Defending New Hampshire Motor Speedway champion puts No. 20 Toyota in front for Sunday’s race.

LOUDON, N.H. – Defending champion Christopher Bell earned the pole position during qualifying for Sunday’s Crayon 301 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) on Saturday.

Bell, driving the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, posted a lap of 124.781 mph (30.524 seconds).

“It’s crazy how much difference the temperature can change the cars,” Bell said. “These things are really sliding around. You’re on the edge here for sure.”

Bell and Kyle Busch are the only two drivers to have won in every NASCAR national series at the track. Bell can become just the fifth driver (Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth) to win consecutive NCS races at “The Magic Mile” with a victory on Sunday.

Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. was second with a speed of 124.752 mph. 2021 New Hampshire champion Aric Almirola (124.707 mph) was third fastest, with Joey Logano fourth and Ryan Blaney fifth.

“It’s really difficult to get the balance the way you want it,” Truex said. “Overall, we were fast. We’re excited to be here in New Hampshire. We’ve been after a win here for a while.”

Michael McDowell, driving the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, posted the quickest practice speed with a lap of 126.416 mph (30.129 seconds).

The Crayon 301 is the 52nd NCS race at NHMS.

New Hampshire’s NCS qualifying record was set by Brad Keselowski in September 2014 with a lap of 140.598 mph (27.090 seconds).

NHMS’s NASCAR weekend events include:

• Ambetter Health 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series, Saturday, 3 p.m. (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
• Mohegan Sun 100 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Saturday, 6 p.m. (Flo Racing)
• Crayon 301 NASCAR Cup Series, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Tickets:

Log on to NHMS.com for tickets and more information on the weekend’s lineup of action-packed racing. Doubleheader Saturday tickets start at just $45 for adults while kids 12 and under are free. Sunday’s Crayon 301 tickets start at just $59 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under.

Follow Us:

Keep track of all of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s events by following on Facebook (@NHMotorSpeedway), Twitter (@NHMS) and Instagram (@NHMS). Keep up with all the latest information on the speedway website (NHMS.com) and mobile app.

Toyota Racing – Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

LOUDON, NH (July 15, 2023) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was made available to media after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series event at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday:

CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 Rheem-WATTS Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

“I was very surprised with how hard the cars are to drive in practice and qualifying too. Everyone was slipping and sliding around. I think it is going to be a different race than we saw last year with the downforce change and the tire change.”

What do you enjoy about this place?

“I do enjoy it. It is a place where your driver technique, and your feet, and your hands dictate a lot of what the car does. If you are a little bit loose, you can kind of change your line around. There is a bunch of banking transition and seams and at one point they put PJ1 down that would manipulate your car, and now they don’t put the grip down, but there is a little bit left. It just a place where you can really change how the car is driving. You are not stuck to one driving style or one line. It is a place you can find a way moving forward as long as your car is in the ballpark.”

Can you just run away from the pack tomorrow?

“I hope I can. I don’t think that is realistic. There are a lot of great cars, great drivers right behind us. Qualifying today was a matter of not screwing up – it was a very different qualifying session, because most of the time you can maximize your car, where today it was a matter of not taking yourself out of it. It was so easy to make a big mistake and lose a lot of lap time. We saw Ty Gibbs have an issue, and then Joey Logano have an issue in the second round. I think once we get into the race we are going to have a lot of comers and goers.”

Is track position the key to winning here?

“I honestly believe that track position is going to be the least important it has ever been at this race track or at least compared to what it was last year. The amount of sliding around that we did today, the lack of grip – I think the cream is going to rise to the top – the good drivers, the good cars are going to be able to pass and get their way to the front. I start at the front, hopefully, we can stay up there, but this is a place where people will try different strategies like staying out or getting two tires or short-pitting or long-pitting, whatever the situation may be, where you are not guaranteed to start up front and then stay there all day. Hopefully with the conditions being hot and slippery, we are able to pass a little bit easier when you get back in traffic.”

How did the new tire feel today?

“A huge difference from last year’s race to this year’s race. A huge difference from middle of April till now. I was shocked when I got out there and the lack of grip, we had compared to what we had at the test and the only thing that is different is the ambient conditions. I think the tire is going to be a step in the right direction. It is hard to pinpoint what the difference is in the tires because whenever we were here 12 months ago, we had a spoiler that was four times what we have now. I think with the tire with the aim to have more fall off – it is slicker over a long run with a little itty-bitty spoiler in the back, you are going to see a lot of sliding around and that is what the drivers want.”

