KEVIN HARVICK
Charlotte Roval Advance
No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview
● Event: Bank of America Roval 400 (Round 32 of 36)
● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 10
● Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval
● Layout: 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 109 laps/252.88 miles
● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 25 laps / Stage 2: 25 laps / Final Stage: 59 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Kevin Harvick is sporting a fan-chosen paint scheme on his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang during the Bank of America Roval 400 Sunday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. The imposing black-and-white design garnered 61.5 percent of the votes across Stewart-Haas Racing’s social media channels.
● Turning left and right. Going up and down through the gears. Hitting the apex of corners and, sometimes, riding the curb with such force that it puts the car on two wheels. It’s all a part of road-course racing, and it demands maximum performance from every part and piece on the racecar. Harvick has an added advantage with Mobil 1. Not only is the world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand the primary sponsor of his No. 4 Ford Mustang at the Roval, Mobil 1 products are used throughout his racecar and they extend beyond just engine oil. Power steering fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil and driveline lubricants from Mobil 1 give Harvick a technical advantage over his counterparts by reducing friction, heat and rolling resistance. Mobil 1 is a sponsor whose technology makes Harvick’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang faster.
● Harvick comes into the Roval on a five-race top-10 streak, a run punctuated by a strong second-place drive Sept. 18 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway where he led three times for 71 laps. Before finishing second at Bristol, Harvick finished eighth Sept. 11 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and fifth Sept. 4 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. He finished ninth Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and eighth in his most recent outing Monday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where Harvick led five times for a race-high 16 laps.
● Harvick has scored 21 top-10s in the 31 races run this season, second-most among NASCAR Cup Series drivers. Only Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin (22 top-10s apiece) are ahead of Harvick in this category.
● Harvick is currently ninth in the NASCAR Playoff standings, nine points below the cutline with only the Bank of America Roval 400 remaining before the current 12-driver playoff field is whittled down to eight. Harvick is in the midst of his 12th consecutive playoff appearance and his 15th overall. He has advanced into the Round of 12 in all eight editions of the current playoff format and, coming into this season, he had advanced all the way to the Round of 8 since 2014. Five times he’s competed in the Championship 4, winning the title in 2014.
● The Bank of America Roval 400 is the final road-course race of the season, culminating a ground-breaking seven races to be held on road courses in 2021. From 1988 to 2017, there were only two road courses on the schedule – Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The Roval was added in 2018, giving the series just three road-course venues. The initial 2021 schedule doubled that tally with Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course all being added. And when COVID-19 restrictions forced the cancellation of the series’ planned stop earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway was put in its place, serving as the series’ second race of 2021.
● Harvick has made a total of 48 NASCAR Cup Series starts on road courses. He has 20 starts at Sonoma, 20 at Watkins Glen, three at the Roval, two on the Daytona road course and one apiece at COTA, Road America and the Indianapolis road course. He has scored two wins – Watkins Glen in 2006 and Sonoma in 2017 – along with 10 top-fives and 24 top-10s with 195 laps led.
● In three career NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Roval, Harvick has never finished lower than 11th. His best result came in 2019 when he led twice for 34 laps on his way to a third-place finish.
● When Harvick scored his first road-course victory at Watkins Glen in 2006, he had to beat his current team owner to do it. Tony Stewart – the “Stewart” in Stewart-Haas Racing – had won the past two NASCAR Cup Series races at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile road course and was poised to capture a third straight win as he was leading Harvick with four laps to go in the 90-lap race. But Harvick, who had already led once for 24 laps, passed Stewart on lap 87 as the two drag-raced down the frontstretch and into turn one. Harvick held onto the lead despite Stewart in his rearview mirror, earning a margin of victory of .892 of a second.
● Harvick’s second career road-course win also had a connection to Stewart. When Harvick won at Sonoma in 2017, he gave Stewart-Haas Racing its second straight victory at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course. The winner in 2016? None other than Stewart. It ended up being his 49th and final NASCAR Cup Series victory as Stewart retired from NASCAR racing at the conclusion of the season.
● Harvick’s last road-course win was his first in a Ford. When Harvick won at Sonoma in 2017, he became the 83rd different driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race behind the wheel of a Ford. Harvick has now won 23 Cup Series races with Ford, which makes him one of only 13 drivers to win 20 or more races with the manufacturer. He is currently tied with Rusty Wallace and Carl Edwards for 11th on the all-time Ford win list.
● Harvick has four road-course wins outside of the NASCAR Cup Series. Two came in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007 and Watkins Glen in 2007 – and two were in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West – Sonoma in 1998 and Sonoma in 2017. Harvick’s K&N Series win at Sonoma in 1998 was three years before his Cup Series debut on Feb. 26, 2001 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

