Martin Truex Jr.
Kansas Advance
No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: AdventHeatlth 400 (Race 12 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 7

● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City

● Layout: 1.5-mile oval

● Format: 267 laps, 400 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps

● TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● 75 Greatest: On the heels of winning Monday’s rain-delayed race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, Truex got a surprise phone call Tuesday from NASCAR CEO Jim France to let him know that he was chosen by NASCAR as one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history. NASCAR will be honoring the 75 greatest drivers later this month at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway during the annual throwback weekend at the track.

● 32 and Counting: With the win at Dover, Truex notched his 32nd career Cup Series victory, putting him 29th on the all-time Cup Series win list.

● Truex and the No. 19 team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to a victory that gave him and the team much-needed momentum heading into the 2023 season. While the team had been knocking on the door of its first points-paying win of the season, the breakthrough finally came at Dover. The Reser’s Fine Foods team is hoping to keep the momentum going at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City this weekend.

● Truex has two wins, 10 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s and has led a total of 827 laps in 29 career Cup Series starts at Kansas. Truex’s average Kansas finish is 12.2.

● Strong in the Heartland: Truex’s two Kansas wins came by way of a season sweep of the spring and fall races there in 2017. The feat kicked off a 12-race stretch on the 1.5-mile oval during which he earned six top-fives and finished inside the top-10 all but once.

● Reser’s Fine Foods is the primary sponsor on the No. 19 Toyota this weekend at Kansas, and the 1.5-mile oval also happens to be just down the road from Reser’s largest manufacturing facility in Topeka, Kansas. Truex will be visiting the Topeka manufacturing facility to greet hardworking employees and learn more about how Reser’s makes its fresh refrigerated deli salads and hot side dishes. The visit will help celebrate the importance of manufacturing and the people who make it all possible.

● Family owned and operated, Reser’s has been a proud sponsor of good times at racetracks, picnics, and barbecues since 1950 with a family of brands that includes Reser’s American Classics, Main St. Bistro, and more. Reser’s operates 14 facilities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and actively supports the communities it serves. Visit resers.com to learn more.

● While he doesn’t like to play favorites, Truex certainly excels at tracks with worn-out surfaces, where driver skill is key to managing the tires and the racecar over the course of a long race. At four such tracks, Kansas, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway, Truex has notched six wins, 23 top-five finishes and 45 top-10s, and has led 2,209 laps. After Kansas this weekend, the Cup Series will race at Darlington next week.

● With his victory at Dover on Monday afternoon, Truex heads to Kansas having moved up to fourth in the driver standings, 40 points behind leader Ross Chastain.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry TRD

You got the call this week that you are on the list of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers. What does that mean to you?

“It’s amazing. I’ve said it before, but when I got the opportunity to race cars for a living, I never thought I would get to where I’m at. I’ve been really fortunate along the way to have a lot of great teams behind me and win a lot of races and win a Cup championship and two in Xfinity. I feel very lucky to be on the list. It’s a big honor.”

What does it mean to you and the team to get a points win under your belt this early in the season?

“We started with the Clash win. It was really big for us. I know that it’s not a points event and all that, but just for us with last year really struggling on short tracks, I feel like we put a huge effort together this offseason to be prepared for this year, to really put in an effort and talk about the things that we needed to do better from last year. I think our whole team was really motivated to get better and to do whatever we needed to do and really communicated a lot about the things we needed to work on. So, really, the Clash was a big deal to get, and it gave us a lot of confidence. Even though the past couple years had been really strong, until then it was a little up and down, but we still had a lot of confidence and felt like we were going in the right direction. I said I think it was this week that I feel really good about where we’re at and I feel like we’re ready to break loose and get on a run. We have some really good tracks coming up the next several weeks, with Kansas and Darlington the next two weeks in particular. Looking forward to this weekend with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry and to see if we can get some more.”

What is racing at Kansas like, and what other track is most similar?

“I would say Kansas is a lot like Homestead but with a tri-oval. Similar corners and little bit of progressive banking. The wall has really come into play the last couple of years there since the asphalt has worn out. So, running high is very important there, and also momentum is very important at Kansas. You have a big, wide front straightaway that gives you the option to make big bold moves on the restarts where it can get pretty wild there. Kansas is definitely high on my list of places I like to race and we are hoping for a great weekend there with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry.”

There’s a lot of variety in the schedule now – you go from short tracks, to dirt, to concrete, to road courses, and this week to a 1.5-mile oval. How do you take on the challenge of the variety of tracks you go to in the Cup Series?