What is your approach this year compared to last year?

“We are in a really, really important battle for the regular season championship. There are a lot of guys in the hunt. I have one of the best racecars that I’ve had all year this weekend, we need to capitalize on that. The 20 group needs to capitalize on that and capture as many points as we can. This is a pivotal race for the regular season championship.”

What is the difference from last year when you are trying to secure a Playoff spot compared to this season?

“It is very similar. I would say it is almost identical except for the people that you are watching on a regular basis are different. Whenever I was on that Playoff bubble, you are paying attention to the guys on the Playoff bubble and really anyone behind it that maybe in contention to win. I remember going back to Sonoma last year – I had a terrible race, and we were right around that Playoff bubble line and the entire top-three or top-five was behind me in points, so someone who won the race was going to bump me out of it. I’m sure that everyone that is in that bubble spot is doing the same thing, but here we are – a year later – and you are focusing on those three or four cars who are racing for the points, and one mistake or bad stage and you can lose a lot of points very quickly. William (Bryon) has a little bit of a gap on us but all it takes is one bad race and he is back there with us. We have a lot of cars that we are trying to keep up with and outrun. I would imagine it’s fun to stay on top of.”

Is there still a sense with your team that this is still a wide-open championship battle?

“I mean it’s really crazy. My finishes have been atrocious lately and we are still right in the hunt, so that is a good thing for me, so hopefully, if we can start cleaning up our finishes, I will be able to capitalize on that. It is crazy – it seems like people just keep having mistakes and bad days that bring them back to where we are. You look at the 8 car, Kyle Busch, he’s right there in the hunt and he was buried in the tire barriers at Chicago at lap three and he made it out of it. All of the teams inside the top-five are doing a really good job of maximizing the day even when they have adverse conditions, and we are seeing a great points race out of it. The 20 group, we just need to start finishing races. We’ve been running really well and finishing really poorly. I think the capability of the team is strong and high. We haven’t been able to maximize that.”

About Toyota

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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Crayon 301 Qualifying | Saturday, July 15, 2023

Ford Qualifying Results:
3rd – Aric Almirola
4th – Joey Logano
5th – Ryan Blaney
9th – Brad Keselowski
13th – Kevin Harvick
17th – Michael McDowell
21st – Ryan Preece
22nd – Austin Cindric
23rd – Todd Gilliland
26th – Chris Buescher
27th – Chase Briscoe
28th – Harrison Burton
33rd – Ryan Newman
34th – Cole Custer

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “In practice I couldn’t get the car to turn the way I needed it to. We made some adjustments, but the entry in practice was bad into [Turn] 1 and loose into Turn 3. The adjustments for our qualifying trim made a huge difference. The lap in Round 1 was dialed in, and I hit all of my marks and felt like we had a chance at the pole. In Round 2, I missed Turn 1 a bit but still pulled together a fast lap. From where we started in practice to where we ended up in qualifying was a major step in the right direction. It’s crucial to qualify well here and give yourself a shot to run up front and stay up front. This is a track we have had circled all year, and we always know we have the opportunity to win. I’m glad we’ve given ourselves an opportunity starting third tomorrow. We just have to execute and be perfect all day.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang – “I think the biggest thing was the lack of spoiler and lower downforce that made it pretty tough and pretty slick. A lot of guys are having trouble over the bumps. I think we got a little better. It was nice to have a decent qualifying effort. Hopefully, we can get a little bit better for the race tomorrow. But yeah, it’s challenging – less grip tires, smaller spoiler, and the bigger bumps always makes it tougher.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang – HOW DID THE TIRES FEEL AFTER QUALIFYING? “The cars are really challenging to drive. It’s kind of a 180 from where we were at the test. I thought the cars were driving really good, and maybe it’s the modified rubber or maybe it’s the hotter track temps. But, super challenging cars to drive right now. I think you’re seeing that with the way qualifying played out so far.”

DO YOU FEEL A DIFFERENCE IN THE TIRE? “It’s hard to say. Too many variables with the temperature and other series on the track.”

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO WIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE? “You have to hit your strategy right, and you have to have the speed. Right now, we seem to be that consistent eight to 15th place speed. If you’re going to win here, you really need to be top-five in the speeds, and then play strategies and restarts right. We have to get another notch up.”

