I know how much work Kyle puts into putting those vehicles on the racetrack and I just thought, ‘What the heck, let’s put some money on the line and see if we can get some of these guys to come out and race in the Truck Series.’ You look at it the other night, with everything that has gone on in our sport with Chase (Elliott) and Kyle, to have them battling it out in the Truck Series and have Marcus Anthony Lemonis jump on board, it just wound up being a lot of fun. I really have a lot of respect for what Kyle Busch does and the effort he puts into putting those racetrucks on track and sometimes I think people forget the art of promoting. Sometimes you have to go out and give a little bit of nudge to create a little bit of excitement. As a fan, I love the Truck Series. I love to watch racing and, as a fan, I sat up with my son the other night watching and wondering what was going to happen. It was fun and exciting and it’s going to end up being a great donation once Chase decides where he wants take that $100,000 for charity during a time when there are so many things bigger than our sport right now. Our sport, once again, is going to step up just like we did during the first iRacing event at Homestead-Miami Speedway to donate some money to charity.”

Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing Team Report

Round 9 of 36 – Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 – Bristol

Car No.: 4 – Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang

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

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert Smith

Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engine Builder: Roush-Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Specialist: Robert Brandt

Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Crew Members:

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Mike “Shrek” Morneau

Hometown: Oxford, Maine

Gas Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Jackman: Stan Dolittle

Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina

Windshield: Shawn Hopkins (also serves as interior mechanic)

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia

Bristol Notes of Interest:

· Dynamic Duo: While this is Harvick’s 20th year in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s his seventh with crew chief Rodney Childers, which is the longest pairing of any current driver-crew chief combination. Since joining forces at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014, Harvick and Childers have combined to produce 27 points-paying victories, a victory in the non-points-paying 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 25 Busch poles, 111 top-five finishes and 161 top-10s while leading 9,999 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Kyle Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

· Harvick has career totals of 50 wins, 31 poles, 211 top-fives, 370 top-10s and 14,425 laps led in 690 starts.

· His most recent Cup Series win came on May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

· His most recent Busch Pole came in November 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

· Harvick’s 50 career NASCAR Cup Series victories puts him in a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. He is third on the active driver list behind Jimmie Johnson and Busch. Harvick is four wins behind Lee Petty for 11th on the all-time wins list.

· At the Homestead season finale in 2019, Harvick became just the 11th driver to have led 14,000 laps in his NASCAR career. He’s led 14,452 and trails 10th-place Busch, who has led 17,445, and Johnson, who is ninth with 18,862 laps led. Harvick has led 9,999 laps as an SHR driver.

· Points Position: Harvick arrives at Charlotte first in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 331 points, 14 markers ahead of second-place Joey Logano.

· Harvick in the Monster Energy Cup Series at Bristol: Harvick has two wins, one pole, 12 top-five finishes, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 912 laps in his 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol. His average start is 16.7, his average finish is 13.8 and he has a lap-completion rate of 96.7 percent – 18,401 of the 19,027 laps available.

· Xfinity and Trucks at Bristol: Harvick has competed in 29 NASCAR Xfinity Series races with five wins, 15 top-fives and 24 top-10 finishes with two pole positions. He has driven in five NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events and has one win and four top-10s.

· Already Playoff Bound – Harvick qualified for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his win May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

· 111 and Counting – Harvick scored his 100th career win in NASCAR’s top three series with his March 2018 Las Vegas win. He now has 111 total victories – 50 in the Cup Series, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Truck Series. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have passed 100 wins in NASCAR’s top three series: Richard Petty, David Pearson and Busch.

Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Racing: Cole Custer Alsco 500k Race Report

by MikeMay 29, 2020

Ford Driver Earns Top-20 at 1.5-Mile Track

Date: May 28, 2020

Event: Alsco Uniforms 500k (Round 8 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 208 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/60 laps/93 laps)

Start/Finish: 9th/18th (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing:22nd with 138 points, 193 out of first

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Cole Custer started ninth and finished 30th.

● Early in the stage, Custer reported his Autodesk Fusion 360/ HaasTooling.com Mustang was loose.

● At the competition caution on lap 25 he pitted from 19th for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his loose condition. Restarted 22nd.

● Race was red flagged for weather for approximately 75 minutes. Once it resumed, Custer once again pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help his loose-handling Mustang. Restarted 31st.

● During the Stage 1 break the 22-year-old pitted from 30th for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):

● Custer started 27th and finished 21st.

● Caution on lap 75 and crew chief Mike Shiplett made the call for Custer to stay out and restart 14th.