“I feel like the schedule nowadays is all over the place with all the road courses we have, it’s just that every week is so different and you have to do your homework and study and think back to last year and past races just to remind ourselves. We have really short practices now, so you don’t get a lot of time to get dialed in and get comfortable, and not getting in that rhythm and just getting the car dialed in. We don’t have a lot of time and we need to show up and be ready to go. For the most part, I’ve been doing to these tracks for quite a while now and you lean on that past experience a lot.”

No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Engineer: Nick Burton

Hometown: Arvada, California

Engineer: Jeff Curtis

Hometown: Fairfax Station, Virginia

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Gregg Huls

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Kellen Mills

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

AdventHealth 400
Kansas Speedway
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sunday, May 7 at 3 p.m. EST on FS1

• Kaulig Racing has made four starts at Kansas Speedway in the NCS, three of which resulted in top-20 finishes in the 2022 season.
• So far in the 2023 season, Kaulig Racing has earned three top-10 finishes and has led one lap.

AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Camaro ZL1

• AJ Allmendinger has 18 starts at Kansas Speedway in the NCS with 53 laps led, four top-10 finishes and an average finish of 20.7.
• So far in the 2023 NCS season, Allmendinger has led one lap and earned one top-10 finish.

“Our mile-and-a-half program has been our most competitive this season so I’m looking forward to getting back to Kansas for the first time in a long time for me. Kansas is unique in the sense that turn one and two are completely different than three and four. More often than not, you have to run middle, top there so it’s definitely a race track that you move around a lot on. I think it looks like it will be warm this weekend so it might be hot and slick, cars will slide around a bit. It’s a challenging race track that I think we can hopefully go there and have some speed this weekend. ” – AJ Allmendinger on Kansas Speedway

Justin Haley, No. 31 Celsius Camaro ZL1

• Justin Haley has made four starts at Kansas Speedway in the NCS and has earned one top-20 finish.
• So far in the 2023 season, Haley has earned two top-10 finishes.

“Although Kansas is a track I have not been great at in the past, Kaulig Racing has really been working hard on our mile-and-a-half-track package. I would say as a whole, they have been our best tracks so far this season. Las Vegas was an intermediate track that we had a great run at earlier this year, so I’m looking forward to hopefully getting our best finish as a team at this track.” – Justin Haley on Kansas Speedway  
 

 
About Kaulig Racing™

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 with Justin Haley piloting the No. 31 Camaro ZL1, and an all-star lineup featured in the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. Haley will continue to drive the No. 31 full-time in 2023, alongside AJ Allmendinger, who will drive the No. 16 Camaro ZL1. The team will continue to field three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by an all-star lineup, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by Chandler Smith. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

This Week in Motorsports: May 1-7, 2023

· NCS/NCTS/ARCA: Kansas Speedway – May 6-7

PLANO, Texas (May 3, 2023) – The NASCAR and ARCA teams are heading to their first of two stops at Kansas Speedway this weekend.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NCTS

Truex plans to add another victory… Martin Truex Jr. ended a 54-race winless streak with a victory at Dover Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon. With the win, Truex moved inside the top-five in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings as he heads to another great track for the 2017 Cup Series champion. Truex has two wins at Kansas Speedway – a season sweep in his 2017 Cup title season.

Bell continues to pile on strong finishes… Christopher Bell added yet another top-10 finish at Dover on Monday as his sixth-place run was his series-leading eighth top-10 result this season. Bell heads to another track where he has had success – as the Oklahoma-native earned top-five finishes in both races at Kansas Speedway last season. Bell also earned his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Kansas Speedway in 2017.

23XI Racing looks for three straight… 23XI Racing swept race wins at Kansas Speedway last season with Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. In May, Busch led six Toyotas finishing in the top-10 and led 116 laps (of 267) on his way to victory. Wallace led the final 43 laps in September to score his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory in a race that featured a Toyota podium sweep.

Heim last truck winner… Corey Heim heads to Kansas coming off his first victory of the season – and the first win for the rebranded TRICON Garage team – at Martinsville Speedway. Heim won both stages and led 82 laps (of 124) on his way to the win, which moved him inside the top-five of the Truck Series point standings. Heim finished inside the top-10 at Kansas last fall, and also owns two Kansas victories in the ARCA Menards Series.

Breidinger debuts… Toni Breidinger will run double-duty on Saturday as the California-native will make her Truck Series debut in the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage. Breidinger competed at Kansas Speedway in the ARCA Menards Series twice last season, scoring top-10 finishes in both events.

