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Tony Stewart Racing: Las Vegas Advance for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

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Official Release
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Leah Pruett & Matt Hagan
Top Fuel | Funny Car
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
April 1-3 | Las Vegas

Event Overview

Friday, April 1 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Nitro qualifying session (Q1): 1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m. EDT
● Nitro qualifying session (Q2): 3:30 p.m. PDT/6:30 p.m. EDT

Saturday, April 2 (Nitro Qualifying, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Nitro qualifying session (Q3): 1 p.m. PDT/4 p.m. EDT
● Nitro qualifying session (Q4): 3:30 p.m. PDT/6:30 p.m. EDT

Sunday, April 3 (Nitro Eliminations, streamed live on NHRA.TV)

● Round 1: 12 p.m. PDT/3 p.m. EDT
● Round 2: 2 p.m. PDT/5 p.m. EDT
● Finals: 4 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. EDT

TV coverage on FS1

● Friday, April 1: Qualifying show (4 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. EDT)
● Sunday, April 3: Qualifying show, recapping all of Saturday’s action (9:30 a.m. PDT/12:30 p.m. EDT)
● Sunday, April 3: Finals show (4 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. EDT)

Notes of Interest

● The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the fourth event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series’ 22-race calendar in 2022. Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) brings its two fulltime entries – one in Top Fuel for nine-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for three-time Funny Car champion Matt Hagan – to the track that is 2,030 feet above sea level. Hagan delivered TSR’s first victory in the series’ prior event at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, driving his Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to his 40th career victory in the 53rd NHRA Gatornationals. It was his first Gatornationals win in 14 attempts.

● Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection return to Hagan’s Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car this weekend in Las Vegas. The Dodge Power Brokers program serves as the exclusive source for Direct Connection, Dodge’s factory-backed performance parts program, which is equipped with staff trained to deliver a performance-focused customer service experience.

● Code 3 Associates, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in animal rescue and recovery in disaster areas, adorns Pruett’s Top Fuel dragster at Las Vegas. Code 3 Associates has gained notoriety among the NASCAR community for its association with Stewart and his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing. The successful partnership has led the Colorado-based organization to deepen its motorsports involvement by partnering with TSR in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Formed in 1985, Code 3 Associates has evolved from one unpaid volunteer to at least 75 professional responders around the country, which includes animal welfare, law enforcement, fire, EMS and veterinary specialists from the United States and Canada. While its focus is animals and their owners, Code 3 Associates trains its responders to the standards of human rescue, and Code 3 Associates also provides training to conduct thorough investigations into animal welfare, all of which is accredited by Colorado State University (CSU) and the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

● The Four-Wide Nationals will mark Pruett’s 175th career Top Fuel start. It’ll be her 14th overall start at Las Vegas and her fourth in the Four-Wide Nationals. For Hagan, the Four-Wide Nationals will be his 297th career Funny Car start. It’ll be his 26th overall start at Las Vegas and his fourth in the Four-Wide Nationals.

● Pruett is looking for her first victory at the Four-Wide Nationals. She was the runner-up to Steve Torrence in the 2018 fall event. Pruett earned one No. 1 qualifier at Las Vegas on Nov. 2, 2019 with an ET of 3.654 seconds at 330.47 mph, which set a new track record.

● Hagan has one career Four-Wide win – at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, in 2013 when he defeated Blake Alexander, Tim Wilkerson and Chad Head.

● Coming off his victory at Gainesville, Hagan is seeking back-to-back wins as he rolls into the Four-Wide Nationals. He has three wins at Last Vegas prior to the track’s four-wide expansion, and they all came in the fall – 2017 when he defeated Courtney Force, 2019 when he defeated Jonnie Lindberg, and 2020 when he defeated Ron Capps. Hagan finished runner-up to Bob Tasca III in the 2021 Four-Wide Nationals.

● Hagan will look to earn his fourth No. 1 start at Las Vegas, but his first since the track was reconfigured to four lanes. He scored his first No. 1 qualifier in October 2009 (4.030 ET at 313.88 mph), his second in November 2014 (3.983 ET at 322.42 mph) and his third in April 2015 (4.007 ET at 318.02 mph).

● DYK? The Strip at Last Vegas Motor Speedway opened in 2000 and is home to two NHRA national events, in addition to more than 50 other events annually. The four-wide expansion was completed in 2018, where the entire racing surface was removed and only the walls remained. The track brought in 10,000 tons of gravel, 8,000 tons of asphalt and 4,400 cubic yards of concrete to complete the project and make the track just one of two drag strips in the nation to feature four-wide racing, with zMAX Dragway being the other.

Leah Pruett, Driver of the Code 3 Associates Top Fuel Dragster

The Four-Wide Nationals have been around for a while now, both at Las Vegas and Charlotte. But for the novice fan, how are the Four-Wide Nationals different from a regular, straight-up, car-to-car battle down the strip?

“The Four-Wide Nationals is an amplifier of the nitro sensory experience. It requires paying additional attention to each quad on track in order to process all of the action that is happening. If you’re just staring at lane one and watching that car, you will not even realize what happened in lane four. You need the ultimate earmuffs, so this is a close-your-ears-and-open-your-eyes kind of a race.”

How much do you pay attention to the other three drivers, or do you just focus on you, your car and your light?

“While in my race, I am zoned in on my lane and my tree. Traditionally in a two-wide, the second lane would be ‘right’ and you would look at your stage bulbs on the right side of the tree. Not the case here. In lane two you feel you are in the right, but you have to be ultra-conscious that your stage bulb is on the left side of the tree. It seems simple, but many mess-ups happen from drivers thinking about their staging, but looking at the wrong bulb. I pay a considerable amount of attention by watching as many quads as possible throughout the weekend and getting the visual cadence down.”

Does the level of gamesmanship at the line ratchet up at the Four-Wide Nationals, or is it just double what a regular race would be?

“I would say doubled is the right amount. It could seem like more, but it is difficult to tell if someone is staging early or late to be strategic, or just hyper focused on getting their own car properly staged in time. As a driver, you have to expect it all at once.”

TSR is still in the early stages of its inaugural season – does it help that Las Vegas is akin to the conditions you already experienced when you tested at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix and then again when you raced there for the second event of the season?

“Vegas might bring some of the most challenging conditions thus far because of its altitude. Neal (Strausbaugh, crew chief) and Mike (Domagala, co-crew chief) have done a great job honing in on what our power band and window looks like, especially since testing last week in Indianapolis. I believe the progress we made last week has accelerated our preparation for Vegas.”

