KEVIN HARVICK
Las Vegas Advance
No. 4 GEARWRENCH® Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36)

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

● Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

● 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: NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Since joining Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014, Kevin Harvick has finished among the top-10 in eight of the 13 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In that span, the driver of the No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang has led 621 laps and won twice – March 2015 and March 2018. Harvick finished 12th in the series’ most recent race at the 1.5-mile oval in March.

● Harvick has led a total of 679 laps at Las Vegas, the most of any NASCAR Cup Series driver in the history of the track. Next best in this category is seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson with 595 laps led. All but 58 of Harvick’s laps led at Las Vegas have come in his nine years with SHR. The 2022 season is Harvick’s 22nd year in Cup.

● Harvick’s win at Las Vegas in March 2018 was his 100th career victory across NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck. He has since scored 21 more Cup wins to bring his record to 121 total victories – 60 in Cup, 47 in Xfinity and 14 in Truck. Only three other drivers in NASCAR history have surpassed 100 wins across NASCAR’s top-three series: Kyle Busch (224 wins), Richard Petty (200 wins) and David Pearson (106 wins).

● Harvick has a total of 13 top-10s at Las Vegas, tied with Kyle Busch for the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

● There have been 29 NASCAR Cup Series races contested at Las Vegas, including its inaugural race on March 1, 1998. Harvick has started 26 of those races, the most of any driver, past or present.

● Harvick has made 11 starts in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas. He has two wins, six top-fives and seven top-10s. His first Xfinity Series win came in 2004 when he started 11th and led 14 laps. His second triumph came in 2010 when he started second and led 82 laps.

● Harvick has made three Truck Series starts at Las Vegas, earning two top-10s with a best finish of eighth in 1997.

● GEARWRENCH®, a premier hand tool brand from Apex Tool Group, joined Harvick and the No. 4 team as a primary partner in 2022. GEARWRENCH is the No. 1 worldwide professional-grade mechanics’ hand tool brand, offering products that are designed and manufactured to meet the requirements of pros, mechanics and auto techs who make a living with their tools. GEARWRENCH understands the problems mechanics face every day and provides tools that increase productivity through speed, strength and access. Since the launch of the original five-degree ratcheting wrench, the GEARWRENCH brand has led the industry with breakthroughs in pass-thru ratchets, sockets, screw/nut drivers, pliers, extraction tools and specialty tools. Learn more at GEARWRENCH.com.

● Featured on the decklid of Harvick’s No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang during the South Point 400 are GEARWRENCH PITBULL™ pliers, which provide unstoppable gripping and cutting performance thanks to a range of technology. GEARWRENCH PITBULL Auto Bite™ pliers feature one-handed, automatic gripping action, so they’re perfect for tough work in tight spaces. GEARWRENCH PITBULL Tongue and Groove pliers have a K9™ jaw that bites hard to grip strong, even when attacking at an angle. And when it comes to superior cutting, GEARWRENCH PITBULL cutting pliers deliver with 35 percent less force needed to cut and a 50 percent longer blade life. Learn more about the entire range of GEARWRENCH PITBULL pliers HERE.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang

What are your expectations as you return to Las Vegas since last competing at the track nearly seven months ago?

“I honestly can’t even tell you what happened in the first race, it’s been so long. We’ve just been through so many tests and so many simulator sessions and so many different forms of setups and things with the car, and the evolutions of the setups and the tires, and the understanding of the vehicle is just in a massively different spot than where we were at the beginning of the year. That progression of the sport that naturally comes year after year after year is just much more rapid this year because of the new car, so it’ll be interesting to see how Las Vegas is this weekend with our GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang. A lot of it depends on just how hot it is. We’re expecting hot, but I think the falloff will be dictated by that, and which tire we bring with which stagger, will also be a little bit of a difference than we had the first time.”

Was there a point this season where you felt like you finally had a handle on the NextGen car?

“It has depended on the racetrack, especially as we go to some of these racetracks for the second time – Richmond being one of those. For me, it’s been a relief just because you could look back and say, ‘OK, the car felt like this, this is what my notes say, this is what the team said.’ You can watch the videos and all the data that comes with everything we do in today’s world, and say, ‘OK, this is where I let off, this is how I drove the car last time.’ That part has happened a lot as we go to some of these races for a second time, and that gives me a comfort level to know that you can do this with the car and that with the car. But it’s still a learning process because our garage never quits learning. The teams are always learning, and it’s a constant progression of setups and evolution of driving and styles and things that you can and can’t do. You’re still trying to find those limits to where you can race, and how you can race, and what you can do on, really, everything. It’s not as fast as it was at the beginning of the year, but it’s still a pretty rapid evolution. But that’s pretty constant in our garage, because we have so many smart people and engineers working on these cars.”