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

When it comes to road-course racing, do you feel that more of the race is in your hands?

“You do have more in your hands, for sure, especially when it comes to shifting and all the different things that could happen. But strategy and track position are a big part of that element too. It’s just like anything else, you’ve got to have the whole piece of the puzzle to put it all together.”

The Roval serves as a playoff cutoff race, with the field of 12 playoff drivers getting whittled down to eight. You’re still in the mix to advance to the Round of 8 – is that a testament to the work you and this Mobil 1 team have put in all season long?

“My team’s done a good job all year. We’ve had a lot of weeks where we’ve walked out of these tracks with a sixth-, seventh-, eighth-place finish. Our team itself has done a great job. We just needed to do a better job getting faster cars and sometimes that’s just not in the cards. You just have to plug away and take what you can get out of it and try to make the least amount of mistakes, and that’s the part our team has done well. We’ve gotten a lot of decent finishes throughout the year, and that just comes from experience. You dot the I’s and cross the T’s and, really, that’s what it all comes down to. We’ve lost a lot of races with fast cars and we’ve won some races with slow cars – you grind away and you just keep yourself in there and see where it all shakes out. Sometimes it’s in the car to win and sometimes it’s not, you just never know so you just grind away every lap.”

Do you feel that you and the team have gotten better as the playoffs started?

“We had a really fast car at Michigan – it got torn up at the end, but it took us half the race to get the balance right. The cars are fine. It’s just the balance of the racecars where we just wind up off at the beginning of the race one way or the other, and it takes you half the race to get the balance right. There’s nothing wrong with the racecars, it’s just when you plug everything in and you don’t figure out in practice that you’re way off so you can say, ‘I don’t need a little bit, I need a lot.’ It’s the green flag and you’re way off and then it’s, ‘I need a good change’ and you end up needing three times that amount of change and, suddenly, you’re at the end of the first stage. That’s the reality of the situation, and you’re just going to have a tough time and hope that you get it closer.”

After you race at the Roval on Sunday, NASCAR has an industry-wide NextGen test at the Roval on Monday and Tuesday. You just mentioned how without practice, it’s sometimes difficult to get the current car where you want it to start the race. With the NextGen car, how important will practice be to learn an entirely new racecar?

“For me, I kind of raised my hand about three or four months ago about really trying to understand why we weren’t going to practice more with this car because it was not going to be what everybody thought it was going to be. The drivers needed time in these vehicles in order to figure out how they raced, where they raced, what the problems were, and I think the red flag went up at Daytona to say, we probably need to have more tests and things. So I think the longer weekends probably need to come in the first half of the season in order to work through some things because, right now, you don’t know how to work on the car. If you have a 20-minute practice or a 30-minute practice and you have an issue, it could take you 20 or 30 minutes to take the floor panel off the car. Having everybody have all the right things at the beginning of the year and being able to have some tests and have the drivers in the cars is really important at this point for the quality of the racing.”

Whether it’s a road course or a short track or any kind of track, you have an added advantage with Mobil 1 as a sponsor and technology partner. How advantageous has this relationship been?

“The oil in the engine, the oil in the transmission, the oil in the rear gear and the things Mobil 1 provides us from a lubricant standpoint, it all adds up in the form of quicker lap times. On an oval, we can pick up a tenth-and-a-half or two-tenths of a second. On a road course, Mobil 1 helps with preservation, because we beat the heck out of our racecars – hitting curbs and shifting all the time. The level of technology and commitment to the things that go in our car, every piece of it adds up to a pretty big chunk of speed and an incredible amount of reliability.”

