CHASE BRISCOE
New Hampshire Advance
No. 14 Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Crayon 301 (Round 20 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16

● Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon

● Layout: 1.058-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 301 laps/318.46 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stages 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 115 laps / Final Stage: 116 laps

● TV/Radio: USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for his third NASCAR Cup Series start at the Magic Mile. He earned his best finish of 15th in last year’s 301-lap race after starting 29th.

● Briscoe made one NASCAR Xfinity Series appearance at New Hampshire in 2019, in which he started fifth and finished sixth. He also has one NASCAR Truck Series start at the 1.058-mile oval, which resulted in an 11th-place finish in the September 2017 race.

● The 28-year-old driver has four top-10 finishes this season, three of which came on tracks measuring 1 mile or less. Briscoe finished seventh at Phoenix Raceway and fifth at the flat, paperclip-shaped Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He also earned a fifth-place effort in the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway dirt race.

● The No. 14 Ford Mustang features Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing for Sunday’s Crayon 301. Established in 2022, Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing was formed through a partnership between Gen.G Esports and Mobil 1 Racing. Gen.G Esports was established in 2017 as one of the leading global esports organizations currently operating in the largest gaming markets of North America, South Korea, and China, while Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing is the No.1-ranked team in the North American Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS).

● Gen.G Esports’ core mission is to help gamers use their passion for gaming and esports to get ahead in and beyond the competition. With 13.9 million global fans, 9.4 million of which are based in North America, Gen.G Esports’ widely acclaimed initiatives include:

● Industry-leading, all-female pro teams to empower the next generation of women in gaming.

● The Gen.G Global Esports Academy – the world’s first fully-integrated academic esports program, along with key global collegiate partnerships.

● Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing is an Esports team at the forefront highlighting the crossover interest between motorsports and gaming, which has already achieved accomplishments such as:

● Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing Black, the No. 1-ranked women’s Rocket League team in the world and winner of the first-ever international women’s RLCS tournament in June 2023.

● Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing won the 2022 RLCS Fall Major, a tournament featuring the best Rocket League teams in the world, just less than three months after the team was formed.

● More than $275,000 in prize winnings earned in its first season.

● Briscoe earned his best starting position of the season last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he rolled off third for the second race of the year at the 1.54-mile track in Hampton, Georgia.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Last year, you said you didn’t feel like you had figured out New Hampshire and it doesn’t suit your driving style. Was there anything you figured out last year that has turned that around?

“I don’t know that I figured anything out, but the more time on track, the more I can at least know what to expect. Sometimes it’s not about figuring out what works, it’s just working around what doesn’t. I feel like we’ve done that the last few weeks and hopefully this is just the next place in the process where we can use that to gain a little more.”

In the last three weeks, we’ve seen a change, even if a slight one, in the performance of the No. 14 team. Do you feel like anything has changed?

“There has definitely been a change in team dynamics – the way we communicate and prepare. I know I’ve been held way more accountable over the last two or three weeks. I feel like we’ve run some good races, like Chicago, where the strategy just didn’t really work out for us. We’ve been able to capitalize on better starting positions, which helps out in the race if maybe we don’t have the best speed. We’ve seen track position become so important, so that helps a little more, to have a starting spot that is 10 to 15 positions better. I do think that we’ve seen that light at the other end of the tunnel and it’s just a matter of getting there. I’ve heard some comments from people outside of the organization saying it’s not better, but it’s not going to be a quick change. It’s going to take time and that’s where you just have to keep believing and knowing what we’re working toward.”

How do you stay focused and keep believing that you’re working in the right direction?

“It’s hard. These past two to three months have probably been the hardest I’ve ever had to experience in my career with the struggles on the racetrack, but I think that’s where you just have to stay grounded and have a support system behind you. But it’s also your faith. That’s something I’ve always focused on, going back to when we were just looking for the next race to run, the next step in my career. I think you have to be really grounded in your faith and realize that your meaning is not where you finish on Sunday. It’s definitely a challenge. When things are going good, it’s not as big of a challenge, but when you’re running behind, I feel like that grind is 10 times worse and 10 times harder to deal with. In this sport, your stock is always kind of based on the week before. Even for me right now, knowing that I’ve been on this rough patch the last two or three months, I’ve just got to remember why I’m here and how I got here and just try to stay confident in that.”