What’s different about the NextGen car?

“It’s just different in every aspect of everything you do. Other than the fact that you’re in a race, everything inside the car just feels different. The steering is different, where we went from just an old-style steering box to now rack-and-pinion steering, so if you touch the wheel just a little bit, the steering immediately reacts. The pedals are all different and the way that they feel is different. You have an extra gear inside the car. It’s a sequential straight-up, straight-down sequential shifting mechanism that goes inside the car. So, there’s just so many things that are different that we’ve had to learn and, really, had to relearn some of the things that you have to do within the car, whether it’s how you use the throttle, how you steer the car, use the braking, which have different tendencies than the old car. It’s nothing outside the box, but it’s so drastically different that you’ve had to almost retrain yourself to do some things and the style of things that you’ve learned the car likes over the season. That part has been fun and difficult all at the same time and, for us, we’ve been very fortunate to spend a lot of time in the simulator and have it be somewhat relevant to the racetrack to try to create that muscle memory and thought process of things that you have to do that are different.”

What’s it been like racing with the NextGen car?

“There are definitely more accidents, and I think a lot of that comes with the aggression of knowing you’re not going to cave a fender in, and you have to be able to do what you need to do on the restarts to try to gain spots. So when you look at that, there have been more DNFs, there have been more accidents, there have been less top-10s, less top-fives, more spread out as far as the win column goes with the 19 different winners so far. It’s been much different as everybody’s learning about the car and trying to understand it. It’s kind of spread things out throughout the field. You’ll have something torn up, you’ll have races where you don’t get torn up and you don’t run well, but you can still salvage a top-10 because that attrition rate has been higher.”

Why is the attrition rate higher?

“The racing is closer and the cars are more durable, so people are more aggressive, especially on the restarts. Pit road has been different with the loose wheels and the speed of the pit stops and the margin of error is just less. I think the aggression level is up. Some places are more difficult to pass than they’ve been in the past and you have to take your opportunities as you can. You’ve seen a lot more people spin out this year, and you’re just seeing a lot of things happen that haven’t happened in years past.”

Las Vegas has become quite the sports town. What are some of the sports you might’ve played if you weren’t a NASCAR driver?

“I’m not the most athletic person, but I have a little bit of grit and determination, which is the only thing that got me through my four years of wresting in high school. I don’t know what I would’ve done. I went to the local junior college and knew I wanted to race and never pursued the wrestling piece of it. I would’ve definitely had to do some things a little bit differently. I was a little guy in high school. I think that worked out OK now, being 46 years old, but I always wanted to race and I have no clue what I would’ve done if I wasn’t driving cars. I started driving go-karts when I was 5 and raced cars when I was 16 and started traveling all over, racing cars or working on the trucks for Wayne and Connie Spears as a mechanic. Racing is all that I’ve known. I have no clue in which direction it would’ve gone if it wasn’t for racing.”

No. 4 GEARWRENCH Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick

Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Interim Crew Chief: Stephen Doran
Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Robert “Cheddar” Smith
Hometown: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Engineer: Dax Gerringer
Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Daniel Coffey
Hometown: Granite Falls, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Daniel Smith
Hometown: Concord, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard
Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Brandon Banks
Hometown: High Point, North Carolina

Fuel Man: Evan Marchal
Hometown: Westfield, Indiana

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Richie Bean
Hometown: Bradford, Vermont

Mechanic: Nick DeFazio
Hometown: Orange, California

Tire Specialist: Jamie Turski
Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut

Engine Tuner: Robert Brandt
Hometown: Mobile, Alabama

Transporter Co-Driver: Rick Hodges
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Stephen Mitchell
Hometown: Woodville, Ohio

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 12, 2022) – Alex Bowman will not compete in the next three NASCAR Cup Series races as he recovers from a concussion suffered in a Sept. 25 accident at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, was evaluated this morning in Pittsburgh by Dr. Michael “Micky” Collins, clinical director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for the entire staff at UPMC,” said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. “Our priority continues to be Alex’s recovery and long-term health, and we will follow the plan that Dr. Collins and his team recommend. We’re not looking past the next three races and will evaluate plans for the season finale (at Phoenix Raceway) as the event approaches.”