No. 4 Mobil 1 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

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

KYLE BUSCH
Survive And Advance

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Oct. 5, 2021) – During his team’s magical run to the 1983 NCAA men’s basketball tournament championship, the late North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano first made famous the now-familiar phrase, “Survive and Advance”.

Since then, each and every March during the NCAA tournament, the phrase continues to be used by coaches and television analysts alike in describing the necessity of surviving each game in order to live on to play another day, ultimately accruing six consecutive wins to earn the grand prize – the national championship trophy.

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), will no doubt take on this famous phrase as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the final race of the Round of 12 in this year’s Cup Series playoffs – Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

There are multiple paths to advance into the Round of 8 that begins the following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. As Busch sits eighth in the standings, nine points ahead of the cutline, he knows that a solid day will move him through to the next round. But, as the tricky 2.28-mile, 17-turn Roval has shown in its first three seasons, the results there can be as unpredictable as at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where the Cup Series raced last weekend. Busch was involved in an accident in Monday’s rain delayed race on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval but was able to leave Talladega with a cushion to the cutoff line, which is much different than his points situation one year ago.

It will be the fourth race for the Cup Series competitors on the Roval, which combines parts of the 1.5-mile Charlotte oval with its relatively new infield road-course section. The slippery infield portions feature heavy breaking zones that can turn a driver’s fortunes quickly and, again, make racing there just as unpredictable as Talladega.

Busch is hoping he can equal the feat he accomplished in the May 2018 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, albeit on the oval, when he brought home his first career points-paying win at the track in one of the crown jewels of NASCAR’s top series.

While this weekend’s Charlotte Roval is still a bit of a unknown, Busch has established himself as one of the top road-course racers in the Cup Series. If the two-time Cup Series champion was to grab another checkered flag in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400, he could join some elite company as a road-racing ace in NASCAR’s top series.

As far as overall road-course proficiency, Busch is tied with David Pearson and Mark Martin with four Cup Series road-course wins apiece. That’s some pretty good company, already. But with a fifth road-course win, he could tie Darrell Waltrip, Tim Richmond and Dan Gurney on the road-course win list. The top three in all-time road-course wins in the Cup Series are Chase Elliott and Jeff Gordon with seven apiece, and all-time leader Tony Stewart, who has nine wins. In the six road-course races contested so far this year, Busch has three top-fives and four top-10s, including top-five finishes at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

So as Busch heads to the Charlotte Roval this weekend, he will hope to survive and advance to the Round of 8, which will take Busch to three tracks where he has excelled during his career. But he knows he has to be in it to win it in order to have a shot for his third Cup Series title.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

You’ve had some good runs during your first three races at the Roval, but not the results you typically look for. What’s the approach this weekend?

“We did have some optimism where we ran better with a different setup package at the Daytona road course the last couple of years and at the Roval last year, but we just haven’t been able to finish those races off. Hopefully we can go to Charlotte and have a 10th-place day – that’s all we need. You look at the guys you’re racing around a little bit. A couple of the Hendrick cars are right around us in points. They’re fast on the road courses, so any one of them could possibly win. We just have to keep ourselves above the cutline. We just have to get track position and keep it as much as we can, get as many stage points as possible, and see what we need to do at the end of the race.”

What is the most difficult part of the track to figure out at the Roval?

“I think the hardest part is just trying to understand the different dynamics between the slow sections in the infield portion of the track versus the high-speed and high-banked portion of the oval track. You are slipping in every corner, there’s not a corner where you are necessarily feeling really good about it. It’s going to be a technical challenge all the way around yet again this year.”

How do you look at this weekend as far as being a crapshoot?

“It’s just a different challenge. It’s alright. There’s a whole lot of differences there than a typical road course. There have been spots on the track where I could make up time and a lot of other spots where I would lose time, and now those spots where I could gain time are gone. We’ve worked on getting better there and hope we can show that this weekend.”

Is road-course racing something that comes naturally to you, or is it something you had to work on?