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
New Hampshire Media Availability | Saturday, July 15, 2023

Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang, visited the media to talk about his New England racing roots and retracing them during this weekend’s Cup series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang – WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE BEING CLOSER TO HOME? “Yeah, obviously being from New England, whether you’re from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine, you’re a big sports fan, right? So, when you love racing, you love your short track racing like Stafford where everyone was the other night, Thompson, or a lot of the other tracks in the Northeast. When New Hampshire comes into town with the Cup series and NASCAR, it’s a big thing. So, being up here, seeing a lot of familiar faces… for me, it’s a place where I grew up as a kid. So, I get excited coming here. I don’t know how to really put it into words… just really love the passion for racing and everything up here with the modifieds. So, I’m really excited for Sunday. We definitely put a lot of emphasis on this weekend, and I think we can be pretty fast.”

WHAT ARE YOUR FEELING OF BEING ADDED TO SRX NEXT WEEK? “That was really unexpected. First and foremost: Everything that’s going on up here in Vermont. My thoughts and prayers are for all the families that are losing a lot right now. Obviously, it’s not under the best conditions. I’m a huge fan of Thunder Road myself, but I’m excited for a great opportunity to race with those guys and have some fun at my home track. I think many people in the short track racing world know that I’ve come from Stafford Speedway, and I’ve won championships – a lot of races there, and it’s a great opportunity for the hometown fans to see a hometown guy go against them.”

WHAT IS YOUR COMFORT LEVEL AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY? “I just attack a weekend very similar to like L.A., right? Quarter-mile racing is something I grew up cutting my teeth doing, and I’m very comfortable doing it. New Hampshire is a place I’ve had a lot of laps on – a lot more than most tracks we go to. I feel really comfortable here. It’s that energy you have, that swagger, when you walk into a racetrack where you feel comfortable. New Hampshire was definitely a track, going into it, that I know what I need as a race car driver to find victory lane, or run really well. Same thing at L.A.: I remember when we unloaded and practiced. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the feel we need.’ We didn’t qualify the best that day, but we drove from 16th to the lead. If we have that same sort of feel I’m looking for here, we can get the job done.”

DO YOU EVER LOOK BACK, TO MARTINSVILLE FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE YOU HAD A REAL CHANCE TO WIN? “Yeah, every time I look at that pole flag I think about it. But, I still got it. At the end of the day, we led a lot of laps, checked a box. That was a good moment, but obviously, a little dark – not exactly the way we wanted to end it. But, going into it, I remember walking pit road and asking questions. I felt like I did everything I needed to do. Unfortunately, we sped. Apparently, I can launch out of the pit box too well. Moving forward, I’ll never make that mistake again. We drivers move forward. If you’re going to constantly look behind at mistakes you’ve made, you can use it as an opportunity to learn from them and don’t look at them again. That’s what I’m going to do.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TEAM’S PROGRESS AND WHERE YOU ARE IN THE POINTS STANDINGS? “The middle-month of May on, I felt like we’ve consistently made gains. We’ve been consistent. Last week at Atlanta, I thought we were going to have a really good run. We had a fast race car. We had a really good handling race car. So, statistically, if you look at an end number, it can be frustrating sometimes for Chad [Johnston] and myself. But to me, we know the gains we’re making and they’ll be showing in the second-half of the season.”

IS IT FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU GET QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TEAM’S PERFORMANCE? “No. Because, at the end of the day, all I have to worry about is my team – within our group. People can look at it and get frustrated for themselves, but I know at the end of the day when I walk out of that racetrack and see progress, I’m happy.”

WITH SEVEN RACES LEFT IN THE REGULAR SEASON, HOW DO YOU BALANCE TAKING RISKS FOR WINS WITH HAVING A GOOD DAY? “So when I look at these next seven races, these tracks fit under my wheelhouse. I kind of felt that the mile and a half months, that Spring run when you go to a lot of mile and a halves, that was probably going to be our weaker point of the season. But when we got to the month of… end of May, June, July and August, those are my strengths. New Hampshire is my strength. Next week at Pocono is a track where I enjoy racing. Richmond: That’s another one I enjoy. Watkins Glen. Daytona – I love superspeedway racing, and unfortunately, we’ve got wrecked there in the final few laps, but we’ve been in contention, we’ve been aggressive and we’ve led laps. So, these next final races to get into the playoffs is certainly something I’m comfortable with, and every week is a new week.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR DRIVERS TO HOP INTO SRX, MODIFIEDS AND AT LOCAL SHORT TRACKS IN ORDER TO BRIDGE THE GAP TO NASCAR? “For me, growing up as that kid at Stafford… I’ll give you an example. When I go to Stafford or a lot of my local short tracks where I come from I’m biased but, I see a lot of hard-working kids, and you don’t see a lot of it as much as you’d like sometimes. I go in there: I know a lot of those families and I see those guys mounting tires or cranking rounds into springs… all that stuff gets me excited. It’s awesome to see. For me, a lot of the fans that go there, it just puts a different type of energy in you. I know they thrive off of it, too. I’m really excited to go to Stafford this week. For me, it’s been a fight because I’ve been putting so much focus into this Cup car and not racing the modified. This will probably be my first time not planning to race a modified this year. It’s weird. Obviously, I want to win in this Cup series. I’ve sacrificed a lot going up to get here. So, I’m just going to keep digging on that.”