Noah Gragson, 24, will be Bowman’s substitute driver Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 23 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Oct. 30 at Martinsville Speedway. The Las Vegas native also filled in for Bowman Oct. 2 at Talladega Superspeedway and Oct. 9 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.

ARIC ALMIROLA
Las Vegas Race Advance
No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36)

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

● Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

● 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: NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Las Vegas: In 18 starts at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 1.5-mile desert oval, Almirola has earned four top-10s, all coming since he joined SHR in 2018. Almirola finished sixth in his most recent start March 6. It was the No. 10 team’s third-straight top-10 finish to start the season and fifth in a row dating back to last year’s penultimate race Oct. 31 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

● 2022 Season: Through 32 races, Almirola has earned two top-five finishes, seven top-10s, and has led 81 laps. He also qualified on the pole for the first time this season at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in September. His average finish of 17.7 and seven top-10s this season have bettered his totals for all 36 points-paying races in 2021.

● Driver Points: Almirola arrives at Talladega 20th in the driver standings with 685 points.

● Almirola’s career: In 420 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has earned three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 91 top-10s, four poles, and has led 974 laps.

● Smithfield Foods 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. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield®, Eckrich® and Nathan’s Famous®, among many others. For more information, visit www.SmithfieldFoods.com, and connect on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

● Back for More: Earlier this year, Almirola announced that he would step down from fulltime racing following the 2022 season.Through the course of the year, Almirola has discovered a new balance between his passion for racing and dedication to his family. His wife Janice, and kids Alex and Abby, join him on most race weekends, oftentimes enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experiences together as they travel the country. His rapport with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer has flourished, and the intense pressure he had put on himself was replaced with the joy of simply being present. Not only did Almirola see a new perspective on the sport, but so did anchor partner Smithfield Foods, who broached the subject of Almirola returning to fulltime racing in 2023. On Aug. 26, Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Smithfield Foods announced his return with a multi-year agreement and the largest allotment of races since joining the team in 2018.

● Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2022, Almirola is once again sharing his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three 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 it 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.

● Almirola was the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to finish in the top-10 in this year’s opening three races. He finished fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, sixth at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and sixth at Las Vegas. Almirola’s top-10 streak ended with a 12th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway despite running inside the top-10 throughout the race.

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

Are you looking forward to Las Vegas after a solid sixth-place finish there in March?

“Yeah, we had a really good car at Vegas to start the year. I’m really looking forward to getting back there to see where we have progressed throughout the year. The next few races on the schedule are exciting for us. I think we’ll have a really good shot at running up front at all of them. I have always liked Vegas, but it’s such a challenging track to set up for. Knowing we had a good start to the season fills you with a lot of confidence going into the weekend.”

You’re at a point in your career where a lot of younger drivers are looking to you for advice on and off the track. What does that mean to you?

“It’s really neat for me to see the younger generation coming up. Cole (Custer), Chase (Briscoe), and Riley (Herbst) – those guys are so young. I remember when I was the young guy. I remember when I was that age and I remember the way I was treated by Tony Stewart at Gibbs and Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin. The way that they treated me, the amount of respect I had for them, and the leadership that they gave me was so crucial and so beneficial to me personally and professionally to get me to where I’m at today. I enjoy having the ability to be able to help these guys when they ask and when they are involved in team meetings and competition debriefs. I enjoy that aspect of seeing them kind of grow and mature in the sport and personally, too. You look at Chase, who is a newer father. I’m 10 years down the road on that. I’ve got a little bit of a head start so I can shed some light on that and what that looks like being a new parent trying to chase your dreams and career and all of those things.”

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: Robbie Fairweather
Hometown: Westbrookville, New York

Engine Tuner: Matt Moeller
Hometown: Monroe, New York

Tire Specialist: Rusty Davidson
Hometown: Mount Juliet, Tennessee

Transporter Co-Driver: Steven Casper
Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: Matt Murphy
Hometown: Augusta, Georgia

Roush Fenway Keselowski Weekly Advance | Las Vegas

The NASCAR Cup Series schedule heads west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the second time this season. Jack Roush has seven wins all-time there in the Cup Series, third-most among 1.5-mile tracks, with 16 wins overall in Vegas.

NASCAR Cup Series Race at Las Vegas

Sunday, Oct. 16 | 2:30 p.m. ET

NBC, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

Brad Keselowski, No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Castrol Ford Mustang

Early JACKpot

RFK hit the Vegas jackpot right off the bat, winning the inaugural Cup event at Las Vegas in 1998. Mark Martin led 82 laps in the victory that served as a banner day for RFK.