“It’s definitely something you have to work on. With rule changes and tire changes, it’s something you work on every year. There’s always change that you have to work on to be competitive. When I was a kid back in Las Vegas in Legends cars, that’s where I was able to learn about shifting and turning left and turning right. I had the natural instincts for it and won a couple of championships in the winter series we had out there. We actually went out to Sonoma back then and ran the national championship races two years in a row and finished third both times, so I had a little bit of experience on road courses as I came up through the ranks. Certainly the game has changed as far as road course racing this year, with several more races than we used to have, so you have to adapt and adjust. We’ve run well at the majority of the road courses so far this year and I’m hoping we can keep it going this weekend in our M&M’S Camry.”

What is it that you like about racing on the road courses?

“Just enjoy road racing. You used to only have two a year and you kind of treated them like an off weekend – come in, have fun and try to run hard and what not. Now, there’s four, five, six of them or whatever it is so there’s a bit more work involved to it, but still feel as though it’s fun. I’ve always been fast most times on the natural road courses. It’s nice when you have a shot to come up to a track that you know you can get up in the top-three or four and go shoot for a race win.”

Event Overview:

● Event: Bank of America Roval 400k
● Time/Date: 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 10
● Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval
● Layout: 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course
● Laps/Miles: 109 laps, 252.88 miles
● Format: Stage 1: 25 laps / Stage 2: 25 laps / Final Stage: 59 laps
● TV/Radio: NBC/ PRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Meet the No. 18 M&M’S / Joe Gibbs Racing Team

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Kyle Busch
Hometown: Las Vegas

Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
Hometown: York, Pennsylvania

Car Chief: Nate Bellows
Hometown: Fairfax, Vermont

Spotter: Tony Hirschman
Hometown: Northampton, Pennsylvania

Over-The-Wall Crew Members:

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Front Tire Changer: Blake Houston
Hometown: Enochville, North Carolina

Jackman: T.J. Ford
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina

Tire Carrier: Joe Crossen
Hometown: Salisbury, North Carolina

Rear Tire Changer: Jeff Cordero

Hometown: Salem, Connecticut

Road Crew Members:

Race Engineer: Seth Chavka
Hometown: Soldotna, Alaska

Truck Driver: Chris Miko
Hometown: Bronx, New York

Truck Driver: Tom McCrimmon
Hometown: Spicer, Minnesota

Mechanic/Tire Specialist: Justin Peiffer
Hometown: Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Mechanic: Scott Eldridge
Hometown: Warsaw, Indiana

Notes of Interest:

● Round of 12: Busch was able to survive and advance to the Round of 12 of the 2021 Cup Series playoffs, and started strong in the first race of the round two weekends ago at Las Vegas, finishing in third. Busch has racked up 22 important playoff points he can take with him through each round. With the Charlotte Roval serving as the final race of the Round of 12, Busch sits eighth on the playoff grid, nine points ahead of the eighth-place cutoff with his 12 top-five finishes and 18 top-10s so far this season.

● Alone in Ninth: With Busch’s win at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, the two-time Cup Series champion scored his 59th career win in NASCAR’s top series as he moved past Kevin Harvick into sole possession of ninth on the all-time win list. Next up on the win list is Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer who won 76 races during his storied career.

● 222 and Counting: Busch will be aiming to add to his record 222 overall wins among NASCAR’s top three series this weekend at the Charlotte Roval. In addition to his 59 Cup Series wins and 102 in the Xfinity Series, Busch has 61 wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

Team: No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @Roush6Team, @RoushFenway and @RyanJNewman
Race Format: 252.88 miles, 109 laps, Stages: 25-25-59
Bank of America ROVAL 400 – Sunday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Newman at the ROVAL

· Newman makes his fourth Cup start at the ROVAL this weekend, where in three prior starts he ran 11th, 32nd and 31st.

· Overall, Newman has 46 starts on road courses in his NCS career with 12 top-10s and three finishes inside the top five.

· Newman does have a road course win in the Xfinity Series, which came in 2005 at WGI after starting fourth.