No. 14 Gen.G Mobil 1 Racing Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe

Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: Richard Boswell

Hometown: Friendship, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey

Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Spotter: Joey Campbell

Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala

Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Dakota Ratcliff
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Tire Carrier: Jon Bernal
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Jack Man: Dylan Moser

Hometown: Monroe, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Corey Coppola

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Stephen Gonzalez
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Interior Mechanic: Trevor Adams
Hometown: Naples, Florida

Tire Specialist: Keith Eads
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Engine Tuner: Jon Phillips
Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri

Transporter Co-Driver: Todd Cable
Hometown: Shelby, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Rob Fink
Hometown: Mocksville, North Carolina

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 12th, 2023) – Live Fast Motorsports announced today that they and Sheldon Creed will be teaming up with Whelen Engineering to take on Kansas Speedway (September 10th, 2023) in the No. 78 Cup Chevy Camaro.

Sheldon Creed is originally from El Cajon, California and is known for his diversity to drive anything with four wheels. Sheldon competed in the Stadium Super Trucks (SST) Series where he accumulated six wins in only twelve starts. In 2017 Creed competed in the Trans-Am Series, ARCA, K&N, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, totaling 28 different races with 8 different teams. Sheldon won the 2018 ARCA Racing Series Championship and competed full time in 2019 and 2020 with GMS Racing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. In 2020 Sheldon won the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Championship.

“I’m excited to race a cup race for the first time as that’s been the dream for a long time. Whelen is a great company and I’m appreciative for their support in allowing us to do this with Live Fast Motorsports. We hope to have a good day at Kansas Speedway come September.”- Sheldon Creed

Whelen Engineering—a global leader in the emergency warning industry—has been manufacturing in America since 1952, proudly marking its 70th anniversary in 2022.

Whelen designs and manufactures reliable and powerful warning lights, white illumination lighting, sirens, controllers, and high-powered warning systems for Automotive, Aviation (Whelen Aerospace Technologies – WAT), and Mass Notification industries worldwide.

Founded in 1952 by George W. Whelen in his garage in Deep River, Connecticut, Whelen now encompasses two state-of-the-art facilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire with over 1,000,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

As the industry leader, Whelen proudly supports American workers in the manufacturing of its products and stands behind quality American innovation and craftsmanship in every product it turns out.

With the largest design staff in the industry and 1,500 employees, Whelen’s mission is to protect those who protect and serve others by making reliable products that people can depend on when lives are on the line.

Whelen products are proudly designed, sourced, and manufactured in America, and tested on-site to meet the toughest industry certifications. With quality as the foundation, Whelen celebrates innovative engineering with every product made.

“Whelen is proud to sponsor Sheldon Creed’s first ever race in the NASCAR Cup Series,” said Peter Tiezzi, III, General Manager of Motorsports for Whelen Engineering Company, Inc. “The special 9/11 Never Forget graphic on the No. 78 car is a small way to show our support for first responders and remember the brave men and women who lost their lives on that day and in the years since.”

Sheldon will showcase the No. 78 Whelen Engineering Chevy at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10th during Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by Barstool Sportsbook. You can catch the action on September 10, 2023 at 3:00PM EST.

About Live Fast Motorsports:

Live Fast Motorsports is a single-car Chevy Camaro team based in Mooresville, NC., competing in the NASCAR Cup Series under the No. 78. The team is co-owned by B.J. McLeod and Matt Tifft. B.J. McLeod also serves as the team’s driver. Jessica McLeod, CEO of Live Fast Motorsports, gives a progressive outlook in breaking down barriers in the sport of NASCAR and inspiring opportunities for women in the sport for generations to come.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 12, 2023) – Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, and more specifically their fur babies, are going to enjoy the dog days of summer thanks to new partner Benebone.

Benebone, a leading USA-brand of durable chew toys for dogs, will be the primary partner of the 2021 Daytona 500 champion McDowell and the No. 34 NASCAR Cup Series team at the Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. In addition, Benebone will be an associate partner of the 2022 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Zane Smith and the No. 38 Ford F-150 team also during the Pocono weekend.

The weekend will include the opportunity for NASCAR fans to learn more about Benebone and their products with a display in the fan zone, an appearance by McDowell in the Pocono Raceway Bark Park, and various fun social media promotions by McDowell and Smith.

For both winning drivers, the new partnership with Benebone is an authentic connection, as they both have dogs who are part of their family.

McDowell and his family of five have a white Labrador named Willow while Smith and his fiancé have a Golden Retriever Roxy and a French Bulldog named Kygo.