NASCAR Regional Series – ARCA

Love looks to go back-to-back… After earning his first ARCA victory of the season – and first superspeedway win, Jesse Love looks to go back-to-back for the first time in his ARCA career. With the win, the 18-year-old Toyota development driver moved up to second in the point standings, just 11 points out of the lead.

Mosack plans to be one spot better… Connor Mosack returns to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota Camry for his second ARCA Menards Series start of the season. Mosack started from the pole and led 25 laps (of 80) in his team debut at Daytona in February. Mosack finished fifth in this race one season ago.

Stay Connected

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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
Kansas Advance
No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Advent Health 400 (Round 12 of 36)

● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 7

● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City

● Layout: 1.5-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 267 laps/400 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps

● TV/Radio: FS1 / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● While the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang team’s short-track package has proven to be competitive this year, all eyes are set on improving at the intermediate tracks that comprise a majority of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule starting this weekend on the 1.5-mile oval at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. Earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Aric Almirola drove into the top-15 but was involved in an accident not of his own doing. A week later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Almirola drove in and around the top-15 before bringing home a 16th-place finish. This weekend marks the first of two races at Kansas this season.

● The No. 10 Smithfield Ford team’s season has been a rollercoaster ride. It got off to a strong start during the first two outings of the season. Almirola won his heat race and started on the pole for the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Then, in the points-paying season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the 39-year-old veteran won his Duel qualifying race and led 16 laps of the Daytona 500 – the most laps he’s led at Daytona in 23 starts. Almirola and his team were mired by bad luck at Fontana, Phoenix Raceway and Richmond (Va.) Raceway in subsequent races, unable to capitalize on newfound top-10 and top-five speed. He then led the field for a combined 28 laps during what were promising days at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, but a late-race accident ended Almirola’s day at Atlanta and he posted a 22nd-place finish at Talladega. His best outing of the early season came three weekends ago at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he qualified third, ran up front all race long and earned a sixth-place finish and 42 points in the driver standings. Having experienced both ends of the spectrum of performance thus far, Almirola hopes Kansas will prove to be a turning point for the season and kick off a stretch of top-10s over the summer months, which he’s been known to do on multiple occasions.

● History at Kansas: In 22 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas, Almirola has seven top-10 finishes and has led 69 laps.

● Driver Points: Almirola arrives at Kansas 25th in the driver standings, 189 points out of first.

● Almirola’s career: In 435 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 92 top-10s, four poles, and has led 1,018 laps.

● Fans will see the iconic white, black, and gold Smithfield Foods scheme adorn Almirola’s Ford Mustang this weekend. 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:

You’ve run in and around the top-15 at intermediate tracks so far this year. What are your expectations this weekend?

“Las Vegas was really the only chance we got to test our 1.5-mile program and we ran around 15th that weekend. I thought we actually had a good car in Fontana to start the year, but we got taken out when everyone stacked up on a restart and our day was done. I think we had a top-10 car in Fontana. Vegas is so much different of a track and is always tough to figure out. I like racing at Kansas, but the results don’t always show it. I think we just need to be patient and not over-adjust and just figure it out throughout the day as a team. We’ve done a great job of that this year, but have been caught up in unfortunate situations when we find the speed. We have worked really hard on improving this program on the simulator that Ford Performance provides us and we hope we can turn it around this weekend.”

Why is it so important to get this package right?

“Well Kansas, Texas, and Miami are all in the playoffs, and in order to be a playoff contender, you have to get this right. All of these tracks are different in their own way and we’ve seen more success at different 1.5-mile tracks throughout the years, but it starts this weekend in Kansas, to find speed and build notes for the future. More importantly, we need to have solid days to move up in the standings. We have to qualify well to put us in a position to earn stage points and put together another clean day like we had at Martinsville.”

What are your thoughts about racing at Kansas?

“I’ve always enjoyed Kansas. I know that I did have a really bad accident there, but in my mind I just view that as a bad accident. It just happened at a place. It just so happened to be at Kansas. It could have happened anywhere. I don’t really put that on Kansas and so, every time I’ve been back since then, it’s never really been a thought that’s crossed my mind. I actually enjoy going to Kansas. I have friends in Kansas City who I enjoy spending time with that makes it even more enjoyable to be there and, on top of that, I love the racetrack. The racetrack is a really fun racetrack to run at for me and I’ve had a lot of success there and had a lot of really good runs there.”