Luke Lambert at the ROVAL

· Beginning this weekend at the ROVAL, Roush Fenway will switch its two teams including crew chiefs and road crews. Lambert and Newman are very familiar with one another as Lambert served as his crew chief at Richard Childress Racing. The two made the NASCAR playoffs three times, including a runner-up result in 2014, and a victory at Phoenix three years later.

· Lambert will be on the box for his fourth Cup race at the ROVAL, where he has a best finish of 11th in 2018. Last season he ran 20th with Chris Buescher.

· Overall on road courses in his Cup career, Lambert has three top-10s, including a career best fifth with Buescher at the Daytona Road Course last August. He finished ninth with Jeff Burton back in his first-ever race at WGI in 2011, and scored a top-10 with Newman at Sonoma in 2016.

QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at the ROVAL:
“We’ll give it our best shot on the ROVAL this weekend, and we know that things will be wild with the playoff scenarios to play out. We’ve been working hard at improving our road course program over time, and hopefully we’ll put it all together come Sunday in the Castrol Ford.”

Last Time Out
Newman finished 21st in Monday’s rain-shortened race from Talladega.

On the Car
Castrol, the official oil partner of Roush Fenway and primary partner on both Newman and Buescher’s Mustangs this season, will be back on the No. 6 this weekend at ROVAL. It marks the fifth primary race for Castrol in 2021, as they will return to the No. 6 for the series finale at Phoenix in November.

Roush Fenway will also run some variation of pink on its Ford Mustangs throughout the month of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This weekend, the No. 6 both on the door panels and the roof will be bright pink. Newman is also participating in the pink window net initiative through the Kurt Busch Foundation, which also supports awareness throughout the month.

About Castrol
Castrol, a global leader in lubricant technology, serves consumers in over 140 countries. Our leadership brands include Castrol® GTX® — a premium conventional motor oil; Castrol® GTX® High–Mileage™ – a premium synthetic blend designed for vehicles with over 75,000 miles; the Castrol® EDGE ® line of advanced full-synthetic super premium motor oils that offer unsurpassed strength and performance; as well as our range of commercial transport lubricants. To find out more about Castrol products and programs, please call 1–888–CASTROL or visit www.castrol.com/us

Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 252.88 miles, 109 laps, Stages: 25-25-59
Bank of America ROVAL 400 – Sunday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Buescher at the ROVAL

· Buescher makes his fourth start on the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, where in the three prior races he has finishes of 17th, 18th and 20th.

· Overall on road courses this season, Buescher finished 11th at the Daytona Road Course in February, 13th at COTA in the spring, 16th at Sonoma, 18th in Road America, 17th at Watkins Glen, and 12th at Indianapolis.

· Buescher has 19 road course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with an average finish of 17.6.

· He also won at Mid-Ohio in 2014 in the Xfinity Series in the No. 60 entry for Jack Roush. He also won an ARCA event at Road America in 2013.

Scott Graves at the ROVAL

· Beginning this weekend at the ROVAL, Roush Fenway will switch its two teams including crew chiefs and road crews. Graves and Buescher are very familiar with one another, as they teamed up in 2014 before going on to win the 2015 Xfinity Championship together. The duo won three races together and had 34 top-10s and 16 top fives in a two-year span.

· Graves will be on the box for his fourth ROVAL event this weekend. His best finish is 21st in 2018 with Daniel Suarez.

· Overall on road courses in the NCS, Graves has four top-10s and two inside the top five.

QUOTE WORTHY
Buescher on racing at the ROVAL:
“We’ve been up and down at road courses this season, but we still feel decent about where we’re at as a whole on those tracks. This race is always about survival and hanging around, and with the playoff picture the way it is, you have to be smart about staying out of trouble of those in desperation mode. We’re looking forward to a good day Sunday with Fastenal back on board, and a bright pink number and window net supporting Breast Cancer Awareness month.”

Last Time Out
Buescher brought home a sixth-place finish in Monday’s rain-shortened Talladega race. He was the only stage winner of the afternoon, and overall led seven laps in the Violet Defense Ford Mustang.