“It’s always important to me that our partnerships are authentic and not forced,” said McDowell. “That is the case with Benebone. Willow is loved in our family, just as millions of NASCAR fans love their dogs and want to treat them with the best USA-made products. That is what is so cool about this new relationship.”

Smith agrees with McDowell, having been a long-time Benebone customer.

“I’ve always wanted a partner in my racing career who involved our dogs,” said Smith. “And we were already using Benebone chew toys. It has been Roxy’s favorite for a long time. I think it’s cool to have them come into NASCAR where there are so many families who have dogs and can really love and enjoy their products.”

This will be Benebone’s first entry into NASCAR, but they know the passion NASCAR fans have for the sport and their dogs.

“We love the passion that the NASCAR community and fans show each and every weekend across the country,” said Nate Harceg, Benebone’s Chief Growth Officer. “Michael and Zane will be great ambassadors and help us connect with new and existing customers. We are all thrilled to join the sport, meet its fans, and can’t wait to race at Pocono.”

Fans can go to www.benebone.com to explore the various products offered.

ABOUT BENEBONE

Benebone is a leading brand of USA-made durable chew toys for dogs. The company’s simple mission is to make lives better for dogs and the people who love them. Benebone’s core values center around awesome products, building and serving communities, and a good dose of fun. Learn more at www.benebone.com and follow Benebone on social media: Twitter at @mybenebone, Instagram at @mybenebone, TikTok at @mybenebone, Facebook at @mybenebone and LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/company/benebone.

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 Craftsman Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

RYAN PREECE
New Hampshire Advance
No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Crayon 301 (Round 20 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16
● Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon
● Layout: 1.058-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 301 laps / 318.46 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 115 laps / Final Stage: 116 laps
● TV/Radio: USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Home Sweet Home: Ryan Preece and the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) are heading home to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, approximately two hours and 45 minutes from Preece’s hometown; Berlin, Connecticut. The Cup Series heads North for afternoon action at the 1.058-mile oval on Sunday, July 16 at 2:30 p.m. EDT on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

● By The Numbers: Sunday’s Crayon 301 will mark Preece’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series start at the track. He has a best finish of 16th, which came in 2020 after starting 30th for JTG-Daugherty Racing. Preece has made five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in his career, the first coming in 2013. In 2017, Preece started sixth and finished runner-up and in 2018, he started third and finished third.

● Modified Ace: Preece, the 2013 Whelen Modified Champion, has 26 modified starts at New Hampshire. He has one win, which came in 2021, and eight top fives, 14 top 10s and 266 laps led. He made a name for himself in the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR with 25 wins and 81 top-five finishes in 171 total starts.

● Welcome Back, Mohawk: This weekend marks the second race as the primary partner on the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang for Mohawk Northeast. A longtime supporter of Preece, Mohawk Northeast will bring their blue, white, and red colors to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon this weekend to continue their partnership. Mohawk Northeast Inc. is one of the premier heavy-civil contractors in the Northeast. Since 1967 Mohawk has been providing the highest-quality construction services to a wide variety of clients. Specializing in heavy highway, railroad, movable and fixed bridges, and marine construction; Mohawk has completed countless projects within the industry safely, on time, and within budget. Mohawk has the ability to self-perform all phases of construction including electrical, mechanical, structural steel repair and erection, deep foundations, pier and bulkheads, fabrication and coating (AISC & SSPC Certified), and a wide range of marine services. With an extensive fleet of cranes, barges, offshore tugboats, and many other pieces of heavy equipment, Mohawk is a well-established leader in Heavy Civil Construction. Clients include, U.S. Navy, U. S. Coast Guard, USACE, General Dynamics – Electric Boat, Connecticut DOT, Massachusetts DOT, New York DOT, Metro North Railroad, Amtrak, and various private sector clients.

● Lunch with Ryan: Media and fans are invited to Tavern on the Trax in Berlin, Connecticut on Thursday, July 13 beginning at 11:30 a.m. EDT. There will be media interviews taking place, specials and deals on food and drinks in the restaurant and a merchandise trailer stocked with Ryan Preece merchandise to purchase. Preece will participate in an autograph session, too, and some of his longtime partners, like RaceChoice, will also be on-site. Come on out for a fun-filled afternoon in support of Ryan racing at his hometrack, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, on Sunday.