● Reached top-10 on lap 80.

● The rookie remained in the top-15 until lap 99, and remained in the top-20 through the end of Stage 2.

● Custer pitted from 20th during the Stage 2 break for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help with his loose-handling Mustang.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 116-208):

● Custer started 18th and finished 18th.

● Custer made a yellow flag pit stop on lap 146 from 19th for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

● The event remained under the green-flag for the rest of the race and Custer maintained a top-20 position, and ultimately finished 18th.

Notes:

● Custer made his 11th career NASCAR Cup Series start and his second at Charlotte’s oval.

● Chase Elliott won the Alsco Uniforms 500k to score his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Charlotte’s oval. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was 2.208 seconds.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 Autodesk Fusion 360/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Thank you guys. It didn’t start the way we wanted to tonight, but we kept chipping away at it. I think we have some stuff we can take to other tracks. We definitely learned a lot.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

No. 14 PEAK Coolant and Antifreeze Racing: Clint Bowyer Charlotte 500k Race Report

by MikeMay 29, 2020

Penalties Slow No. 14 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Mustang

Date: May 28, 2020

Event: Alsco Uniforms 500k (Round 8 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 208 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/60 laps/93 laps)

Start/Finish: 39th/16th (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing:14th with 192 points, 139 out of first

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Clint Bowyer started 39th and finished 26th.

● The No. 14 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang moved from 39th to 29th by the lap 20 competition caution.

● A pit road speeding penalty forced Bowyer to pit twice during the caution and restart 37th on lap 25.

● Bowyer raced in 32nd-place when lightning and rain stopped the race on lap 31 for 75 minutes.

● Bowyer pitted before the restart, but too many crew members over the wall forced the No. 14 to the back of the field.

● Despite reporting he had “no rear grip,” Bowyer worked his way to 26th by the end of the stage.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):

● Started 23rd, finished 11th.

● The No. 14 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang suffered minor damage after contact with another car during the opening laps of the stage.

● Bowyer stayed on the track during the lap 74 caution and restarted the race in 12th on lap 78.

● Bowyer quickly moved to ninth before the cars with newer tires dropped him to 11th by the end of the stage.

● Another pit road speeding penalty dropped him from ninth to 30th before the start of the final stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 116-208):

● Started 30th, finished 16th.

● The No. 14 PEAK Coolant and Antifreeze Ford Mustang climbed to 24th with 70 to go.

● Bowyer pitted during the lap 145 caution and restarted 21st with 60 laps remaining.

● Bowyer moved to 18th with 40 laps to go and 16th with 30 to go.

● Bowyer held his position for the final laps of the race to finish 16th.

Notes:

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Kevin Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 PEAK Coolant & Antifreeze Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We need to figure something out for this place. We just had too many penalties tonight. We can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”

Next Up:

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

by MikeMay 29, 2020

Smithfield Ford Driver Endures Handling Issues After Starting in the Rear

Date: May 28, 2020

Event: Alsco Uniforms 500k (Round 8 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 208 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/60 laps/93 laps)

Start/Finish: 6th/20th (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 9th (225 points, 106 out of first)

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Aric Almirola started sixth and finished 16th.

● The Smithfield Ford driver was forced to start in the rear due to unapproved adjustments before the green flag waved.

● Almirola raced to 26th before the competition caution on lap 20. He said his car was tight on the exit of the turns.

● He pitted under caution for two tires, fuel and air pressure adjustments to come off pit road 18th.

● Inclement weather postponed the race on lap 30. When racing resumed, Almirola did not pit and restarted 16th.

● Almirola continued to battle tight-handling conditions on the exit of the turns.

● At the end of the stage, he pitted for four tires, fuel, and wedge and air pressure adjustments. He came off pit road 14th.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):

● Almirola started 14th and finished 22nd.

● Almirola and the No. 18 car made contact on lap 65. He held on to the No. 10 Ford and fell to 21st.

● After a caution was called on lap 74, Almirola pitted twice for four tires, fuel and adjustments, and to repair damage.

● He restarted 32nd and drove back into the top-25. Almirola said he was extremely loose in traffic and needed help passing.

● At the end of the stage, he pitted for four tires, fuel, and air pressure and chassis adjustments. He came off pit road 16th and gained six spots.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 116-208):

● Almirola started 16th and finished 20th.

● The No. 10 Smithfield driver continued to note loose-handling conditions in traffic and fell to 18th.