What do you want to get out of this race weekend?

“We want to get some glowed-up win lights! A Wally is not impossible and out of reach because we have the people and parts do it, but some solid confidence-building momentum through good, quality, clean runs and quick reactions would be a winning hand for us.”

Matt Hagan, Driver of the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car

The Four-Wide Nationals have been around for a while now, both at Las Vegas and Charlotte. But for the novice fan, how are the Four-Wide Nationals different from a regular, straight-up, car-to-car battle down the strip?

“You just never know what will happen at Las Vegas with it being the four-wides and having to pay extra attention to what’s going on. It’s more of a dangerous track for us drivers because we have to go to the end no matter what on race day.”

How much do you pay attention to the other three drivers, or do you just focus on you, your car and your light?

“You can never see over to the two additional cars on track. No matter what on Sunday, it is going to the end. As a driver, you have to have the mindset of take it down the track, no matter what, even if it’s on fire. It’s a little different mentality of rolling into Vegas or Charlotte with a four-wide race.”

Does the level of gamesmanship at the line ratchet up at the Four-Wide Nationals, or is it just double what a regular race would be?

“I’ve done a little bit of everything at Vegas from red lights to win the race, and it’s a bit of a chaotic event. There’s a lot going on with staging and trying to remember which lane you’re in. Sometimes, it’s tough with two cars, much less four.”

TSR is still in the early stages of its inaugural season – does it help that Las Vegas is akin to the conditions you already experienced when you tested at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix and then again when you raced there for the second event of the season?

“Las Vegas is always a great race to go to. It has a bit of altitude and is actually half the altitude of Denver. The tune-up is a little different there, but we seem to do really well at Vegas.”

What do you want to get out of this race weekend?

“I’m excited about it because our car has been running great. I’m really happy with my lights so far. The car has been reacting really well to what Dickie (Venables, crew chief) has been doing with the tune-up. I think we’re going to have a great weekend in Vegas. We have a lot of momentum coming out of Gainesville and we’re going to carry that momentum into this weekend.”

RFK Weekly Advance | Richmond I

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Official Release
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Roush Fenway Keselowski Weekly Advance | Richmond

The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to Richmond for the first of two visits to the Virginia short track this season. Sunday afternoon’s race marks the seventh in the 2022 season, with Richmond being the first of three-straight short track events on the circuit. Jack Roush has 15 wins all-time at Richmond, including five in the NCS.

NASCAR Cup Series Race at Richmond
Sunday, April 3 | 3:30 p.m. ET
FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

· Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford Mustang
· Chris Buescher, No. 17 Violet Defense Ford Mustang

History in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Overall, RFK has 358 starts at Richmond Raceway, earning a total of 15 wins, 89 top-five and 150 top-10 finishes. RFK Fords have sat on the pole 14 times and led 4,960 laps across NASCAR’s three major touring series.

To Xfinity and Beyond

RFK has earned nine victories, 43 top-five finishes, 66 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 11.8 at Richmond in the Xfinity Series. All in all, three different drivers are responsible for the nine victories at the Virginia short track (Edwards, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton).

Nine and Counting

RFK’s nine victories at Richmond rank fourth among all tracks the organization has competed on in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, trailing Darlington Raceway (15), Charlotte Motor Speedway (12) and North Carolina Speedway – formerly known as Rockingham – (11).

Tale of the Tape

RFK has started 217 NCS races at Richmond with 73 top-10 and 37 top-five finishes along with seven poles. Former drivers Mark Martin (1990), Jeff Burton (1998), Matt Kenseth (2002), Kurt Busch (2005), and Carl Edwards (2013) are responsible for RFK’s five Cup wins, and a Jack Roush Cup Series Ford has led 2,442 laps at the .75-mile track.

RFK Richmond Wins

1990-1 Martin Cup

1993-1 Martin NXS

1993-2 Martin NXS

1997-1 Martin NXS

1998-1 Burton NXS

1998-2 Burton Cup

1999-1 Martin NXS

1999 Biffle Truck

2000-2 Burton NXS

2002-2 Kenseth Cup

2005-1 Edwards NXS

2005-2 Busch Cup

2008-2 Edwards NXS

2009-2 Edwards NXS

2013-2 Edwards Cup

HaasTooling.com Racing: Cole Custer Richmond Advance

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Official Release
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COLE CUSTER
Richmond Advance
No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Richmond 400 (Round 7 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 3
● Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway
● Layout: .75-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/300 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) kick off back-to-back-to-back weekends of classic short-track racing when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the .75-mile Richmond (Va.) Raceway oval for Sunday’s Richmond 400. The series ventures south but remains in the Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia the following weekend for a Saturday-night race under the lights on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway paperclip-shaped oval. And the short-track stretch winds up on the high-banked, half-mile Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway oval for the second annual Food City Dirt Race.

● In February, Custer and the No. 41 team finished seventh – best among the four SHR teams – in the season-opening, non-points-paying Busch Light Clash on the quarter-mile paved oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

● Sunday’s 400-lap race marks Custer’s 82nd career NASCAR Cup Series start and his fifth at Richmond. His 14th-place finish in the September 2020 race there is the best of his previous four outings, helping him earn 2020 Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors. He started 21st and finished 22nd in his most recent outing there last fall.

● In NASCAR Xfinity Series competition, Custer’s seven career starts at Richmond is more than he’s had at any other track. Best among those starts was the April 2019 race, when he qualified fourth in the No. 00 SHR Ford, led a race-high 122 of 250 laps and took the checkered flag 2.639 seconds ahead of runner-up and fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric. He followed that up with a third-place finish in that year’s September race for his fourth Xfinity Series top-six in seven Richmond starts. Custer also started on the pole and led 43 laps en route to a sixth-place finish in the April 2018 race in his SHR Ford, and scored a sixth-place finish in his Richmond debut in the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 5 JR Motorsports entry in the April 2016 race.

● Custer’s first two Richmond outings came in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2013 and 2014. The first year, he started and finished third after leading 24 of 100 laps, then came back the following year to qualify second and lead a race-high 52 of 100 laps en route to his fourth of four career victories in K&N Pro Series competition.

● Last Sunday, in the season’s first of six road-course races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Custer was vying for a top-five finish during a late restart, only to get spun in the multicar chaos and having to settle for a 23rd-place finish. He arrives at Richmond 28th in the driver standings.