● Last Weekend: The series visited Altanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway in Hampton for the second time of the season last Sunday. Preece qualified 13th on Saturday and his car came alive after the first stage of Sunday’s race. The team made adjustments and he finished Stage 2 in 10th-place, grabbing one stage point for the No. 41 team. He was running in the top 10 for most of the final stage before he got spun on Lap 179. Unfortunately, all cars were called to pit road shortly after the incident due to weather and then the race was called. Preece finished 24th.

● ARCA Menards Series West Win: In June, competitors took on Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the season’s second road-course race. Preece kicked off the weekend on the West Coast with a victory in the ARCA Menards Series West race on Friday afternoon. He qualified his No. 9 Bonanza Ford on the pole. From there, he dominated the race by leading 55 of 64 laps and crossed the finish line 9.675 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sammy Smith.

● Movin’ On Up: The No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang team has continued to improve in recent weeks and have seen more and more consistency, providing a heightened sense of motivation. Preece had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in April, earning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps. In 19 points-paying events this season, Preece has six top-15 finishes, four of which came in the last seven points-paying races: May 14 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, May 29 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, June 11 at Sonoma and July 2 at the Chicago Street Course.

● Where He Stands: Preece heads to New Hampshire 25th in the driver standings with 326 points.

● Started Things Off: Preece kicked off the 2023 season with a strong showing in the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, leading a race-high 43 laps but ultimately finishing seventh after a fuel pump issue. He has a best points-paying finish of 12th this season, which came at Phoenix Raceway in March.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’re extremely proud of your New England roots, how special is it going to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a place you went to growing up?
“I always say it’s my favorite race weekend of the year. I grew up going to the track with my father and grandfather. I had a lot of success here in the modifieds and it’s just a place I’m comfortable at. Driving in and out of the track each day still brings back a lot of memories. It’s a racers track, there’s really no place like it. Someone like me, I’ve had to fight to get where I am, and I don’t take any of it for granted and this is a place that helped me achieve my goals. There will be a lot of people at the track this weekend that I know from all my time spent there and it’s always just a really special and fun weekend for me. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m heading up early for some appearances and to see some friends and family.”

NASCAR is heading to New England this weekend and your hometrack, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, what are your thoughts heading into the weekend?
“For myself, having a lot of experience, I’ve been racing at New Hampshire since 2007, so think about 16 years of going and racing on that track. There’s a lot of places that we go to on the NASCAR Cup schedule and a lot of us drivers that are newer, I don’t want to say have a disadvantage, but we don’t have as much track time as some of the others. So, when I go to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and even though it’s been in different types of race cars, I look at this weekend as a similar opportunity as when we went to L.A. The quarter-mile background was something that really fit my style and this Next Gen car and all my laps at New Hampshire, I feel like I have a good understanding of what I need to go fast there, and obviously I hope it translates this weekend.”

Is this a race that you’ve been looking forward to and have circled on your calendar?
“Absolutely. I put in a lot of preparation at going over details with Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and amongst my team every week, but when you see places like this, you put in that extra little bit. That little bit more to make sure because, you know at the end of the day, me going to New Hampshire versus me going to Kansas is my opportunity; my opportunity to win at a place like New Hampshire is greater. Definitely, I have a really good idea and feel for what I need to get around New Hampshire Motor Speedway fast. We’ve been heading in that direction. I feel really confident with what we’re bringing that we can be a contender.”

There will be a new tire this weekend at New Hampshire, what does that do for your preparation?
“That’s a good question. For me, there are some what-ifs. You really don’t know how that tire is going to react until we do get there or I get some lap times there. They did a wheelforce test, I want to say it was a few weeks ago or a month or so ago, so there is some data there and we use the tools the best we can with not having testing for ourselves now, so that’s why going into Monday and Tuesday post-New Hampshire Motor Speedway is going to be a nice moment for our 41 team and SHR to gather more data for ourselves.”

Bad luck struck again this past weekend at Atlanta, how do you stay positive when these things happen?
“It’s a building process. I’ve built enough race cars to know that some things can happen overnight and sometimes they take time. One thing I will say is we’ve been doing a good job of executing for what we can and sometimes the chips are stacked against you with track position or whether cautions fall untimely, but you need to know within your team that everybody is pulling the rope in the same direction and that’s the case. I see the gains each week, the little gains that we make each and every week, so even though, like for example, Atlanta, 24th, but we ran top 10 a good amount of that race until it ended, and I felt like we would have been fighting in the top 10 or top five had that weather not come in. Most people are gonna see 24th, I see a day of ‘hey, we had a good handling race car, let’s continue in this direction.’”