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

Engineer: Davin Restivo

Hometown: Asheboro, 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

Hometown: Augusta, Georgia

RYAN PREECE
Kansas Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: AdventHealth 400 (Round 12 of 36)
● Time / Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 7
● Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City
● Layout: 1.5-mile oval
● Laps / Miles: 267 laps / 400.5 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 80 laps / Stage 2: 85 laps / Final Stage: 102 laps
● TV / Radio: FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Ford Mustang will sport Haas Tooling’s new Winner’s Circle logo as part of its red, white and black paint scheme for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. HaasTooling.com, the online tooling division of the U.S. machine tool builder Haas Automation, Inc., introduces the Haas Tooling Winner’s Circle, a membership program that offers customers free next-day delivery, discounted pricing on all products, and a lower threshold for free shipping. HaasTooling.com already offers industry-leading pricing and fast delivery on an expansive selection of cutting tools, toolholders, and workholding products. Now, Haas Tooling Winner’s Circle members will get the added benefits of free shipping on all orders over $49, free next-day delivery anywhere in the contiguous United States (on most orders), and 5% off every tooling purchase. For even greater savings, the 5% discount may be combined with other promotions, and a single membership may be used by an entire company.

● HaasTooling.com, back again in 2023 on the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Ford Musting, is the cutting tool division of Haas Automation led by SHR co-owner Gene Haas. HaasTooling.com was launched 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. HaasTooling.com products became available nationally in July 2020. Haas Automation, founded 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, rotaries and indexers, and automation solutions.

● Following the “Yellow Brick Road” to Kansas Speedway for this weekend’s AdventHealth 400, Ryan Preece will be making his seventh career NASCAR Cup Series start at the 1.5-mile oval. Preece made his first start at the track in 2019 and his most recent start in 2021 for JTG-Daugherty Racing. He has a best finish of 12th in the October 2019 race there. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Preece has two Kansas starts – one in October 2016 and the other in October 2018. In the latter event, he started seventh in and finished 21st in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing entry. Preece has made one career NASCAR Truck Series start at the track, which came last season for David Gilliland Racing. He started seventh and finished third.

● Last weekend’s race at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway took Preece to his Northeast stomping grounds, where he has a substantial following thanks to his Connecticut roots. He was seventh-fastest in Saturday practice, the lone on-track session before the race as qualifying was canceled due to rain. Preece started 30th for Monday’s rain-delayed race based on NASCAR’s performance metrics formula, and from there he fought hard for a 17th-place finish aided by the team’s stout work making chassis adjustments during each pit stop.

● Preece has been showing improvement and consistency each weekend this season and appears to be coming into his own. He had a career weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway three weekends ago, winning his first Cup Series pole and leading a career-high 135 laps.

● Eleven races into this season, Preece is 28th in the driver standings with 169 points.

● Preece kicked off the 2023 season with a strong showing in the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, leading a race-high 43 laps but ultimately finishing seventh after a fuel pump issue. Through 11 points-paying events, he has a best finish of 12th at Phoenix Raceway in March.

● RaceChoice.com, a proud partner of Preece, has launched a special racing experience giveaway for fans. The winner will receive airfare and a two-night stay during Coke Zero 400 weekend at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. RaceChoice.com will also give the winners two pit passes for the race, set for Saturday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by a meet-and-greet with Preece, driver of the No. 41 SHR Ford Mustang. Visit https://racechoice.com/2023-daytona-giveaway/ for more information.

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

You’re 11 races into the season and this will be your third trip to an intermediate-style track. What are your expectations heading into this weekend’s race at Kansas?

“For us, we’re working on finding that balance, which I think we have. Hopefully – which I believe we will after looking at the weather forecast – we’ll be able to qualify and that will be a really big thing for us. Track position. Track position seems to be the big thing. If you have it, it could be a good day, so that’s what we’re looking forward to. If we can get that track position, I really think we will put ourselves in a good spot come race time.”

What are the biggest challenges when racing at Kansas Speedway?
“Usually, Kansas is a track where you fight loose. The wind can be totally different going into one corner versus the other, so you’ve got to have a good balance between the two. And, once again, track position. That’s going to be the big thing.”