● Riding along with Custer and his SHR Mustang is team co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, Haas Tooling, which 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 by Haas in 1983, is America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools. The company manufactures a complete line of vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables and indexers. All Haas products are constructed in the company’s 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility in Oxnard, California, and distributed through a worldwide network of Haas Factory Outlets.

Cole Custer, Driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

You’ve logged more laps at Richmond than perhaps any other track where NASCAR races. Sunday’s race marks your 14th career start there between the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and K&N East Series. What’s been your favorite Richmond memory?

“Definitely winning there in the Xfinity Series a few years ago. It was my first short-track win in the Xfinity Series and it meant a lot because we worked pretty hard to try and get our short-track stuff better, and it’s not an easy track to get around. So, it meant a lot to win that one.”

You’ve run at Richmond so much during your career, are you immersed in footage and data from your previous runs there to figure out how you’re going to get around there Sunday in the new NextGen car?

“Yeah, that’s every weekend for me. I look at old races and try and talk to (SHR teammate) Kevin (Harvick) every weekend to find out what he’s looking for. He’s been a huge help the last few years. All of my teammates have been. It was tough going straight to racing with no practice or qualifying the last two years. You can look at as much film and data as you want, but you’re still missing the experience of actually being out there. You know what you need to work on, but you really don’t learn as much until you’re actually out there on the track. This year, it’s huge to have the chance to practice and qualify and hopefully that’ll help put us over the top during this stretch of short-track races.”

You’re six races into your third season in the Cup Series. What kinds of things have you learned by being an SHR driver, and what kinds of things are you trying to build on?

“It’s been huge and awesome to be a part of an organization like Stewart-Haas just because you have such great teammates. You look at a guy like Kevin Harvick, who has a championship and so much success under his belt, I probably called him every single weekend of my rookie season. Being able to lean on a guy like that has been huge. Now that I’m in my third year in the Cup program, you kind of get an idea of what to look at when you’re going to these racetracks and how everybody’s going to race and how it’s all going to work – you understand the flow a lot better. So I think, this third year, it’s a year where you’re looking to really have it all together by the time all is said and done.”

No. 41 HaasTooling.com Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Cole Custer
Hometown: Ladera Ranch, California

Crew Chief: Mike Shiplett
Hometown: Amherst, Ohio

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: Josh Leslie
Hometown: Mount Clemens, Michigan

Rear Tire Changer: Coleman Dollarhide
Hometown: Hickory, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Chad Emmons
Hometown: Tyler, Texas

Jack Man: Matthew Schlytter
Hometown: Ponte Vedra, Florida

Fuel Man: Dewayne Moore
Hometown: Griffin, Georgia

Road Crew Members

Mechanic: Joe Zanolini
Hometown: Sybertsville, Pennsylvania

Shock Specialist: Aaron Kuehn
Hometown: Kensington, Connecticut

Tire Specialist: Austin Greco
Hometown: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Transporter Co-Driver: David Rodrigues
Hometown: Santa Clarita, California

Transporter Co-Driver: Charlie Schleyer
Hometown: Youngsville, Pennsylvania

Huk Enhances Partnership with Richard Childress Racing in 2022

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Official Release
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Huk Enhances Partnership with Richard Childress Racing in 2022

WELCOME, NC (March 30, 2022) – Marolina Outdoor Inc, the parent company of Huk, will enhance their relationship with Richard Childress Racing in 2022, the two companies announced today. 2018 DAYTONA 500 Champion Austin Dillon will race the No. 3 Huk Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 8.

The Darlington race, which airs on FOX Sports 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET, kicks off Huk’s 2022 activation plans with Richard Childress Racing. The fastest-growing fishing brand with an authentic passion for its products and lifestyle will complement its marketing plans with multiple paint schemes to highlight key campaigns throughout the season.

“We’re thrilled to not only continue our partnership with Richard Childress Racing but expand our relationship,” said Pete Angle, President of Marolina Outdoor Inc. “Austin Dillon has served as a passionate ambassador for the outdoors and the Huk brand. He embodies the lifestyle we design our clothes for, enjoying the outdoors. family time, or a day on the water but knowing you can look good without having to change clothes going from one activity to another. We’re looking forward to tapping into our relationship to promote what Huk stands for as we head into the busiest time of year for fishing and outdoor enthusiasts.”

Based in Charleston, S.C., at the confluence of three major rivers and home to one of America’s favorite destinations, the designers at Huk take their inspiration from the water itself. They shape and mold a line of performance clothing designed to keep you looking good and feeling cool and comfortable on or off the water.

“I’ve enjoyed representing Huk and look forward to continuing the relationship,” said Dillon, a champion in NASCAR’s Truck and Xfinity Series. “Everyone at Huk is just as passionate about the outdoors as I am, and I know NASCAR fans will really embrace some of the fun styles and designs that Huk plans to weave into the 2022 season.”

For more information, please visit rcrracing.com and www.hukgear.com.

About Richard Childress Racing:
Richard Childress Racing (rcrracing.com) is a renowned, performance-driven racing, marketing and manufacturing organization. Incorporated in 1969, RCR has celebrated over 50 years of racing and earned more than 200 victories and 16 championships, including six in the NASCAR Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Truck Series and is a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 (1998, 2007, 2018). Its 2022 NASCAR Cup Series lineup includes two-time NASCAR champion, 2017 Coca-Cola 600 winner and 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon (No. 3 Chevrolet), along with two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick (No. 8 Chevrolet). RCR fields a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series program with Sheldon Creed (No. 2 Chevrolet) and Austin Hill (No. 21 Chevrolet).

About Marolina Outdoor:
Marolina Outdoor Inc. was founded to bring deep-seated product expertise across all outdoor categories. Our innovative designs and technologically focused products create the foundation of our authentic outdoor apparel. Huk clothing represents a fresh take and a unique understanding of outdoor needs, offering functional styles that appeal to anglers and anyone who loves a waterside lifestyle. NOMAD is motivated to provide quality apparel so that hunters can maximize their experiences to hunt and provide sustenance regardless of the size of the game or where their pursuits take them. Visit us at Hukgear.com or Nomadoutdoor.com.