NASCAR CUP SERIES
NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
CRAYON 301
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
JULY 15, 2023

KYLE BUSCH, NO. 8 LENOVO CAMARO ZL1, met with the media prior to the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Press conference transcript:

YOU’RE 36 POINTS OUT OF THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD. HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING AT THAT CURRENTLY WITH SEVEN RACES LEFT?

“I think I was looking at it about race two or three (laughs). I think you always kind of try to keep a pulse on it, and just kind of see what’s going on. Seven weeks ago, we weren’t looking too good. But we’ve made some really good headway in the last seven weeks of being able to work our way back up the points standings and get ourselves closer to that front. I was doing a points study earlier this week – we’re 120 stage points less than William Byron. And if I had half of that, I’d be leading the points by 20, you know what I mean. So we just have to be able to execute better in the stages to be able to get stage points. That’s what it’s going to come down to. We know our weaknesses. Just still trying to figure that out on how to improve that, and make that to where we don’t have weaknesses.”

ON THAT NOTE, DOES THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP IMPACT YOUR RACE STRATEGY? OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE GOOD WITH THE WINS FOR THE PLAYOFFS, BUT IF IT GETS DOWN TO A POINT WHERE THERE’S A LATE CAUTION AND YOU’RE DECIDING WHETHER TO PIT, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT WHAT YOU GUYS DO?

“Yeah, I mean we’ve had a couple of races where we haven’t scored any stage points in the last couple of weeks. But then we just keep fueling the car and then we come up with the flip strategy where we’re able to stay out when others pit to cycle ourselves to the lead and get up to the front. So we’ve kind of been on the better side of that the last two weeks with the weather and the daylight in Chicago. But you want to be up front all of the time and having that opportunity at Talladega (Superspeedway) from our win at Fontana (Auto Club Speedway) – we were able to again stay out and push the envelope on fuel, try to go for a win and see if we could get it and fortunately we did. We made it, we got it, and so that was definitely a help. That’s five extra bonus points over the second-place guy winning the regular season championship, so that’s a big deal.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE THERE’S ALREADY AN ESTABLISHED GROUP OF CHAMPIONSHIP FAVORITES, OR DO YOU THINK IT’S STILL REALLY VERY MUCH UP IN THE AIR?

“Yeah, I do. I would say that there’s probably a consensus of probably eight or nine guys that are up there in that top that are championship contenders.. caliber, whatever you want to say. I would say we’re just barely there; you know. We’re not lighting the world on fire, you know like the No. 24 (William Byron) – they’re super good every week, they’re really fast. The No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) has been super good and really fast. So I would put those two guys kind of as your frontrunners. But you know, we’re probably around the eighth or ninth spot.”

YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT THE STRUGGLES ON SOME OF THE SHORTER TRACKS THIS YEAR AND TRYING TO GET BETTER THERE. DOES THIS FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY, AND IF SO, WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO GET OUT OF THIS WEEKEND OR BE ABLE TO GET THAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO GET SO FAR?

“Yeah, this is a weekend where we come here, not planning on, but knowing that this has been our struggle. And so, it’s just the shorter spoiler, the less strakes on the diffuser. The less downforce has kind of just been our Achilles heal this year so far, so we’d love to come out of here and just have a solid run – learn and get better. The previous events – Martinsville (Speedway), we ran 25th all day. At Richmond (Raceway), we ran 16th all day. Phoenix (Raceway), we ran 10th or 11th all day. So we just need to make some gains on that and get ourselves closer to the front with some of our other Chevrolet key partner guys – they’re doing it, so no reason why we shouldn’t do it.”

(NO MIC.)