Inaugural Sweep

RFK placed all five of its Cup entries inside the top 10 of that inaugural Las Vegas Cup race in 1998, including three inside the top five, four inside the top six, one in the winners circle and the runner up (6 – 1st, 99 – 2nd, 26 – 4th, 16 – 6th and 97 – 10th).

Continued Success

RFK won the first three Cup races at LVMS from ‘98-’00, with Jeff Burton winning back-to-back events in ’99 and ’00. RFK also took three of the first nine Xfinity Series events at LVMS.

Victory Lane at Vegas

In addition to the first three Cup races at LVMS, RFK again found the winners’ circle in 2003 and 2004 at the 1.5-mile track with Matt Kenseth. Carl Edwards took the checkered flag at the 2008 and 2011 events to give RFK seven Cup wins at Las Vegas with four different drivers.

Back to Back at Vegas

RFK has won back-to-back Cup races at LVMS on two separate occasions in ’99-’00 and ’03-04’ and once in the Xfinity Series in ‘99 and ‘00.

Across the Board at Vegas

All in all, RFK has tallied 16 total NASCAR wins, while turning 39,000+ laps in NASCAR action at LVMS for 58,000+ miles, while leading over 2,600 laps at the track in NASCAR’s top three divisions. At the same time the organization has finished inside the top 10 in 48 percent of its 184 NASCAR starts at LVMS.

RFK Las Vegas Wins

1998 Martin Cup

1999 Burton Cup

2000 Burton Cup

2003 Kenseth Cup

2004 Kenseth Cup

2008 Edwards Cup

2011 Edwards Cup

1999 Martin NXS

2000 Burton NXS

2002 Burton NXS

2005 Martin NXS

2009 Biffle NXS

2012 Stenhouse NXS

1997 Ruttman NCWTS

1999 Biffle NCWTS

2007 Kvapil NCWTS

This Week in Motorsports: October 11-17, 2022

· NCS/NXS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway – October 15-16
· NHRA: Texas Motorplex (Ennis, Texas) – October 16

PLANO, Texas (October 12, 2022) – The Round of 8 kicks off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, while the NHRA continues their Countdown in Texas.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS

Bell has momentum heading to Vegas… Christopher Bell proved to be clutch in Charlotte with a late-race pass on Kevin Harvick to score his second win of the season and advance to the Round of 8 for the first time in his career. Bell scored his first of a series-leading four poles this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the spring and earned a top-10 finish. The Oklahoma-native is looking for his first win at Las Vegas but has runner-up finishes at the track in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series.

Hamlin plans on securing fourth straight Championship 4 spot… Denny Hamlin advanced to the Round of 8 for the fourth straight season and looks for his fourth consecutive Championship 4 berth. Hamlin led 31 laps earlier this season in Las Vegas before suffering mechanical woes. He is the reigning winner of this race – his first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the Playoffs last year.

Gibbs continues strong performance… Ty Gibbs had another strong road course finish at Charlotte with a runner-up finish. Gibbs looks to lock in his spot in the Championship 4 with a season sweep in Las Vegas this season. He took the lead on the final restart to earn his first victory of the year in March.

Jones looking for career-best points finish… Brandon Jones had a clutch performance to move from outside of the Playoffs to the final eight with a stage win and top-10 finish at the Charlotte road course. Jones has never won at Las Vegas, but has multiple top-five finishes there including a third place run one season ago.

Back-to-back for Bayne… Trevor Bayne returns to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 GR Supra for back-to- back races to close his part-time schedule this season. Bayne has four top-five finishes and five top-10’s in seven races this season. He has multiple top-five finishes at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Toyota development driver Sammy Smith closes the season in the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra at Martinsville and Phoenix.

Nemechek back for SHR… John Hunter Nemechek is in the No. 26 for Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) this weekend in Las Vegas – his 11th Xfinity Series start this season and eighth for SHR. He ran the spring race for the team and scored a top-15 finish. Nemechek has two top-fives, and three top-10 finishes this season for SHR.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Toyota recently dominant in Top Fuel events… Antron Brown and Steve Torrence have helped Toyota win five of the last six Top Fuel events. Brown has won at Topeka, Indianapolis and Charlotte, while the reigning Top Fuel champion earned victories at Brainerd and St. Louis, in addition to the All-Star win in Indianapolis.

Tight Top Fuel standings… Justin Ashley leads the point standings for the third consecutive event, but the standings are very tight with seven drivers within 88 points of the championship lead. Ashley has a 14-point advantage over Torrence, with Brown in fifth – 43 points out and Doug Kalitta in seventh, just over four rounds out of the lead.