Mobil 1 Racing: Kevin Harvick Richmond Advance

By
Official Release
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KEVIN HARVICK
Richmond Advance
No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Richmond 400 (Round 7 of 36)
● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 3
● Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway
● Layout: .75-mile oval
● Laps/Miles: 400 laps/300 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 160 laps / Final Stage: 170 laps
● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Mobil 1 is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, and the NASCAR Cup Series event this weekend at Richmond (Va.) Raceway marks the debut of its latest product enhancements to the motor oil family: Triple Action Formula and Triple Action Formula+. The “Triple Action” is Performance, Protection, Cleanliness, and Triple Action Formula+ has the additional benefit of maximizing engine efficiency. Both are featured on the No. 4 Ford Mustang of driver Kevin Harvick at Richmond. Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula allows drivers to go 10,000 miles (or one year) between oil changes, and Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula+ gives drivers even more mileage between oil changes – 20,000 miles (or one year). Both help extend engine life – even in severe conditions while increasing engine efficiency – but Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula+ delivers 20 times higher engine protection. These innovations that are now available for consumers have origins in racing, specifically from the rumbling V8 inside Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang.

● Harvick has made 760 career NASCAR Cup Series starts, with 123 of those starts coming on short tracks. And of his 58 Cup Series wins, seven have been at short tracks, with Richmond accounting for three of those victories. Harvick scored his first Richmond win in September 2006, his second in September 2011 and his third in April 2013.

● Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in 2014 and has since recorded 35 of his 58 career NASCAR Cup Series wins. However, none of them have been at Richmond. But Harvick has remained stout at the .75-mile oval. In his last 15 starts at Richmond as a member of SHR, Harvick has two runner-up finishes, eight top-fives and 11 top-10s. He has only one finish outside of the top-15.

● Harvick leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in top-10s at Richmond. The driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang has 27 top-10s in 41 career starts (65.8 percent). Next best is Kyle Busch with 25 top-10s.

● Harvick has led 15,794 total laps in his NASCAR Cup Series career, with 1,180 of those laps coming at Richmond.

● The Richmond 400 will mark Harvick’s 42nd NASCAR Cup Series start at the Virginia short track. His first start at Richmond came on May 5, 2001. That race was won by SHR co-owner Tony Stewart, who beat then three-time champion Jeff Gordon by .372 of a second. Harvick finished 17th in what was his 10th career Cup Series start. Ten of the 43 drivers in that race have since been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame – Stewart, Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Ron Hornaday Jr., Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte.

● Harvick is the winningest NASCAR Xfinity Series driver at Richmond with seven victories. Kyle Busch is next best with six wins. Harvick finished among the top-10 in all but six of his 21 career Xfinity Series starts at Richmond.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford Mustang

You’ve now sampled the NextGen car on every style of racetrack. Is there a certain genre of track where it performs best, or has it proven to be a pretty steady commodity no matter what kind of track you’re racing on?

“I think it’s been pretty steady. The road courses are still going to be the best track because it’s the thing that suits this car the most. For us, it’s just learning the nuances of the car and how much to adjust it, how much you need in the car. We’re still working on that. The cars have run fine at every race, we’ve just had so many things go on. Everybody’s doing a good job. I think the cars have done a pretty good job at every track we’ve taken them to.”

You had a good, solid weekend three races ago at Phoenix with a sixth-place finish. With that track being relatively flat and only a mile in length, can what you learned there be applied to Richmond?

“Richmond is quite a bit different just because of the grip level and the tire wear and everything that comes with that. But I think the evolution of the process – the trims, the things that have been consistent through all the races that the guys are starting to grab and starting to navigate toward – it’s meant that we’re not talking about last year’s car at all. It’s all about the trends of this year and the things that have happened this year. You look at the tendencies of Richmond in the past and you try to adapt to what has worked with this new car.”

Coming into this season, it seemed that every weekend would be an R&D session where there’s constant learning and evolution of the NextGen car. Have you found that to be the case?

“Really, the car has evolved very little. But I think the teams and the drivers, especially those of us who have done this for so long and have had pretty similar tendencies for 20-something years where we’ve adapted to different driving styles and different adjustments and different tendencies, there’s still a lot that goes into changing your thought processes and being able to do what you want to do with this car. But I think our team has been pretty open minded to stuff and I really think the whole garage, and especially us, we’re learning as we go every week as to what the car is like.”

Have you had to break old habits as you learn the NextGen car?

“For sure. I haven’t completely broken them yet, because all the, ‘Don’t overdrive the entry into the corner,’ all that stuff, is pretty much gone, especially when it comes to qualifying. You can be pretty aggressive with the car getting into the corner, and that’s just not the way that I’ve approached it for a long time. We knew just coming into this year that there were going to be a lot of things to adapt to in order to get to where we needed to be. Even now, it’s still not second nature, even when you shift and the way that it feels, and just having that confidence level of going on the racetrack and laying it all out there. Every lap, there’s a confidence level that comes with the security of the car and the things it does. And that’s the same when we go to make adjustments. Are you confident in that, ‘I need to make a big adjustment?’ Well, what is a big adjustment? How much is a big adjustment? Is it a percent on the aero side? Is it a half of a percent on the wedge? What is a big adjustment?”

With Stewart-Haas Racing being a multicar team, how important has sharing information among all four teams been in getting up to speed with the NextGen car?

“It’s actually pretty standard in today’s world. There’s a database and a live feed between the engineers, so it’s all out there. As the changes go on in the garage, the other teams can see it. We have people back at the shop making sure that everybody stays on track and is aware of what the other teams are doing. There’s a lot of information out there, but sometimes when you’re at the racetrack, you need all the people around you to hone in on all the things that are important and making the car tick on that particular weekend. A lot of times, it’ll be something that somebody else is doing on a different team, or someone who’s driving on the racetrack with your own cars, and that’s comparing apples to apples. So if somebody hits on a shock or a spring or a camber setting on your own team, those are easy things to apply to your car so you can move forward in practice a little bit quicker. The more that everybody can hit on and try, the better, because if you’re all trying the same thing, you might as well have just one car. Everybody goes down a different path and tries to pick and choose those pieces that help everybody, and that’s what’s important.”

Over the years, do you feel your interest in what you’re driving and learning about the car has been a key to your success?