“I would say that this tire being a little bit different is probably not that big of a deal, just hearing what Christopher Bell’s comments were on it from when they were here doing the tire test. It doesn’t seem like it’s drastically different, so I don’t think that’s going to play a factor as big as maybe it once did in earlier years. But yeah, learning something here, getting better here, just showing progress here, will definitely translate over to Richmond (Raceway). It will give you a good sense of like – OK, we ran more nose weight. We ran more right-rear spring. We ran a softer left-front.. like whatever it is. And so those things, you can then just kind of pick your setup from what you had there in the spring and base some adjustments from what you learned this weekend to there.”

LAST YEAR, YOU SAID YOU TRIED TO PUT THINGS BEHIND YOU DURING A RACE WEEKEND. BUT NOW THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR FUTURE, WHEN YOU LOOK FROM THIS YEAR TO LAST YEAR, IS IT MUCH DIFFERENT AS FAR AS JUST HOW YOU FEEL AT THE RACE TRACK?

“Yeah, I mean I would say having job security is always a great thing, right? So anytime you’re not sure what’s going on, you’re always thinking about that, as well as thinking about working on how to make yourself be better and your car go faster and everything like that. Only having one of those things to think about or work on gives you double the amount of time to be able to focus on that. It’s nice to just be a little bit more chill.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK, YOU’VE WON THREE OF THE LAST EIGHT RACES AT POCONO RACEWAY. WHY DO YOU SEEM TO BE SO TUNED INTO THAT TRACK, AND DO YOU ENJOY THE CHALLENGE OF A TRACK THAT YOU JUST CAN’T BE PERFECT ALL THE WAY AROUND?

“Yeah, well none of us are perfect all the way around. The Pocono (Raceway) thing really started in about 2014. Dave and I finally kind of hit on something that was working for us. And then in 2015 with Adam, it really came together and we were really fast there ever since 2015. That was obviously with the JGR guys and so it will be interesting to see if it translates with me with the RCR group – being able to go to Pocono (Raceway) next week with our Chevrolet and be fast. But the biggest thing to me is – I don’t know, I kind of changed my driving style at the race track just a little bit around that same time frame and I’ve kind of stuck to my guns on that. The track is also just starting to get its age because it got repaved in 2010 or ’11, something like that, so you know it’s really kind of coming into its own now. It’s pretty bumpy again. It’s lost a lot of grip again. So it lends itself to being able to widen out a little bit, which is always nice at those big, high-speed, flat tracks. You want to be able to find your own air and get out of the wake.”

IN GENERAL, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OR WHAT YOU HAVE THAT WORKS AT POCONO (RACEWAY)?

“You have to be good in turns one, two and three. Not great anywhere.. just good.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT QUALIFYING TODAY? THIS IS A REALLY TOUGH TRACK TO QUALIFY AT. “Yeah, it’s just tough because the grip level, the air pressures, all that sort of stuff; and it’s just a really flat track. Like you’re going across a very flat track on two inches of 10 inch tread or whatever you know, so the contact patch is very, very low here. There’s not a lot of load to push you down into the race track. So you’re always just trying to kind of control that slide – whether it’s front slide or rear slide. It’s a challenge.. it’s tough. It’s never really easy, but over the years, I’ve had good success of being able to qualify decent here. We’ve had some poles – a lot of top-three, top-five qualifying efforts, as well. It would certainly be awesome to have another one of those here today.”

HOW TOUGH IS IT IF YOU DON’T QUALIFY WELL HERE?

“Yeah, it’s pretty miserable when you don’t qualify good here because then you start deep in the field and it’s hard to pass. Especially this day in age with how close the competition is, it’s even more difficult to pass here. Your best chance of passing somebody is while you’re sitting still on pit road. That’s kind of how this place has been. Pit strategy obviously comes into play a lot – whether you take two (tires) and try to jump guys and hold on or whatever.”

YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS AT THIS TRACK. HOW MUCH DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN TRANSLATE INTO THIS YEAR WITH A NEW TEAM AND MANUFACTURER?

“Yeah, just concepts, ideas, things that I remember and know from the past, and being able to do it over again and try to explain that through to the new group with Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the guys. But really, they’ve had a good sense of stuff that’s been really good, so we’ve been working off of their stuff, my stuff, all of it, and try to find a good happy medium of where we’re able to make the most effort and make the most speed. All of that has been working really well.”