On the Car
Fastenal returns to the fold at Roush Fenway for its 11th season in 2021. They spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping to the No. 17 Cup Series entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 Xfinity team that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.

Fastenal will feature top suppliers Panduit, Honeywell, Milwaukee, Mechanix Wear and Shurtape on Buescher’s Mustang as he competes this weekend. For more information on these suppliers, visit Fastenal.com, and stay up-do-date on social @FastenalRacing, @Fastenal.

Roush Fenway will also run some variation of pink on its Ford Mustangs throughout the month of October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This weekend, the No. 17 both on the door panels and the roof will be bright pink. Buescher is also participating in the pink window net initiative through the Kurt Busch Foundation, which also supports awareness throughout the month.

About Fastenal
Fastenal [Nasdaq: FAST] is North America’s largest fastener distributor and a ‘one-stop’ source for hundreds of thousands of OEM, MRO and Construction products. With more than 2,600 stores worldwide, the company supports B2B customers with tailored local inventory and dedicated personnel, who visit regularly, quickly respond to emergency needs, and provide efficient inventory management solutions. Fastenal’s service-oriented business network includes the world’s largest industrial vending program, 14 regional distribution centers, 8 custom manufacturing facilities, thousands of delivery vehicles, and industry-leading sourcing, quality and engineering resources.

FORD PERFORMANCE NASCAR: CHARLOTTE PLAYOFF NOTES

A pair of playoff elimination races are scheduled for this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway as its Roval course hosts the NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Cup Series. Austin Cindric has already clinched a spot in the NXS Round of 8 while four Ford drivers are still in contention to advance on the Cup side. Here’s a look at how Ford has done at Charlotte and where each driver stands on the playoff grid.

This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, Oct. 9 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 3 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday, Oct. 10 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (NBC)

ROUND OF 12 NCS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)
3rd – Joey Logano (+21 ahead of cutoff)
4th – Brad Keselowski (+20)
6th – Ryan Blaney (+15)
9th – Kevin Harvick (-9 behind final transfer spot)

FORD IN THE NASCAR CUP SERIES AT CMS

• Ford has 32 all-time series points wins at Charlotte.
• Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick all have at least one series win.
• Blaney won the inaugural Cup Roval race in 2018.

ROUND OF 12 NXS PLAYOFF STANDINGS (Top 8 Advance After Charlotte)

1st – Austin Cindric (Clinched by points)
11th – Riley Herbst (-32)

FORD IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES AT CMS

• Ford has 22 series wins at CMS.
• Chase Briscoe won the first Roval race in 2018.
• Austin Cindric has finished 3rd twice and 6th in three previous Roval races.

120 YEARS AGO ON SUNDAY

The Ford racing program was born on Oct. 10, 1901 when Henry Ford and his hand-built race car named Sweepstakes beat Alexander Winton at the Detroit Driving Club in front of approximately 8,000 spectators. The 10-lap race represented Ford’s only time competing as a driver and even though he fell behind at the start, Sweepstakes was built for endurance and steadily gained ground before eventually passing Winton with two laps to go. Ford won $1,000 and a cut-glass punch bowl, but, more importantly, used the notoriety achieved to attract enough investors to start the Ford Motor Company in June 1903.

CINDRIC IN ROUND OF 8, HERBST NEEDS WIN TO ADVANCE

Austin Cindric’s eighth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway was good enough to clinch a spot in the Round of 8. The Team Penske driver, who leads the series with five wins, sits first on the playoff grid as he goes for his second straight NASCAR XFINITY Series championship. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst led the most laps at Talladega, but he got caught up in a late-race multi-car accident that has put him in a must-win situation on Saturday. Herbst goes into the event 32 points behind eighth-place Harrison Burton.

BLANEY CAPTURES INAUGURAL CUP ROVAL RACE

The debut of the Charlotte Roval didn’t disappoint as Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. wrecked each other in the final chicane heading to the checkered flag, allowing Ryan Blaney to sneak past both and win the inaugural Bank of America Roval 400. Blaney put himself in position to win thanks to some sound strategy that enabled him to stretch his fuel mileage and win Stage 2. He round himself in 25th place with 38 laps to go after a trip to pit road, but cycled his way back up to the front before being in the right place at the right time. That capped a weekend in which Ford won the pole and race in the NASCAR XFINITY and NASCAR Cup Series.