“I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve been somewhat successful because of the fact that I know what I want in the car, and I think that I’m relatively good at explaining what I want in the car. The team believes in the direction that I tell them to go, and they’re good at finding things that help solve problems. For years, that’s something we’ve just been able to figure out – the communication with what you’re feeling in the car and how we fix it, what fixes it, what pushes the hot buttons to help fix the problems in certain areas of the corner. Being able to analyze those things is ultra-important just in order to help the direction of where the car is going, where the development is going, and being able to also stand up and say, ‘Hey, I probably led us down a bad road,’ before you get 10 roads down the street. If you get one or two roads down the street and back up, it’s important to be able to do that, and that’s been important as we develop this car.”

No. 4 Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Kevin Harvick
Hometown: Bakersfield, California

Crew Chief: Rodney Childers
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina

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

Engineer: Dax Gerringer
Hometown: Gibsonville, North Carolina

Engineer: Stephen Doran
Hometown: Butler, Pennsylvania

Spotter: Tim Fedewa
Hometown: Holt, Michigan

Over-The-Wall Members

Front Tire Changer: Shayne Pipala
Hometown: Frankfort Square, Illinois

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

Tire Carrier: Jeremy Howard
Hometown: Delhart, Texas

Jack Man: Stan Doolittle
Hometown: Ninety Six, South 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

JR Motorsports — NXS Richmond Preview

By
Official Release
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TRACK: Richmond Raceway
RACE: ToyotaCare 250 (250 laps / 188 miles)
DATE: Saturday, April 2, 2021
TV: 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1
RADIO: 1:00 p.m. ET on MRN Radio Network and SiriusXM Ch. 90

Quotes:

Sam Mayer: “We had a really good run last week in COTA that qualified us for the Dash 4 Cash this weekend. I can’t wait to get to Richmond, it’s a great track for me and I know Taylor (Moyer, crew chief) and this entire Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions team will have this car ready to go. Hopefully we can come out of this weekend with a win, the $100k and another chance to race for the Dash 4 Cash.”

Justin Allgaier: “I can’t wait to get back to Richmond with our BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet. Richmond has always been a really strong track for us over the past few years and I see no reason why that won’t be the case again this weekend. Hopefully we can have a smooth day and be there in the end to fight for the win. It’s going to be a fun day for sure.”

Josh Berry: “I’ve only raced at Richmond a couple of times but I really enjoy racing there. The way the tires wear out during the long runs reminds me a lot of the late model so I am excited to get back to that style of racing. After how last weekend went in COTA, this Tire Pros team is due for a good run and hopefully we can do just that this weekend.”

Noah Gragson: “Last year we had a really strong Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro at Richmond, so that gives this team a lot of confidence as we head into this weekend and having another chance to win a Dash 4 Cash race. I can’t thank Xfinity enough for allowing us drivers to run for $100k and hopefully we are walking out of Richmond with another large check but also with a trophy.”

Notes:

  • Sam Mayer will compete for a $100,000 prize in his first Dash 4 Cash race this weekend at Richmond Raceway.
  • In one NASCAR Xfinity Series start at the .75-mile facility, Mayer led seven laps en route to a 12th-place finish. Mayer also made two Truck Series starts at Richmond with a best finish of ninth in 2021.
  • According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Mayer had the fifth-best driver rating (110.2) at Circuit of the Americas last weekend. Mayer led the charge for JR Motorsports in the category.
  • Mayer currently sits ninth in the Championship standings, 27 points above the cutline and 96 points from the leader.
  • Justin Allgaier enters this weekend at Richmond on a string of five consecutive top-five finishes at the Virginia short track.
  • Overall, Allgaier has earned two victories, eight top fives and 11 top 10s in 21 career NXS starts at Richmond.
  • The Illinois native’s victories both came in the 2020 season, where Allgaier led 213 out of a possible 500 laps en route to the wins.
  • According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Allgaier currently ranks first in laps led (494), laps run inside the top 15 (4,164), fastest laps run (314) and quality passes (421).
  • Josh Berry returns to the site where he earned his first career NXS top-10 finish. Berry started fifth and finished seventh in his first start at Richmond in 2015.
  • On tracks measuring less than 1 mile in length in the NXS, Berry has seven starts with one win, one top five and three top 10s.
  • Berry remains fifth in the championship standings only 77 markers behind teammate Noah Gragson who is currently leading the field.
  • In two starts at the .75-mile oval, Berry holds an average finish of 15.5 with his most recent start coming during the 2021 season.
  • Noah Gragson is one of four drivers to compete for Xfinity’s Dash 4 Cash $100k prize this weekend. The Las Vegas native has four D4C checks and looks to add a record fifth.
  • Gragson heads into this weekend as the most recent winner at Richmond, taking last fall’s race after leading the final 14 laps.
  • The 23-year-old driver has had a hot hand so far in 2022, winning at Phoenix and earning top-five finishes in five of the six races.
  • Richmond has been a very good track for Gragson, as he has the one victory, three top-five and five top-10 efforts in six starts. His average finish there is 7.5.

JRM Team Updates:

• JR Motorsports at Richmond: JR Motorsports has competed at Richmond Raceway a combined 85 times in the NXS. Over the course of these 85 starts at the .75-mile facility, JRM has tallied six wins, 28 top fives – the most it has at any facility – and 52 top 10s. JRM’s most recent win came with Noah Gragson during the 2021 season. The organization has won three straight races at Richmond as Justin Allgaier swept the doubleheader in 2020 and Gragson won the only event in 2021.
• Tire Pros Store Appearance: JRM driver Josh Berry will be making an appearance at 301 Auto Repair Tire Pros located at 8270 Jupiter Drive, Mechanicsville, VA 23116 on Friday, April 1 from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. ET.
• Dash 4 Cash Panache: Should Noah Gragson win the opening Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus this week at Richmond, he will become the alltime winningest driver in program history. The 23-year-old Nevada driver has won four Dash 4 Cash bonuses over the past two seasons, including three of the four in 2021. Currently, Gragson is tied with teammate Justin Allgaier and former JRM drivers Regan Smith and Elliott Sadler for the top spot. Since the beginning of the program in 2009, JR Motorsports has collected 17 Dash 4 Cash wins. Sam Mayer will vie for his first $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus by virtue of his fifth-place finish last week at Circuit of the Americas. Gragson qualified after finishing fourth at COTA.

Toyota Racing Weekly Preview – 03.30.22

By
Official Release
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This Week in Motorsports: March 28-April 3, 2022

· NCS/NXS: Richmond Raceway – April 2-3
· NHRA: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – April 3

PLANO, Texas (March 30, 2022) – It’s the annual Toyota Owners race weekend at Richmond Raceway, while NHRA goes four-wide in Las Vegas.