LAST WEEK’S RACE WAS INTENDED TO BE 400 MILES, BUT IT WENT UNDER 300 MILES. CHICAGO WAS ORIGINALLY A 220 MILE RACE, BUT IT WENT LESS THAN THAT. YOU’VE BEEN IN THIS LONG ENOUGH WHERE IT WAS ALL ABOUT 400 OR 500 MILES AND THE IDEA OF SHORTENING RACES. ARE THERE ANY LEARNINGS OR ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE FROM WHAT THESE RACES HAVE PROVIDED, AND IS THIS SOMETHING TO MAYBE MAKE AT ATLANTA OR AT TRACK ‘X’ A 300 MILER AS OPPOSED TO A 400 MILER TYPE OF THING?

“Yeah, I’ve kind of noticed that sometimes when the races are over and I’m like – damn, I didn’t have a chance to get back to where I wanted to go. It just takes a while; it takes a lot longer. It’s like a truck race, you know? You go to Pocono (Raceway) next weekend – you run a stage and the stage is 12 laps long or something like that. So shorter races, yeah – it’s fine.. it can be done. I think it can be done successfully. I think you kind of saw maybe a little bit of rain factor last week in the racing at Atlanta (Motor Speedway) where guys were really pushing because they knew the rain was coming so they wanted to be up front, so the aggression was high. But besides that, race distance, race length – I think if you can find a happy spot with a TV window, then just stick to that. If it’s a three hour window and it takes ‘X’ amount of time per lap to do it and you’re going to have eight cautions – add up that time, figure out the distance that you need, and go from there. I think to have one, two, three, maybe four Crown Jewels that have always been long distance races, as long distance races, is cool – Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, you know what I mean. I would say keep those going the way they are, and maybe some of the other ones can be shortened.”

CAN YOU JUST TALK ABOUT RACING AT LEE USA SPEEDWAY LAST NIGHT AND THE FAN BASE OVER THERE?

“Yeah, ran a late model last night over at Lee Speedway. That was a lot of fun, so really appreciate Tom Keen, Archy and all the guys that were able to put together that car for me to be able to come out, work on it and have some fun. First time I’ve been in a super late model since I think 2019 at Snowball Derby, so it’s been a long time. I got rid of all of my stuff, so I don’t really do that much anymore. But was able to just kind of dip my toes back in. The fan crowd was great – everybody was really tuned in, came out, had some fun and enjoyed the night and I did, as well, too. It was a hot box out there.. it was warm. But made it through it and ready to go for this weekend here at Loudon (New Hampshire Motor Speedway).”

About Chevrolet
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
New Hampshire Media Availability | Saturday, July 15, 2023

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang, visited the media ahead of this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and talked about the race ahead and his future plans. Harvick was presented with a personalized musket for his record-tying four NHMS victories over the stretch of his Cup career – two with Ford in 2018 and 2019.

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT QUALIFYING FOR TODAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN A LOT OF PEOPLE CONSIDER NEW HAMPSHIRE TO BE A DIFFICULT PLACE TO QUALIFY? “It is because you just have to pick up the pace, but you can’t slip the tire. It’s such a fine line of where the edge is here as far as sliding the car, or sliding the front of the car and getting off line. So, you just have to be pretty line sensitive to go fast, and you have to put the car in the right spots. It’s a balance of knowing what the pace is compared to what you did in practice, and how much faster you need to go.”

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU’RE SO GOOD AT THIS TRACK? “It’s just been a good place for us to race throughout the years. I grew up on a lot of the short tracks and flat short tracks out West, and we spent a lot of time at RCR at a lot of the flat tracks – and always ran good. That carried over to Stewart-Haas Racing and just wound up being one of our really good spots. I feel like four ‘ones’ should be 10, but I feel like that at a lot of places. So, I guess that’s just the racer’s mentality on how you think about things. It’s been a great place to race, and I’ve seen it go through some different transitions as far as the layout of the track. But, it’s been fun to come here, and we have a great following up here. I think a lot of that started when we went to the Oxford 250 in I think 2009. We’ve just had a good fan following throughout the years, so it’s been a fun place to race in front of those fans who have followed me for so long.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE NEW TIRE THIS WEEKEND? “I didn’t know it was new. I have no idea. I think for the things that I’ve been able to go through so far with this car, you don’t really know until you race it. Every time I try to predict something, it’s usually wrong. I think as we’ve gone through last year and the beginning of this year, there are some places that are a little bit different on the tire compared to the other short tracks. This place is just a little bit unique, and I’m sure that’s why they switched it up a little bit for here.”

