Road America NASCAR Betting Preview: 2021 Jockey Made in America 250

 The NASCAR Cup Series visits Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the first time since 1956 in what will be the 20th race of the 2021 schedule as well as the being the fourth of seven road course events.

It’s right and left turns, again, but the uniqueness of the 4.083-mile 14-turn layout should make it exciting throughout, especially since some drivers have never raced on it other than a simulator. Because it’s technically a new track, Sunday’s Jockey Make in America 250 will feature a 50-minute practice session on Saturday (1:00 pm ET, NBCSN) and a qualifying session Sunday before the race (11:10 am ET, NBC Sports App).

NASCAR JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250 ANALYSIS

Start position has proven to be huge in the Xfinity Series at Road America that has been running annually there since 2010. In the 11 Xfinity races, seven of the winners started within the top-five -- three from the pole and three from the second position. Four of those winners will be participating in Sunday’s race and another winner from the ARCA Menard’s Series will also start Sunday. Drivers like Denny Hamlin have never raced it.

“I didn’t race there in the Xfinity Series, so I’ll be one of the inexperienced guys,” said Hamlin who was posted by Circa Sports at +1350 odds to win. “I like going to unfamiliar places. I like the process of trying to learn them. The great drivers have a way of figuring it out when they go someplace new. I hear it’s pretty smooth and has some heavy braking zones. You’re going to have to have a car that works well under braking. All road courses pose a challenge. Getting laps in the simulator, of course, helps. But, I’m excited about it. I love the challenge of being somewhere for the first time, and that track is certainly going to pose that challenge for me.”

Sunday’s race will also be the 11th race of the season using the low downforce package with engines producing 750 horsepower which has had a roller coaster ride of success with Joe Gibbs Racing having the early success using it winning four of the first six and Hendrick Motorsports winning five of the last six with it. In three of the last four using it, Hendrick has finished 1-2 so it comes with little surprise that Chase Elliott is the +265 favorite and Kyle Larson is next at +355 odds to win at Circa.

JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250 BETTING RESOURCES

• Date: Sunday, July 4, 2021
• TV-Time: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Road America
• Location: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
• Distance: 250.48 miles, 62 laps

Alex Bowman’s crew chief Greg Ives talked about experience at Road America, of which Bowman has competed in a 2013 Xfinity Series race.

“It is definitely an advantage having track time at a place like Road America,” Ives said. “The hardest part is probably only remembering the corners that were most prevalent. Hendrick has great cars right now and the power has been strong from the Hendrick engine shop, so I know that we can get another good finish this weekend.”

Two of Bowman’s three wins this season have come with the 750 HP package and Bowman has finished in the top-10 in all three previously raced road courses this season. Bowman is being offered at 22-to-1 odds to win at William Hill because he’s not known as a road racer, but if his No. 48 -- with what appears to have a bit more than 750 HP -- gets out front late he’s not giving up the lead. The car alone screams for a bet to be made. The same goes for his Hendrick teammate William Byron at 21-to-1 odds even though he hasn’t had great finishes on the roads this season.

But Elliott is the best in races when turning left and right. In just 15 Cup starts on the roads, he’s already established himself as the best road racer in NASCAR with six wins and eight top-fives for an 8.7 average finish. He’s deserving of such low odds because the skill gap between him and the majority of the field is larger than most places. He won the inaugural COTA road course in May for his only win of the season and was runner-up at Sonoma earlier this month.

That Sonoma race was won by Larson after he led a race-high 57 laps. It was his first road win and it came at what is his home track. Larson followed that win with another at Nashville using the 750 HP package after leading a race-high 264 laps. He leads the series with four wins and 11 top-fives and is tied with Byron with 14 top-10s in 19 races.

Consistency. Great set-ups. Fast cars. Great driving. And perhaps most of all, great creative engineering.

The famous Road America course hosts its first NASCAR Cup Series event since 1956 on Sunday. (AP)

I don’t ever call crew chiefs cheaters because I feel finding an edge skirting rules to be creative engineering and that’s just the way NASCAR has always been for me. I do know that Chad Knaus has been suspended several times by NASCAR for being too creative and I’m sure they didn’t catch him all the time in Jimmie Johnson’s 83 career wins and seven Cup Championships. But Knaus is in a new role for Hendrick Motorsports and the upward movement for the entire organization I’ll attribute a bunch to him. Hendrick has won nine of the 19 races this season.