No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Ryan Preece
Hometown: Berlin, Connecticut

Crew Chief: Chad Johnston

Hometown: Cayuga, Indiana

Car Chief: Tony Cardamone

Hometown: Bristol, Virginia

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen

Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

Engineer: Scott Bingham

Hometown: Lawrenceville, Georgia

Spotter: Andy Houston

Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Devin Lester

Hometown: Bluefield, West Virginia

Rear Tire Changer: Kevin Teaf

Hometown: Tallahassee, Florida

Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons

Hometown: Tyler, Texas

Jack Man: Kapil Fletcher

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Fuel Man: Dwayne Moore

Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Joe Zanolini

Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Underneath & Interior Mechanic: Clint Leatherwood

Hometown: Rockmart, Georgia

Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn

Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut

Tire Specialist: Matt Ridgway

Hometown: Carrollton, Georgia

Engine Tuner: Jimmy Fife

Hometown: Orange, California

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues

Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer

Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania

his Week in Motorsports: July 10-16, 2023

· NCS/NXS: New Hampshire Motor Speedway – July 15-16

· NHRA: Bandimere Speedway – July 16

· ARCA: Iowa Speedway – July 15

PLANO, Texas (July 12, 2023) – It’s a busy weekend across the country in motorsports as NASCAR takes on New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the NHRA is back on track for their annual Western Swing which begins just outside of Denver at Bandimere Speedway, while the ARCA Menards Series runs at Iowa Speedway.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS

Toyota closing in on milestone NASCAR victory… After two wins over the weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Toyota sits at 597 NASCAR victories, with 175 in the NASCAR Cup Series, 195 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 227 in the NASCAR Truck Series.

Bell one of Loudon favorites… Christopher Bell is a driver you are going to have to beat when you go to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bell is undefeated in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition at the track with three wins in three starts, along with an additional victory in the NASCAR Truck Series – where he has a 1.5 average finish in two starts. Bell is also the reigning winner in the NASCAR Cup Series event. The Oklahoma-native led 42 laps and won by over five seconds.

Nemechek plans to add to winning tally… John Hunter Nemechek took the lead on the final restart in Atlanta and drove away from the pack to earn his third victory of the season and add five more Playoff points to his tally. Nemechek has made two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Loudon, with a top-five finish in his track debut in 2018.

Grala back close to home… Kaz Grala is making his first start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway since 2019, but it is sure to be an important one for him as this race is the closest event to home for the Boston-native. Grala, who is coming into Loudon off back-to-back top-15 finishes, has ran two races at his home track – earning 14th-place finishes in both events.

Toyota Xfinity Series Loudon dominance… Loudon has been a stellar place for Team Toyota. Since 2008, Toyota drivers have won 11 of the 14 Xfinity Series races they’ve competed in at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Holding at 199… After a final round appearance by Justin Ashley at the series’ last race in Norwalk, Toyota continues to hold at 199 race wins in its NHRA tenure coming into Bandimere Speedway this weekend. Antron Brown is the most recent Toyota victor at the track – in 2017.

Special place for Todd… J.R. Todd has many fond memories at Bandimere Speedway. The former Funny Car world champion won his first NHRA national event in 2006 at the track, picking up the victory in Top Fuel, on his way to the Rookie of the Year title. Todd also won his first race for Kalitta Motorsports, also in Top Fuel, in 2014.

300 for Torrence… Steve Torrence hits another milestone this weekend – 300 NHRA starts. The multi-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion has 53 race wins in 83 final rounds. The Texas-native has 463 round wins.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA

Love plans to expand points lead… Jesse Love added to his points advantage in Mid-Ohio as the Toyota development driver battled through adversity to finish fourth. Love, who now leads by 43 points, has made three starts at Iowa Speedway with a best finish of seventh in 2021.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 22 electrified options.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

ARIC ALMIROLA
New Hampshire Advance
No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Crayon 301 (Round 20 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16

● Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon

● Layout: 1.058-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 301 laps/318.46 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stages 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 115 laps / Final Stage: 116 laps

● TV/Radio: USA / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Aric Almirola won the July 2021 NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After a two-hour rain delay, he and the field battled daylight. With darkness closing in on the 1.058-mile oval, Almirola sprung to life late and pulled off the surprise victory. The win catapulted him from 27th in the standings to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time in his career. Almirola is in the exact same points position heading into this weekend’s race.