HOW DO YOU BALANCE STAYING COMPETITIVE WITH ENJOYING YOUR FINAL RACES AT MOST OF THE TRACKS? “Yeah, it’s really been no issue. We’ve had such a laid-out plan for so long, and all that was intended to know that you’re going to do things, but also put yourself in a position to be competitive. We’ve done that pretty much every week except for Chicago and North Wilkesboro. You just have to grind away, and that’s just kind of the nature of the beast. With this particular car, you’re just going to have some weeks that you’re ‘off.’ For the most part, we’ve been competitive. We’ve had a couple of chances to win races, and it just hadn’t all come together to be able to get to victory lane. From the competition side, I think everything has gone well, and the rest of it – we planned for and knew it would be more work than what a normal season would be. I think there are some places that you look at and realize everything that you’ve been able to accomplish throughout the years, and you can kind of go back. That’s the cool part about this year: You can let your guard down, go back and say, ‘Yeah, it has been a good racetrack for us.’ We’ve been fortunate enough to have some success, and this is one of those places where you can check that box, let your guard down and say, ‘Yeah, this has been a great racetrack for us, and we have had some success.’ That makes it fun, because there’s nothing to hide anymore. You don’t have to hide what you think about really anything, just because of the fact that next year is different. For years, I didn’t want everybody to really know what I thought, what I was thinking or know too much about you, because you can put yourself in a position where people know your weaknesses or strong points. So the less you say, the less they know. That’s not really relevant this year, and it’s been fun to kind of just let your guard down and say what you think.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU AND THE TEAM ARE BUILDING TOWARD A WIN? “I do. You look back at Nashville – the car was so fast. I think we ran the leaders down by like four seconds, and then a tire went flat. We had that same thing at Phoenix and at a couple other places, and it just hasn’t worked out. You just have to keep grinding away, and hopefully you get some things that go your way like last year – keep the cars running well to put yourself in position, and then go from there.”

DO YOU FEEL ANY INCREASE IN INTENSITY INCHING CLOSER TO THE PLAYOFFS? “I don’t feel like anything changes anymore. I think there’s probably some desperation, as you saw with some of the circumstances at Atlanta – staying out, hoping for rain… and Chicago, trying to put yourself in position with the pit cycle and things like that. So, there’s definitely some ‘Hail Marys.’ They work every once in a while, so you never know, right? It’s definitely different with this car, because it is so intense every week with the restarts and what you have to do to pass. For us, it doesn’t really change because in 2015, we just decided to race every week like it was a playoff week. If you have to switch gears, you’re in big trouble. It’s a different way to race.”

WE HAVE HAD SHORTENED RACES THE LAST FEW WEEKS. ARE THERE ANY TAKEAWAYS THAT CAN BE APPLIED FOR THE FUTURE? “Well, I think Atlanta needed to go all the way with the way the stages broke up and everything. I think Chicago was scheduled to be too long, and I think if we start a race in the rain, we need to have a time limit or something. Because, the rain laps are so much slower and it just winds up taking all day. But I think that 75 laps at Chicago would have been fine. I think everyone will probably go back, look and review, and see that the shorter race at that particular place would have been fine. I’m still of the opinion that if the race starts in wet weather – if it’s on an oval or we’re in hurry-up mode like we were at Atlanta – then we should have the rolling stages like we do on the road courses. I think you should have that option to clarify that before the race, because we might have been able to get the whole race in if we didn’t stop for the stages. So, probably not. But, it would have given you a better opportunity. I think you need to have those hurry-up modes and possibly talk about time. Time really became of the essence at Chicago, just because of the fact that it was going to get dark. But, I think that race being 75 laps would have been fine, even in the dry.”

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS WITH SHR AND KHI? “There’s really nothing happening at Stewart-Haas Racing for me personally. But, I think from a management standpoint, we’ve gone and restructured all that to be able to spend more time with the drivers and the things that they are doing – the teams. We will run several late models and super late models out of our shop next year. That’s already in process. We’ve been going through the new look of what everything will look like as far as KHI and KHI Management. We opened up an E-Z-GO dealership in Mooresville. So, that stuff is more of the retirement stuff and it’s all been in play for the last year and a half. As to what it looks like when Phoenix is over: All that stuff will be functioning already by the end of the year. There are already a few cars that are in the shop, and we’ve been transitioning through facilities as far as storage, shop space and things like that.”