JOCKEY MADE IN AMERICA 250 CONTENDERS

• Chase Elliott +250
• Kyle Larson +350
• Martin Truex Jr. +600
• Kyle Busch +800
• Joey Logano +1200
• Denny Hamlin +1400
• More NASCAR Futures
• (Odds Subject to Change)

The driver that no one is talking about has been kind of kicked to the curb for consideration to win on a road course lately, but Martin Truex Jr. deserves some respect on the basis of his four road course wins in the series and also winning all three of his races this season with the 750 HP package. None of those wins were on road courses, but he was third at Sonoma behind Larson and Elliott last month. Circa is offering Truex at 7-to-1 odds.

READ MORE HERE...TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGAINSIDER.COM

Hendrick Motorsports Driver Quotes heading into Road America

Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what he thinks of Road America: “I’ve raced there before in an Xfinity car in 2013. I remember it was a really fun racetrack – a really long racetrack. I’m definitely excited to get back there this weekend because it’s a really cool place. Whether on the simulator or iRacing, it’s good to get visuals of elevation changes ahead of time.”

Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his previous Road America experience: “Kyle has raced there before and I did in Xfinity, as well, but there’s not much you can pull from those past experiences. It’s been such a long time, so we’re trying to take a fresh look at understanding the race. We’ll go back and watch some Xfinity races from the past couple of years to try to get a feel for what is important there, what do we need to attack and what we need to tune.”



Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to Road America: “I’ve raced up at Road America a couple times in the Xfinity Series and I always really enjoyed going there. It’s a cool racetrack. There are a lot of race fans up there - a lot of people that enjoyed having us racing there. I’ve always felt very welcome and I don’t anticipate this weekend being any different. I am looking forward to getting back up there.”

Elliott on if preparations at Hendrick Motorsports have changed with the success this season: “I don’t think our prep has changed, but it’s a good thing, right? We would much rather be on this side of the fence than the other. I don’t really feel like any of us that are involved are any different people, or any better people or worse than we were last year or the year before. Those of us that have been around for a few years. Obviously, the car has changed, but how we prepare for races, how I prepare for races – you are either prepared for a race or you’re not at the end of the day. You either have the knowledge and understand what you’re looking for or you don’t. I haven’t really changed that approach since my rookie year and I feel like when things are going good and we are clicking and things are working well we can perform at a high level. I don’t see any need in us changing what we do too much.”



William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to Road America: “I’m excited for this road course. I finished sixth there in the Xfinity Series in 2017. I had a good run and felt like it was one of my best road course races in that series overall. I expect more of the same this weekend in the Cup car. You just want to make sure that the car turns well and that you’re good in the braking zones. For us as a team, I think we will start off getting back to the basics of road course racing. We’ve had some bad luck recently but normally we’re really good at this style of racing. I’m excited that it’s another new track for the series and I think it will race really well for our cars.”

Rudy Fugle, crew chief of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on returning to road course racing: “Honestly, this weekend we’re looking to set the reset button on our road course racing program for the No. 24 team. After Sonoma and how things ended and some misfortune at the DAYTONA Road Course, we really want to get back to the speed and execution we had at COTA. Even with suffering damage there, we were able to make it back through the field and on a strategy that set us up well for the end before the weather picked up. William feels like road course racing has become one of his strengths over the last couple years and we want to keep him confident in that. So, the plan is to have a nice, basic weekend of executing like we need to and having a solid plan should any misfortune arise. We know what we’re capable of – it’s just a matter of maximizing where we can and there’s potential for that this weekend.”



Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the 2021 success at Hendrick Motorsports: “The morale is obviously super high at Hendrick Motorsports. It's really cool to see it that way. I think there's not one thing. It’s each and every individual at Hendrick Motorsports from top to bottom in every department; it's everybody at Chevrolet. Our engines are strong, bodies are great, chassis are great. The guys putting them together are doing a great job. Having Chad (Knaus) in a new role is really good. Mr. (Rick) Hendrick and Jeff (Andrews) and everybody are giving us all the tools we need to put the parts and pieces together to go win races. It’s not one thing. It's a culmination of everybody's hard work. It's cool to be a part of it and be the guy that gets to drive them.”