● He pitted on lap 174 under caution for four tires, fuel and adjustments to restart 18th.

● Almirola endured more handling issues and fell back to 24th.

● The No. 10 Smithfield Ford driver battled his way back to 20th before crossing the finish line.

Notes:

● This was Almirola’s fourth straight top-20 finish at Charlotte’s oval. He finished 16th in last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps.

● Only 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

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

“That was just an overall tough day for our Smithfield Ford team today. After starting in the rear we were able to get back to 16th by taking two tires and holding on, but our day went downhill from there. The car was just not where we wanted it to be and contact with the No. 18 put us back where we started. The pit crew did a great job today and gained us some spots, but unfortunately I just couldn’t pass in traffic with the way the car handled. I’m looking forward to Bristol in a few days to get back to a short track.”

Next Up:

Kevin Harvick Alsco Uniforms 500k Race Report from Charlotte

by MikeMay 29, 2020

Busch Light Ford Mustang Driver Still First in NASCAR Cup Point Standings

Date: May 28, 2020

Event: Alsco Uniforms 500k (Round 8 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 208 laps, broken into three stages (55 laps/60 laps/93 laps)

Start/Finish: 16th/10th (Running, completed 208 of 208 laps)

Point Standing: 1st (331 points, 14 ahead of Joey Logano)

Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-55):

● Kevin Harvick started 16th and finished fourth, earning seven bonus points.

● The Busch Light Ford Mustang driver said the car wasn’t bad. Moved up to sixth-place before he pitted for four tires, fuel and a tire pressure adjustment and tape on the grill. Restarted 14th as several drivers took two tires or stayed out.

● By lap 31, Harvick was up to ninth when a rain delay stopped the race for almost 75 minutes.

● On lap 43, Harvick cracked the top-five.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 56-115):

● Kevin Harvick started third and finished fifth, earning six bonus points.

● The Busch Light Ford Mustang driver pits for four tires and fuel on lap 59. Says No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang is a little tight, but good otherwise. Came in fourth, left third.

● On lap 75 under caution, Harvick gave up the lead and pitted for four tires and fuel. Came out 16th.

● By lap 89, Harvick was back in the top-10 and by lap 97 was in the top-five.

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 116-208):

● Kevin Harvick started third and finished 10th.

● The No. 4 Busch Light Ford pitted on lap 117 for four tires, fuel and no changes.

● Harvick pitted for the final time on lap 146 for four tires, fuel and no changes. Came in first place and left in first place.

● The No. 4 car led until lap 181, but was passed by eventual winner Chase Elliott. Harvick’s car faded and he finished 10th.

Notes:

● There were seven caution periods for a total of 37 laps and 22 of the 40 drivers in the Alsco Uniforms 500k finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Charlotte with a 14-point advantage over second-place Joey Logano.

● Harvick earned his eighth top-10 of the season and his 19th top-10 in 38 career NASCAR Cup Series starts on the oval at Charlotte.

● Harvick is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have finished in the top-10 in all eight races held this season.

● Harvick has finished among the top-10 in 13 straight NASCAR Cup Series races, a streak that began on Oct. 20, 2019 when he finished ninth in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

● This was Harvick’s third straight top-10 at Charlotte’s oval. He finished sixth last Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600.

● Harvick has finished outside the top-10 at Charlotte’s oval just twice since joining SHR in 2014.

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

● Harvick led three times for a race-high 63 laps to increase his laps-led total at Charlotte’s oval to 605.

● Harvick has now led 9,999 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 14,425 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career.

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

“It just falls off after lap 30 and we knew that’s what we had with our Busch Light Ford and it went straight 60 some laps. They did a really good job turning the car around. It was the total opposite of what we ran last Sunday, so it was a good test session for us. We just didn’t need a long run.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 on Sunday, May 31 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Partnership with Novant Health Takes Flight with Zipline

by MikeMay 27, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (May 27, 2020) – Working in extreme conditions where the clock is always ticking, Stewart-Haas Racing is well-versed in delivering under the most intense circumstances. The championship-winning NASCAR team has put its experience to good use during the COVID-19 pandemic, partnering with Novant Health to deliver 20 million face masks and produce 120 ICU webcam carts.

Today, its partnership takes flight. Literally.

Novant Health has launched an emergency drone logistics operation for hospital pandemic response through a partnership with Zipline, the world’s only national-scale, on-demand drone logistics service, which will provide drone flight services. Stewart-Haas Racing is providing 25,000-square-feet of property adjacent to its Kannapolis campus for Zipline to deliver medical supplies via its fleet of drones to Novant Health’s integrated system of physician practices, hospitals and outpatient centers.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Novant Health a Part 107 waiver to begin operation, which is being initiated as part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program (IPP).