NASCAR National Series – NCS | NXS

Toyota Owners weekend continues to excite… Toyota is proud to partner with Richmond Raceway for the 10th consecutive season for the Toyota Owners 400. Fans will get to participate in several fan experience elements and driver appearances. The races will be paced by the Toyota Camry TRD and Toyota GR Supra and fans can get an up-close look at those vehicles and more at the Toyota Racing Experience midway display.

Truex continues to be strong at Richmond… Ever since Martin Truex Jr. scored his first Toyota Owners 400 win in 2019, he’s been one to watch at the Virginia-short track. Truex has scored six consecutive top-five finishes at Richmond Raceway, including three wins – a sweep of the 2019 races and last fall’s triumph.

Busch wants to add to Richmond success… Kyle Busch has been winning at Richmond Raceway for over a decade. He delivered the first Toyota win at the track in 2009 and has since added five additional Cup Series victories.

Hamlin ready for another home triumph… Chesterfield, Virginia native Denny Hamlin is back at his home track looking for another Richmond Raceway victory. Hamlin has three wins a piece in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Nemechek makes Gibbs season debut… John Hunter Nemechek is back in the Xfinity Series, but after multiple starts with Sam Hunt Racing (SHR), he will make his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) season debut in Richmond. Nemechek is scheduled to compete in the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra in three events this season beginning at Richmond. Nemechek drove to a third-place finish at Richmond last season with SHR.

SHR is back home… Sam Hunt Racing is back at their home track this week in Richmond. Team Owner Sam Hunt is a Virginia-native and a VCU-graduate. For the second consecutive weekend, the team will feature a driver making his Xfinity Series debut as New Hampshire-native Derek Griffith will make his first of two consecutive starts for the team that continues to reside inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series owner point standings.

NHRA – Top Fuel | Funny Car

Vegas special for Todd… Las Vegas Motor Speedway continues to be a special place for J.R. Todd. At this race in 2014, Todd got the call from Kalitta Motorsports to fly cross country and hop aboard a Top Fuel dragster. Todd won a round of racing for the team during that weekend and has driven for the team ever since. The 2018 Funny Car champion has multiple wins in Las Vegas, including this race in 2019.

Torrence looking for his third straight Vegas victory… In Top Fuel, to win in Las Vegas, you must go through Steve Torrence. The reigning Top Fuel champion won both races in Las Vegas one season ago.

Stay Connected

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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.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Harrison Burton Richmond Advance

By
Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Advance | Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, is in his first season driving for Wood Brothers Racing and is one of three Ford contenders for Sunoco Rookie of the Year. He was part of a morning Q&A session with members of the media and discussed the start to his season and hopes for this weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway.

HARRISON BURTON, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang – HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE FIRST SIX RACES? “They’ve been a learning experience for sure. We’ve had a pretty rough start, there’s no denying that. I felt like we came out of the gate really strong in L.A. and felt like we had a really good race at Daytona, showed a lot of speed and then from there it’s been a struggle. We’ve had fast cars at times and we’ve had times where we didn’t have the pace that we needed. I thought this weekend was a step in the right direction, getting stage points in both the stages was good, and I felt like being fourth in practice – things like that – we’re starting to show the flashes that we need to show, which is good. It’s a building process and I think everyone at the Wood Brothers and myself understands that this is gonna be a building process. Obviously, with the good start we had at L.A. and Daytona we wanted to continue that and that hasn’t quite happened, so we’re working really hard to make that happen and I think we’ve got a great racetrack for us coming up at Richmond.”

HOW ARE YOU GETTING ADJUSTED TO 15-20 MINUTES OF PRACTICE AND THEN GOING STRAIGHT TO QUALIFYING WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO CHANGE MUCH? “It’s tough. If you unload and you’re a little bit off, what are you going to do? I mean, you can do some soft things and then you’ve got to go qualify, so I think it’s better than nothing and, honestly, a lot of us got used to nothing so it feels sometimes like a lot of practice. I know when we had 50 minutes, I think it was at Vegas we had 50 minutes and it felt like forever, which is crazy, but obviously you want more as a rookie. You want to learn as much as you can as quickly as you can, but I’m certainly thankful that we do have some and we can learn this new car a little bit quicker because of that.”

ARE YOU FINDING YOURSELF SAYING CUP IS TOUGHER THAN YOU THOUGHT OR FEEL LIKE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD DAY AND THEN YOU LOOK UP AND YOU’RE 25TH-30TH ON THE BOARD. ARE YOU HAVING THOSE DAYS? “I think every rookie has some days like that, where you feel like you’re driving really hard and what would be enough to be top five in Xfinity is not top five in Cup, that’s for sure. I think this weekend was something that was similar to that for me. WIth the stage points we kind of sold our whole strategy to get stage points, and it worked pretty well, and then you get buried in the back for the last stage and it’s so hard to pass through those guys. I thought we had a pretty decent car, but they’re just really good so you find yourself really battling to get to 17th, which is where I ended up. Overall, it’s certainly a challenge and it should be a challenge. I think that’s what makes it awesome. I have a lot of things that are going on that I think are good and I’m learning a lot, but also there are those days that can humble you really quick and that’s good. That’s part of the learning process and it’ll make you better over time.”

DO YOU CHANGE YOUR APPROACH OR MINDSET AT ALL THAT NOW YOU’RE THROUGH SIX RACES YOU FEEL YOU NEED TO DO CERTAIN THINGS BETTER? “Yeah, I think for me I feel like I needed to be a little bit more aggressive, understanding how important track position is. As soon as the race starts it’s time to go. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I’ve got 500 miles to go. I’ll figure it out.’ Well, if you lose a couple spots those guys that passed you are really smart. They’re really good and they’re hard to pass back, so you end up spending more time trying to pass them than you would trying to move forward or whatever it might be, so more recently that’s been my focus is to get a little bit more aggressive over time and get a little bit more on the offensive instead of the defensive against these guys – just kind of take the fight to them and see what we’ve got.”