Todd looking for 300… J.R. Todd is closing in on a milestone – 300 round wins. The 2018 NHRA champion currently sits at 299 round wins coming into this weekend. Todd previously won at Texas Motorplex in 2008 while in the Top Fuel class.

Stay Connected

https://www.toyota.com/racing @ToyotaRacing.com @ToyotaRacing

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About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 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 43 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 the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

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.

CHASE BRISCOE
Las Vegas Advance
No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: South Point 400 (Round 33 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 16
● Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
● 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: NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● The NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the seventh playoff race and first in the Round of 8. Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), begins the round eighth in the reset playoff standings, nine points below the top-four cut off, after an exhilarating ninth-place finish last Sunday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. It was his third straight top-10 finish and seventh of the season.

● Briscoe started Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 17th and drove up through the field to finish seventh in the first stage and eighth in the second. He began the third stage deep in the field after pitting and was riding just outside the top-10 when he was spun by the No. 3 of Austin Dillon entering the backstretch chicane on lap 107. A caution shortly after allowed Briscoe to pit, and he restarted 27th on lap 110. Over the final lap, Briscoe powered along the 17-turn, 2.280-mile road course to race into 12th before reaching turn two of the oval. While battling for position with the final spot in the Round of 8 at stake, Briscoe drove deep into the backstretch chicane, outbraking the three cars in front of him to advance to ninth. He held his position as he entered turns three and four of the oval and to the checkered flag to keep his championship hopes alive.

● Briscoe has a best finish of 14th in three Cup Series starts at Las Vegas. Last March, he started fourth, finished the first stage eighth, and was running inside the top-10 before an accident on lap 135 relegated him to a 35th-place finish. The following week, he rebounded in a big way by earning his first Cup Series victory on the mile oval at Phoenix Raceway.

● In 2020, Briscoe earned his first Xfinity Series win of the season at Las Vegas in March and returned in September to complete the sweep. He also made one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start there in 2017, which resulted in a third-place finish.

● Joining Briscoe and the No. 14 team at Las Vegas will be longtime SHR partner Code 3 Associates, which has been a hero to animals for more than 30 years. If disaster strikes, Code 3 will deploy its Animal Rescue Team to help in emergencies like hurricanes, fires and floods.

● Code 3 teams are currently deployed in Florida in response to Hurricane Ian, where they have been working to move animals to higher ground or dry land and provide necessary food and water as flood waters subside. They also assist agencies with rescuing pets and finding temporary shelter. Recent updates from Florida include:

● Increased livestock rescues as teams have saved goats from a flooded barn, provided fresh hay and veterinary care to horses trapped by flood waters, opened a fence to allow cattle to move to dry land and grass, tended to chickens, and rescued several pigs.

● A team is working with Desoto Animal Control to break down and temporarily relocate animals to pet-friendly Red Cross shelter locations.

● Code 3 teams also traveled by Blackhawk helicopter to assess the needs of animals on Sanibel, Pine, and Captiva islands, which were cut off from the mainland.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Las Vegas has been a good track for you in the past. Does that give this next round a more exciting start?

“I love going to Las Vegas. It’s always been one of my favorite tracks. We were pretty good there earlier this year, and we’ve only gotten better on the mile-and-a-half tracks, so I’m excited to get there and see how things go. This round definitely plays more into my strengths and we’re coming into it with a lot of momentum. We’ve gotten so much better at places like Las Vegas and we had a really good test at Homestead a few weeks ago. Martinsville isn’t a place where I’ve been great in the past but we’ve been really good on the flat, short tracks, so I think we’d be OK if we had to race our way in there.”

A lot of people have doubted your ability to continue advancing through the playoffs. How do you handle the outside noise?

“I enjoy being the underdog and handle it much better when people do doubt us. I know we’re capable, our team knows we’re capable and it really doesn’t matter what other people think. I like not having that pressure, so that’s fine if it continues. We’re going to show up each race and do what we need to do. Even if we’re down, we’re not out and we’ve shown that these last few weeks, so we’ll keep it up and make our way to Phoenix.”

No. 14 Code 3 Associates Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Chase Briscoe
Hometown: Mitchell, Indiana

Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
Hometown: Perry Hall, Maryland

Car Chief: J.D. Frey
Hometown: Ferndale, California

Engineer: Mike Cook
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engineer: Marc Hendricksen
Hometown: Clinton, New Jersey

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

Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

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