The operation provides contactless distribution of personal protective equipment and critical medical supplies to frontline healthcare workers in the Charlotte, North Carolina, metro area. The operation helps position Novant Health, which operates 15 hospitals and nearly 700 locations in the southeastern United States, to adapt quickly to the evolving pandemic and could lead to such innovative uses as testing, drug trials and vaccine distribution in the future.

The groundbreaking operation will provide ongoing drone logistics flights in Class-D controlled airspace, where all air traffic is actively managed by the FAA under a Part 107 waiver issued to a major U.S. healthcare system. True to its roots, North Carolina is once again “First in Flight.”

“This new part of our relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing has – quite literally – taken our logistics operations to new heights,” said Mark Welch, senior vice president of supply chain, Novant Health. “Once again, SHR stepped up when we had a need in response to this pandemic by providing us the critical space to create our distribution center. This operation is taking Novant Health logistics to the next level and we could not do it without the assistance of Stewart-Haas Racing.”

The operation uses battery-powered drones with autonomous navigation systems which launch from a distribution center near Stewart-Haas Racing. Novant Health is able to move its products efficiently from this hub to its frontline medical teams powered by Zipline’s long-range, fixed-wing drones. Since 2016, Zipline has used its fleet of drones to deliver 110,000 vaccines, units of blood and critical medications internationally.

“As soon as we heard about the initiative Novant Health had with Zipline, our only question was, ‘How can we help?’,” said Mike Verlander, vice president of sales and marketing, Stewart-Haas Racing. “Finding a tract of land that could be used for the distribution center was paramount, and Gene Haas, the co-owner of our race team, had the perfect spot right behind our race shop. He cut through all the red tape and dirt was quickly moved. We helped with logistical coordination during the build and have seen firsthand the work of the Zipline crew and the efficiency of the distribution center and the technology it houses. It’s all very impressive.”

In the span of a few minutes, a lightweight drone takes off from Novant Health’s distribution center, with the package placed inside a parachute in the belly of the Zipline drone. When the drone reaches its destination, it simply drops the parachute and the healthcare worker collects it. The drone then returns to the distribution center to get outfitted for its next flight.

“Zipline has been hard at work helping other countries respond to the pandemic,” said Keller Rinaudo, CEO, Zipline. “And we’re proud to partner with Novant Health, a true leader in healthcare innovation, to begin helping in the United States as well. We’re likely in for a long-term fight against COVID-19. Using contactless drone logistics will be an important tool in that effort. The work underway here in North Carolina will provide the rest of the country with a blueprint for how to build the most resilient and responsive healthcare system possible.”

Over the next two years, the partnership plans to expand beyond emergency operations in the Charlotte area to regular commercial operations, subject to approval under FAA Part 135 rules, to serve health facilities and, ultimately, patients’ homes across the state. Novant Health and Zipline’s partnership seeks to create a next-generation model for health system logistics leveraging contactless drone deliveries. To accomplish this, Zipline works hand-in-hand with national civil aviation authorities.

Safety is Zipline’s top priority at every stage of operation. Zipline drones are designed to automatically detect issues inflight and safely return to base for repair. Each drone is equipped with redundant flight computers, motors, communications systems, and flight control surfaces, as well as redundant navigation and power systems. In the event of emergencies like severe weather or unplanned flight operation issues, each drone is equipped with a parachute that allows it to make an immediate landing by slowly descending to the ground.

Zipline drones weigh approximately 40 pounds with payload, have a top speed of 80 mph, can service a 50-mile radius, and can carry packages close to four pounds, even in high winds and rain.

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 at @StewartHaasRcng, on Instagram at @StewartHaasRacing and on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/StewartHaasRacing.

Kevin Harvick Alsco Uniforms 500k Advance and Team Report

by MikeMay 26, 2020

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (May 26, 2020) – Kevin Harvick has started seven NASCAR Cup Series races in 2020 and has one win, five top-fives and has finished in the top-10 at every one.

It took a late caution and a heck of a drive by the veteran to keep that streak alive in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was off all night and was running between 12th and 16th during much of the race.

But on lap 399, William Byron spun and brought out a caution while Harvick was running 14th. He came to pit road, where crew chief Rodney Childers called for four ties and fuel, and Harvick restarted 13th.