WHAT ARE YOU HOPES FOR MARTINSVILLE NEXT WEEK? “I love racing at Martinsville. I love short tracks in general and I really am looking forward to the next two – Richmond and Martinsville. Martinsville in particular is cool because my family is from Virginia, I’ve got a lot of connections to Virginia through the Wood Brothers now, so it’s a cool and important race for me personally, plus I love the racetrack so that makes it even better. You can tie those same things into Richmond as well, so it’s a really really cool couple weekends for me at two of my favorite racetracks. Last year, I felt like we had the car to win at Richmond in the Xfinity Series, led a bunch of laps and the cautions didn’t fall our way there. I’m kind of hungry to get back there this weekend and then go to Martinsville. It’s definitely exciting.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD ONE OF THE FAMOUS MARTINSVILLE HOT DOGS? “For sure, yeah. You have to. Whenever you’re there you’ve got to go grab a hot dog and enjoy it. They’re famous for a reason, so you’ve got to go try it out.”

ARE YOU A FAN OF THE SLAW AND EVERYTHING? “Yeah, you’ve got to do the whole deal. You can’t halfway do it. It’s not the same tradition if you’re not doing it all the way.”

WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE RAISING A PUPPY AND DO YOU HAVE A CAT, TOO? “No, just one puppy. One dog is all I’ve got and it’s been awesome. It’s been a cool experience for me just to have somebody hanging out with you. I’m in my apartment alone working on my computer pretty much all the time, so it’s nice to have a dog around. I have a friend and that’s always cool, but no other animals. That’s all I could handle is one dog, that’s for sure.”

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU BEEN LEANING ON BRIAN WILSON THIS SEASON? “Brian is obviously a great team leader. He’s got a championship in the Xfinity Series and I raced against him for quite a while, which was really tough. He was really good, so when I first got to work with him I was really excited and I still am excited because of the way he’s handled these situations. He has complete belief in me and I have complete belief in him and that’s really all you can ask for in a driver-crew chief combination is just understanding that, hey, there are gonna be times when maybe he misses it or maybe I miss it. We’re in our first year in the Cup Series in the positions we’re in. It’s an awesome opportunity for both of us, so we’re both excited and going to work hard every day. At the end of the day it’s a good relationship and he’s a great leader, so that’s all you can ask for.”

Wright Motorsports Returns to Defend GT World Challenge America Championship Titles

By
Official Release
-

Team and driver champions reveal Luck and Heylen lineup

BATAVIA, OHIO, (March 30, 2022) – After clinching the team and driver championship titles for two consecutive years in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, Wright Motorsports has announced their return to the series for the 2022 season. The veteran Porsche customer team will field a new lineup as Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen come together to race the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pro/Am class.

Both drivers won their respective championships last season, with Charlie Luck and Wright Motorsports dominating the inaugural season of the GT America series with thirteen pole positions, nine wins, and an additional four podium finishes. The team’s success continued in the Pro/Am class with drivers Jan Heylen and Fred Poordad, who secured the championship titles with eleven podiums and three wins. Wright Motorsports also swept the team categories in the respective championships, closing out the season with five titles to add to the team’s illustrious sportscar racing history.

Though this will be the first time the pair share a car for a full-season program, Luck and Heylen have a longstanding relationship, going back to Luck’s days in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA with Heylen as his coach. For the last five years, Heylen has acted as Luck’s coach helping guide his progress through the ranks to race and capture the overall title in the GT America championship. The two also became more than just racing family over the fall, following Heylen’s marriage to Luck’s daughter, Margaret.

This year, Luck will depart from the single-driver, forty-minute race format of GT America to compete in GT World Challenge America. The top level of SRO America, this series features two drivers sharing a car over the course of a 90-minute race, with one mandatory full-service pit stop during the event. Luck and Heylen will compete in the Pro/Am class, defending Wright’s 2021 team and driver championship titles.

The 2022 calendar will follow a similar schedule to the previous season, hosting seven events starting at Sonoma Raceway in April and concluding at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October. In its first full season of operation, Ozarks International Raceway will be a new addition to the GT World Challenge America series, bringing competitors to Gravois Mills, Missouri. Six of the seven 2022 events will hold two races per weekend, with the Indianapolis 8 Hour finale running as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Wright Motorsports will unload for the opening weekend at Sonoma Raceway on Wednesday, April 13 before test sessions get underway the following day. On Friday, April 15, the first official practice sessions of the weekend begin, allowing drivers and teams to make final preparations before the back-to-back race days.

Fans who hope to attend the event can purchase a weekend pass for just $40.00, while children under 12 years old are admitted for free. Race One will begin on Saturday, April 16 at 2:15 PM PT, with Race Two taking place the following day at 1:45 PM PT. Fans unable to attend the event can stream the races live for free at YouTube.com/GTWorld. For more information, visit wrightmotorsports.com.

DRIVER QUOTES

Charlie Luck
I’m really looking forward to my first time doing some driver changes and having everything that’s involved with the strategy of tires and fuel, and race strategy be a part of this upcoming year for me. I’m also very excited about working with Jan who has been coaching me for five years, so I’ll learn a ton under his guidance and direction. I know that Wright Motorsports will provide us with a competitive car. I’m super excited about the season.

Jan Heylen
It’s exciting to start the season as former champions, and it puts some healthy pressure on the team, and everyone involved, going into the same championship again as a favorite contender. On top of that, I don’t think there have been that many father and son-in-law driver combinations out there. That will certainly make it an extra special experience. We’re all looking forward to it and having the special time with each other and the family, and hopefully, make some good memories. Charlie is always super-motivated and has been training throughout the winter, to be in the best shape he can be and show up as well prepared as he can for the first race. He always shows up the best he can, and it makes a big difference to have a teammate who puts his heart into it. It’s nice to be a co-driver with someone as motivated as Charlie. It’s very encouraging for the team. I’m looking forward to our first race. It’s been a busy off-season for us. It seems like the last race of SRO America event was forever ago. I’m certainly ready for the first race to come around and hopefully, we can kick off the season with a good result and with the championship in mind.

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Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.

McDowell to make 400th Cup career start at Richmond

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Bruce Nuttleman for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Competing in his 16th season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Michael McDowell is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will make his 400th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Glendale, Arizona, and a former champion of the Star Mazda Championship region, McDowell had made five career starts between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series before being announced as a Cup Series competitor and in Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, beginning at Martinsville Speedway in March 2008. McDowell’s promotion to NASCAR’s premier series came after Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer, retired from competition while David Reutimann took over Jarrett’s No. 44 Toyota. Starting in 34th place, McDowell finished 26th in his Cup debut after cutting a tire in the closing laps.