How’s your mindset now that you’re 11 races into the season?
“For me and for this team, right now we’re focused on consistency. We need to consistently practice well, qualify well, and run well during the race. That means I’ve got to be on it, we’ve got to be on it with strategy and on pit road. All of it is coming together and, even though all of the results don’t show it, we’re getting there. This team is working really hard on putting it all together and capitalizing on that. If we’re able to be consistent all the way through, those better results will keep coming.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com 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: Lee Deese

Hometown: Rockingham, North Carolina

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 County, California

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues

Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer

Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania

Kansas Event Info:
Track Info: Kansas Speedway, 1.5-mile oval
Date: Sunday, May 7
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Format: 267 laps, 400 miles, Stages: 80-85-102
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 5 p.m. ET, Practice (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 5:45 p.m. ET, Qualifying (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 3 p.m. ET, Race (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: King’s Hawaiian GoTG Vol. 3

• King’s Hawaiian’s scheme this week at Kansas features promotion of the new Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 movie that premiers this Thursday night.

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal / Body Guard

• The No. 17 this weekend will feature branding for Body Guard, distributed exclusively by Fastenal, as one of its top suppliers. Buescher’s scheme goes away from the traditional Fastenal blue to the orange colors represented by Body Guard.

Pace Laps:

The NASCAR Series schedule heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend, where Jack Roush has nine wins all time and four in the NCS.
RFK is coming off another strong showing in Dover this past Monday where Brad Keselowski finished seventh, and Chris Buescher finished ninth. It marks the first time since 2014 (Bristol & Atlanta) that the organization had back-to-back sets of top-10 finishes

Keselowski at Kansas
Starts: 26
Wins: 2 (2011, 2019)
Top-10s:
Poles: 2 (2015, 2021)

• Keselowski makes his 27th Cup start at Kansas on Sunday. He has victories there in 2011 and 2019, and overall carries an average finish of 12.1. He finished 25th last fall and 14th in the spring race in 2022.
• He has three top fives in the last six races at Kansas including a runner-up finish in 2020, a P4 finish that fall, and a third-place run in 2021.
• He has an average starting position of 11th with two career poles (2015, 2021).
• He made a combined 10 starts in the Xfinity and Truck Series with one win and five combined top-10s.

Buescher at Kansas
Starts: 14
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Buescher makes his 15th start at Kansas on Sunday. Overall he has three top-10s at the 1.5-mile track with a 15th-place finish last fall. His best result came in 2017 when he ran sixth that fall.
• He finished eighth in the spring race in 2021, and 27th last spring.
• Buescher has an average starting position of 20.4 at Kansas with a career best P10 starting position (2018, 2022).
• Buescher made three Xfinity starts at Kansas from 2013-15 with a best finish of sixth (2015).

RFK Historically at Kansas
Cup Wins: 4 (Mark Martin, 2005; Greg Biffle, 2007, 2010; Matt Kenseth, 2012)

• Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Overall, RFK has started 179 races across the three national series, earning nine wins, 41 top-five finishes, 76 top-10 finishes and has an overall average finish of 14.9.
• Winning at Kansas: RFK swept both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NCS races at Kansas in the fall of 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Stenhouse became the sixth driver to win at the track for the organization via his Xfinity victory. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin earned RFK’s first NCS win at Kansas in 2005 and former driver Greg Biffle bested the 1.5-mile track in 2007 and 2010. RFK’s first overall win at Kansas came in 2002 via Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Three drivers (Jon Wood in 2003, Carl Edwards in 2004 and Erik Darnell in 2007) have won in the NCWTS at Kansas for RFK.
• Tale of the Tape: RFK has started 110 NCS races at Kansas, recording four victories, 20 top-five finishes, 36 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 16.7 and has led 970 laps. Kenseth earned the most recent victory at Kansas in the fall of 2012.

RFK Kansas Wins

2002 Burton NXS
2003 Wood Truck
2004 Edwards Truck
2005 Martin Cup
2007 Biffle Cup
2007 Darnell Truck
2010 Biffle Cup
2012-2 Kenseth Cup
2012 Stenhouse NXS

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Dover: RFK again put both of its Ford Mustangs in the top-10 Monday at Dover, the first time since 2014 (Bristol & Atlanta) that the organization had back-to-back sets of top-10 finishes. Buescher earned stage points in each of the first two stages and finished ninth, while Keselowski led the race two different times, finished fourth in stage one, and went on to finish seventh.

Points Standings (6: 9th, 17: 12th): Both RFK drivers saw a significant jump in the standings following solid runs at Dover. Keselowski is back inside the top-10 in ninth, just three points behind the No. 8 in eighth. Buescher sits 12th with a 20-point gap separating the No. 17 from 11th.

By the Numbers at Kansas

Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

110         4              20           36           2              28121    970         17.2        16.7        42181.5
50           2              14           28           3              9699       383         12.9        12.9        14548.5
19           3              7              12           0              3059       229         9.9          11.0        4588.5
179         9              41           76           5              40879    1582       14.8        15.0        61318.5