OTHER TRACKS HAVE GIVEN ROCKING CHAIRS THE LAST FEW YEARS, SO THE MUSKET HAS TO BE COOL FOR YOU? “Well, I did get one rocking chair, but that was from my friend, Jake Owen. So, I do have a few rocking chairs that have come from other places. But yeah, but that’s what I want to be. I want to be full of energy and do things in a different way, and make a difference from the TV booth, with our drivers and teams we work with from a management side of things. People think and they’re like, ‘Why’d you open up a retail business?’ I’m like, ‘Well, everybody’s done everything for me for my whole entire racing career, so it’s fun to be involved on a daily basis with sales, marketing and all the things that come with a retail business.’ So, that’s really more because of a relationship and for me to give me something to do. I’ve learned, and Dale Jr. warned me of this, that I would be busier when I got out of the car than I was in the car. Because in the car, I already had an excuse to not do things. Out of the car, you have no excuse to not do anything. So, I’m learning that quickly. But I will have control of my schedule after I get done with the first half of FOX as far as what I do on the weekends. But during the week, I have to work. My wife would kill me if I didn’t work. If I was home everyday, I’d be a big problem. We would have way too many projects going on. So, it’s going to be fun because I really enjoy the race team part of it. I always said that I’d never do the race team stuff again, but I really enjoy just watching the car at Caraway with Layne Riggs in it, and watching everybody work. Now it’s to the point where we’re out hiring people, putting people in the shop and racing. So, the good news is that it doesn’t matter where it goes. As long as it’s fun, and we can enjoy it. I really enjoy the group of owners that we have with the CARS Tour and the impact we’ve made in short track racing. I’m starting to realize the impact you can make for the racers and the sport in general to help progress it in a great direction. So, that’s been kind of a learning curve of the impact you can have on things. So, we’ll continue to go forward with that and try to help people in whatever way we can to make racing great.”

YOU MENTIONED THE LATE MODEL STUFF. ARE THERE ANY BUCKET LIST RACES YOU’D LIKE TO RUN NEXT YEAR WITH YOUR LATE MODEL PROGRAM? “I mean, the plan right now is to run a lot of those races – Snowball Derby, Slinger, Nashville. However that all lies out. It just depends. The race teams are going to be primarily used for the management company drivers and the things that they want to do as we go forward. So, the teams are kind of an extension of what we’ll do from the management side to give them the opportunity to get into good cars, be safe and do the things that we can do. But also, help the CARS Tour and be able to put Cup guys in there when they want to come race. I don’t know if it’s necessarily for me. I could honestly wind up not driving another race next year if it winds up that busy. Because, I enjoy watching them. I don’t know how I’ll feel about that in June next year after you’ve not done anything for six months. So, I think that’s sort of a moving target. But I want management and those guys to have the opportunity to go do what they want to do, and do it in good cars.”

WHICH RACER, THROUGH YOUR CAREER, HAS PUSHED YOU THE MOST TO BE AT YOUR BEST? “Well, I’m still driving. There is a limit. But I always thought it was fun when Kyle [Busch] had his team, and him and [Ron] Hornaday were going at it. We’d run races just to aggravate him for fun when I’d drive it. I think he’d do the same, and it drove him into building his own teams and out of the No. 51 Truck. That was a really fun period of time because that would carry over from Friday to Saturday to Sunday, and we’d run over each other. As we’ve gone through the years, we’ve learned to respect each other, and I think there was a great rivalry there for a number of years whether it was on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. That, to me, was a great period of time of being able to push the limits, and also have fun with that particular piece of the puzzle.”

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE CARS TOUR AND SHORT TRACK RACING FOR BRIDGING THE GAP TO NASCAR? “Well, I think the most important thing is using our platform to expose who those short track drivers are. Josh Berry has been a huge part of that, in being able to recognize that there are a lot of good short track racers. And Josh, being able to go into the No. 4 car – and it’s not a paid-for situation – gives a lot of those guys hope that it can be done and it can be a part of just doing the right thing. Being successful and doing the right things on and off the racetrack. So, we have a lot of great racers across the country, racing at these short tracks. For us, our focus is the CARS Tour, and from what you’ve seen from the four of us, on a weekly basis just promoting the races when they’re on. If some of the guys or gals have fun Tweets or posts on Instagram, you see Dale or myself reposting that stuff trying to give them a platform to be able to have a shot. And really, try to help them understand what is actually supposed to happen from a social standpoint – how you act and how you drive. I don’t think we’ve had that over the last few years, and I think that’s why some of the racing gets sloppy at the short track levels, because they get away with it. We’re not going to let that happen. That’s important.”