The following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, McDowell was involved in a horrific accident during his qualifying session, where he got loose entering Turn 1, veered into the outside SAFER barriers head-on at over 180 mph, rolled over on his roof and barrel rolled seven times down to the apron before coming to rest on all four wheels. Despite the wild ride, McDowell was able to emerge uninjured as his wreck exemplified the effectiveness of modern safety enhancements made, from the SAFER barriers to the HANS device and the 2008 Car of Tomorrow stock car, to keep the competitors safe in the event of an on-track incident. McDowell went on to finish 33rd in the main event.

Following the Texas incident, McDowell continued to drive MWR’s No. 00 Toyota in the Cup Series from Phoenix Raceway in April through Kansas Speedway in September. During this span, his best on-track result was 20th at Richmond Raceway in September. McDowell, however, was released by the team for the rest of the season after he failed to qualify at Kansas Speedway in September.

The following season, McDowell campaigned on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series, starting with JTG Daugherty Racing before transitioning to MacDonald Motorsports and Whitney Motorsports. His first Cup Series start of the 2009 season did not occur until September at Richmond, where he drove the No. 36 Toyota for Tommy Baldwin Racing to a 41st-place result after retiring early due to an engine issue. He competed in seven additional Cup races with Tommy Baldwin, where he did not finish in all of them and was credited with a result no higher than 38th place.

McDowell started the 2010 season on a high note by driving the No. 55 Toyota Camry for Prism Motorsports to a 14th-place result in the first of two duel races at Daytona International Speedway in February. The result rewarded him with one of two transfer spots to the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. During the main event, however, he finished 33rd due to a drive shaft issue. He competed in 23 additional events throughout the 36-race schedule, where he failed to finish in all but one race, which was at Talladega Superspeedway in October as he finished 35th, two laps behind the leaders.

McDowell competed in 32 of the 36-race schedule in 2011 with nearly all of his starts occurring with HP Racing. His best result with HP Racing was a 30th-place result at Sonoma Raceway in June. Then in November at Texas, he served as an interim competitor in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Camry and in place of Kyle Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR throughout the weekend as a result of intentionally wrecking NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. in the early stages of the Truck Series event at the Lone Star state two days prior to the Cup event. During the event, however, McDowell, who struggled with pace, finished in 33rd place, three laps behind the leaders. He went on to conclude the season in 36th place in the final standings.

In 2012, McDowell remained with HP Racing that was renamed to Phil Parsons Racing. Driving the team’s No. 98 Ford Fusion in all but six of the 36-race Cup schedule, his best result was a 23rd-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in August as he settled in 37th place in the final standings, one spot lower from 2011. By then, McDowell surpassed 100 career starts in the Cup Series.

Following the 2013 Cup season, where he competed in all but three races between three organizations (Phil Parsons Racing, Front Row Motorsports and HScott Motorsports) while achieving his first top-10 career finish during the 55th running of the Daytona 500 in February (ninth place), McDowell joined Leavine Family Racing to pilot the No. 95 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 season. He failed to qualify for the 56th running of the Daytona 500, but went on to compete in 19 of the 36-race schedule. His best on-track result during this span was seventh place in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July.

McDowell continued to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2015, where he made 16 starts with the team and finished no higher than 20th place at Watkins Glen International in August, and in 2016 when LFR formed an alliance with Circle Sport and changed manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet. Starting the 2016 Cup season in the No. 59 Chevrolet SS, McDowell finished in 15th place in the 58th running of the Daytona 500. He then split driving responsibilities of the No. 95 LFR Chevrolet with Ty Dillon throughout the season, where he finished 10th at Daytona in July, 12th at Richmond in September and 14th at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. He concluded the season by finishing in 10th place at Homestead-Miami Speedway and a career-best 30th place in the final standings. By then, McDowell surpassed 200 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

The 2017 Cup Series season marked McDowell’s first time competing the entire 36-race schedule as he remained at Leavine Family Racing for a fourth consecutive season. Throughout the season, he earned his first top-five career result after finishing fourth at Daytona in July along with 14 top-20 results before finishing in 26th place in the final standings, which marked his first top-30 result in a driver’s standings.

In 2018, McDowell moved to Front Row Motorsports to pilot the No. 34 Ford Fusion, where he replaced Landon Cassill. He commenced the season with a ninth-place finish in the 60th running of the Daytona 500 in February. He went on to record nine additional top-20 results, a career-high 33 laps led and a 26th-place result in the final standings for a second consecutive season.

Returning to Front Row Motorsports for the 2019 season, McDowell started the season by finishing in fifth place in the 61st running of the Daytona 500. This marked his third top-10 result in the 500. He then achieved three additional top-15 results over the next 29 Cup races before he logged in another fifth-place result at Talladega in October. He went on to finish in 27th place in the final standings. Following the 2019 season, McDowell surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

In 2020, McDowell notched a career-high four top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule with his best on-track result being a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. He ended the season improving four spots from his result in the 2019 driver’s standings by settling in 23rd place in the 2020 standings.

Then in 2021, McDowell, who returned to FRM for a fourth consecutive season, pulled off the upset by claiming his first elusive Cup Series victory in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a multi-car wreck on the final lap while running in third place. The victory snapped McDowell’s 358-race winless drought, which marks the second-largest winless streak in NASCAR history prior to a first victory and right behind Michael Waltrip’s 463-race drought prior to claiming his first win in the 2001 Daytona 500. With the victory, McDowell became the 40th different competitor to win the Daytona 500 and the 196th different competitor to win in the Cup Series as he recorded the first 500 victory for Front Row Motorsports. The 500 win guaranteed McDowell and his No. 34 FRM team a spot into the 2021 Cup Playoffs.

The early momentum into 2021 for McDowell did not stop there as he finished eighth during the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, which was followed by a sixth-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Seven races later, McDowell collected a strong third-place result at Talladega in April following a late battle with eventual winner Brad Keselowski. He went on to collect a seventh-place result at the Circuit of the Americas in May before entering the 2021 Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career. His title hopes, however, came to an end during the Round of 16 after finishing no higher than 24th during the opening round’s three events. Nonetheless, he finished a career-best 16th place in a season where he claimed his first victory, a career-high five top-10 results and a career-best average result of 20.5.

Through 399 previous Cup starts, McDowell has achieved one victory, five top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 118 laps led and an average-finishing result of 29.0. His highest-finishing result through the first six scheduled events of 2022 is seventh, which occurred in the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February, and he currently sits in 26th place in the regular season standings.

McDowell is scheduled to make his 400th Cup Series career start at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3, with coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

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