● History at New Hampshire: While the 2021 win was his first at New Hampshire, Almirola has been on a hot streak there since joining SHR. In the last five races at “The Magic Mile,” he’s ranked fourth overall. In his first start at New Hampshire with SHR in 2018, he finished third, then 11th the following year. In 2020, he started from the pole and finished seventh before returning the next year for his first career victory at the track. Last year, Almirola started seventh and raced in and around the top-five before a mechanical issue ended his day, putting him 19 laps down. In 20 starts at New Hampshire, he has five top-10 finishes and three top-fives with 81 laps led.

● Last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Almirola earned his second pole position at the 1.5-mile oval and his fifth pole of his career. In Sunday’s rain-shortened race, he led the first 46 laps of the 185 run before handling issues demoted the No. 10 driver to the middle of the pack. He finished 18th.

● While Almirola is seeking a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series to catapult him into the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs, the 39-year-old veteran raced his way to victory lane June 10 in the Xfinity Series race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

● Driver Points: Almirola arrives at New Hampshire 27th in the driver standings, 311 points out of first.

● Almirola’s career: In 443 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 92 top-10s, five poles, and has led 1,064 laps.

● Smithfield has been a sponsor of Almirola’s for the entirety of his fulltime NASCAR Cup Series career – making it one of the longest-lasting partnerships in NASCAR. Smithfield is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Its 63,000 team members are dedicated to producing “Good food. Responsibly.®” Smithfield is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated protein companies. The company has pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including its industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30 percent across its entire U.S. value chain by 2030. Smithfield believes in the power of protein to end food insecurity and has donated hundreds of millions of food servings to local communities.

● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2023, Almirola is continuing to share his life beyond the No. 10 Ford with season five of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and the show gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.

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

What is it about New Hampshire that you love?

“New Hampshire is a special place to me. It was one of my very first touring series starts in the Truck Series – I think my third start in a Truck, and I ran really well. From that point forward, I just really love going there. I love going up there for the people. I think the race fans are some of the biggest race fans in our sport. It’s such a good vibe coming to the New England area in the summer and it’s just a beautiful part of the country.”

Does it give you a lot of confidence knowing you won at New Hampshire in 2021?

“It certainly does give me a lot of confidence going back to New Hampshire and to know that we are capable of winning. I get really excited about going to a place where I have notoriously run well at and, every time I show up to New Hampshire, I have just a tremendous amount of confidence. I know what I need out of my racecar. I know what I want it to feel like and so, because of those things, I just show up with the right mindset. And, if we have the car and we execute, I know we’re capable of winning. I do get excited and fired up about going to New Hampshire. It was an awesome day in 2021, and holding that lobster in victory lane and celebrating with all my team guys and knowing that that catapulted us into the playoffs gives me a lot of good memories as I get ready to go to New Hampshire this weekend, knowing that we can do that again.”

You earned your second pole at Atlanta last weekend and led the most laps of your career there. Were you disappointed that the race was cut short by the weather?

“Early in the race, we lost track position after leading the first 46 laps and then, from that point forward, we just couldn’t get the handling of the car to be where I needed it to be to get back up and battle for the lead. So we kept working on it, and then we were playing the whole lightning and rain strategy game and trying to figure out when that was going to come. We got off sequence trying to position ourselves for when the rain was going to come in and then the rain came a little bit earlier than we anticipated, and that kind of messed up our strategy. So we finished 18th with a car that was plenty capable of running the top-10 and, if we would’ve made the right adjustments and the race plays out all the way to the end, maybe we find ourselves with a shot to win.”

No. 10 Smithfield Ford Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Aric Almirola

Hometown: Tampa, Florida

Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer

Hometown: Decatur, Illinois

Car Chief: Jerry Cook

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Lead Engineer: Lee Deese

Hometown: Rockingham, North Carolina

Engineer: James Kimbrough

Hometown: Pensacola, Florida

Spotter: Joel Edmonds

Hometown: Dobson, North Carolina

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Ryan Mulder

Hometown: Sioux Center, Iowa

Rear Tire Changer: Trevor White

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Tire Carrier: Tyler Bullard

Hometown: King, North Carolina

Jack Man: Sean Cotton

Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

Fuel Man: James “Ace” Keener

Hometown: Fortuna, California

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Chris Trickett

Hometown: Grafton, West Virginia

Mechanic: Jacob Cooksey

Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller

Hometown: Monroe, New York

Tire Specialist: Russel Simpson

Hometown: Medford, New York

Transporter Co-Driver: Steven Casper

Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Matt Murphy