BRISCOE WINS FIRST NXS RACE ON ROVAL

Chase Briscoe led the final 24 laps and became the first driver to win a race on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval course by taking the checkered flag in the Drive for the Cure 200. The win was Briscoe’s first in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and he was able to do it thanks to a good restart with 11 laps to go. Briscoe, who had been locked in a tight battle with Daniel Hemric throughout the final stage, got the jump after the race’s fifth caution and when Hemric missed the frontstrech chicane, it gave Briscoe some extra breathing room to take the checkered flag.

FORD NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS AT CHARLOTTE

1960 – Speedy Thompson (2)

1962 – Nelson Stacy (1)

1963 – Fred Lorenzen (1)

1964 – Fred Lorenzen (2)

1965 – Fred Lorenzen (Sweep)

1969 – Donnie Allison (2)

1970 – Donnie Allison (1)

1978 – Bobby Allison (2)

1982 – Neil Bonnett (1)

1984 – Bill Elliott (2)

1985 – Cale Yarborough (2)

1987 – Kyle Petty and Bill Elliott

1990 – Davey Allison (2)

1991 – Davey Allison and Geoffrey Bodine

1992 – Mark Martin (2)

1993 – Ernie Irvan (2)

1995 – Mark Martin (2)

1996 – Dale Jarrett (1)

1997 – Dale Jarrett (2)

1998 – Mark Martin (2)

1999 – Jeff Burton (1)

2000 – Matt Kenseth (1)

2001 – Jeff Burton (1)

2002 – Mark Martin (1)

2011 – Matt Kenseth (2)

2013 – Brad Keselowski (2)

2015 – Joey Logano (2)

2018 – Ryan Blaney (2-Roval)

2020 – Brad Keselowski (1)

FORD NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS AT CHARLOTTE

1992 – Jeff Gordon (Sweep)

1993 – Mark Martin (2)

1995 – Chad Little (1) and Mark Martin (2)

1996 – Mark Martin (Sweep)

1998 – Mark Martin (1)

1999 – Mark Martin (1)

2000 – Jeff Burton (1)

2001 – Jeff Green (1) and Greg Biffle (2)

2002 – Jeff Burton (2)

2003 – Matt Kenseth (1)

2006 – Carl Edwards (1)

2011 – Matt Kenseth (1) and Carl Edwards (2)

2014 – Brad Keselowski (2)

2016 – Joey Logano (2)

2017 – Ryan Blaney (1)

2018 – Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe (2-Roval)

Takes Momentum from First Top-10

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (October 5, 2021) – Anthony Alfredo is coming off his best NASCAR Cup Series finish with a top-10 result at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Monday. He now brings that momentum with him into the Charlotte Roval for this Sunday’s race.

Alfredo will also bring back the CITGARD brand and colors to the No. 38 Ford Mustang. CITGARD continues its partnership with Front Row Motorsports that began in 2019.

CITGARD, a member of the CITGO Petroleum Corporation, heavy duty engine oils are next generation oils formulated with proprietary additive technology that protects engines from running at higher temperatures and fuel injection pressures, while meeting tighter wear limits and lower emission requirements.

The red and white scheme has always been a fan favorite. Alfredo wants to have the CITGARD No. 38 up front on Sunday.

“Our team has a lot of confidence right now,” said Alfredo. “One good finish can lead to another, and another, and you can really build on that. We’ll be starting closer to the front this weekend that’s going to help at the Roval. It’s a challenging track, so you need every advantage- especially since this will be by first laps racing there.

“I’m not worried about going into the Roval with no laps,” continued Alfredo. “We’ve been in that position before. It will take a few laps to settle in, but we’ve been doing a lot of simulation work. Again, we’re feeling pretty good right now, have a great car with CITGARD on it again, and I think we’ll surprise some people on Sunday. I can’t wait for this weekend.”

For more information about CITGARD, visit www.citgolubes.com.

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC.

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