In two laps, Harvick moved from 13th to sixth. After the race, Jimmie Johnson’s car was disqualified, moving Harvick up to fifth.

A lot of teams would have given up, but Harvick, Childers and the 4 team have been together for seven years and expect to win. The fifth-place result is nice, but this team expects to win every race.

So Childers and Harvick will come up with a plan for Wednesday night’s 310-mile race at Charlotte. And if Harvick leads 64 laps, he will have led 10,000 laps at SHR.

He’s led 14,362 in his career and trails 10th-place Kyle Busch, who has led 17,445, and Jimmie Johnson, who is ninth with 18,862 laps led, on the all-time list.

It’s Wednesday night under the light at Charlotte. And a victory would make it even sweeter.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk about Sunday’s race.

“We just missed the handling and had to battle all night trying to make it better. We left with a top-five somehow and we will be better on Wednesday.”

Another Wednesday-night race and the fourth race in 12 days. Can you talk about that?

“For me, it’s just gonna purely be the interaction, with not being able to have the interaction with the people, and communication will just be drastically different – how much you’re around people, how close you are to people and things of that nature. I’ve started races with no practice. We went through 9/11 and had a race cancelled and had things different, but this is just so drastically different that you just have to approach it drastically different with an open mind to know that there are gonna be things – before you even get there you have to know that there are going to be things drastically different than the way it was before, and just not be frustrated with things that don’t go right, things that are different.”

Busch Light Racing Team Report

Round 8 of 36 – Alsco Uniforms 500k – Charlotte

Car No.: 4 – Busch Light Ford Mustang

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

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Car Chief: Robert Smith

Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engine Builder: Roush-Yates Engines

Headquarters: Mooresville, North Carolina

Engine Specialist: Robert Brandt

Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Spotter: Tim Fedewa

Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Crew Members:

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith

Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Mike “Shrek” Morneau

Hometown: Oxford, Maine

Gas Man: Evan Marchal

Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Jackman: Stan Dolittle

Hometown: Ninety Six, South Carolina

Windshield: Shawn Hopkins (also serves as interior mechanic)

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia

Charlotte Notes of Interest:

· Dynamic Duo: While this is Harvick’s 20th year in the NASCAR Cup Series, it’s his seventh with crew chief Rodney Childers, which is the longest pairing of any current driver-crew chief combination. Since joining forces at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014, Harvick and Childers have combined to produce 27 points-paying victories, a victory in the non-points-paying 2018 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, 25 Busch poles, 111 top-five finishes and 160 top-10s while leading 9,939 laps. They won the 2014 championship, finished runner-up in the 2015 title chase to champion Kyle Busch, finished eighth in 2016 and third in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

· Harvick has career totals of 50 wins, 31 poles, 211 top-fives, 369 top-10s and 14,362 laps led in 688 starts.

· His most recent Cup Series win came on Sunday, May 17 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

· His most recent Busch Pole came in November 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

· Harvick’s 50 career NASCAR Cup Series victories puts him in a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famers Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson for 12th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list. He is third on the active driver list behind Jimmie Johnson and Busch. Harvick is four wins behind Lee Petty for 11th on the all-time wins list.

· At the Homestead season finale in 2019, Harvick became just the 11th driver to have led 14,000 laps in his NASCAR career. He’s led 14,362 and trails 10th-place Busch, who has led 17,445, and Johnson, who is ninth with 18,862 laps led. Harvick has led 9,936 lap as an SHR driver.

· Points Position: Harvick arrives at Charlotte first in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 291 points, 23 markers ahead of second-place Joey Logano.

· Charlotte Numerology – Harvick has two poles, three wins, four second-place finishes, eight top-threes, 18 top-10s and has led a total of 542 laps in his 37 career NASCAR Cup Series points-paying starts on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway oval. His average start is 15.9, his average finish is 15.1 and he has a lap-completion rate of 94.6 percent, completing 12,668 of the 13,398 laps available.

· Xfinity at Charlotte – Harvick has made 28 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He has three poles (May 2001 and 2003, and October 2003), eight top-fives and 18 top-10s with a total of 351 laps led.

· Trucks at Charlotte: Harvick has competed in three NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races with two top-fives. He has not driven a truck race since 2007.

· 111 and Counting – Harvick scored his 100th career win in NASCAR’s top three series with his March 2018 Las Vegas win. He now has 111 total victories – 50 in the Cup Series, 47 in the Xfinity Series and 14 in the Truck Series. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have passed 100 wins in NASCAR’s top three series: Richard Petty, David Pearson and Busch.