Bowman on returning to Road America: “I am excited to get to Road America this weekend. I raced there in the Xfinity Series back in 2013, so getting back there is going to be a lot of fun. It is a long racetrack and really long lap times, but it is a fun place and really technical.”

Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on the team’s experience at Pocono last weekend: “It was definitely odd to win and then have to get ready to race again the next day. I’m very thankful that we were able to have a good car again on Sunday and able to come home seventh. Saturday kind of was going as planned. Obviously, we knew that the No. 5 car had four tires and we had two tires. You never want to see your teammate have an issue like that but we were in the position we needed to be in, and it just worked out. On the last lap, we were talking about what we needed for Sunday’s race to be better. When we crossed the line first, it was a roller coaster of emotion and a surprised celebration for me on the box.”

Ives on his experience at Road America: “It is definitely an advantage having track time at a place like Road America. The hardest part is probably only remembering the corners that were most prevalent. Hendrick has great cars right now and the power has been strong from the Hendrick engine shop, so I know that we can get another good finish this weekend.”

Chris Buescher is 100/1 to win at Road America

Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Luke Lambert
Twitter: @17RoushTeam, @RoushFenway and @Chris_Buescher
Race Format: 250 miles, 62 laps, Stages: 14-15-33

Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip – Sunday, July 4 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Another New Track for the NASCAR Cup Series

· This event will mark the 12th season of NASCAR racing at Road America, but it will be the first for the NCS since 1956. The Xfinity Series has made Elkhart Lake a stop on its circuit since 2010.

· The Cup stars are on track for the first time Saturday for a 50-minute practice session at 12:35 p.m. ET, with qualifying set for raceday morning at 11:05 a.m. ET.

Buescher at Road America

· Buescher heads into the weekend with some prior experience at Road America, with two races under his belt in the Xfinity Series.

· He finished 18th in 2014 in the No. 60, and backed that up with a ninth-place run the following year after starting sixth.

· Thus far on road courses in 2021, Buescher has finishes of 11th (Daytona), 13th (COTA) and 16th (Sonoma). Overall he has 16 starts on road courses in the NCS.

Luke Lambert at Road America

· Lambert also heads into the weekend with at least a race in his past at Road America, having served as crew chief for Elliott Sadler in 2012. The duo finished 15th after starting 13th in the No. 2 machine.

· Overall in the NCS, Lambert has 21 starts on road courses with three top-10s and an average finish of 19th.

QUOTE WORTHY

Buescher on racing at Road America:

“This weekend is yet another opportunity for our team to rebound as the playoff picture gets ever tighter. Thankfully I’ve had some experience there prior in the Xfinity Series years ago, and that combined with our crew chiefs’ past should give us a good base to start from. We’ve felt pretty confident in our road course program the last few months, so our hope is to put the Fastenal Ford up front come Sunday.”

Last Time Out
Buescher finished 20th in the first of two races at Pocono last weekend, earning himself the pole for Sunday’s race. He went on to finish 19th in that event.

Where They Rank
The playoff battle continues to heat up with Buescher three points below the cut line entering the weekend.

On the Car
Fastenal is in its 11th season with Roush Fenway, having first joined the fold in 2010 as the primary partner on the No. 60 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team and driver Carl Edwards. That team went on to win the owners championship with Edwards in 2011. Fastenal later served as a primary on Buescher’s No. 60 Ford that captured the NXS Championship in 2015.

Fastenal will feature top suppliers Dewalt, Mechanix Wear, Rustoleum, Sqwincher and Werner 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.

About Fastenal
Fastenal helps its business partners strengthen their supply chains, remove unnecessary costs, and focus more resources on what they do best. The company’s distribution system centers on 3,200+ in-market locations, each providing tailored inventory, flexible service, and custom solutions to support the unique local needs of our customers. This customer-centric service network is supported by 15 regional distribution centers, a captive logistics fleet, multiple teams of industry specialists, a suite of e-business and automated supply technology solutions, and robust sourcing, quality, and manufacturing structures – all focused on helping customers reduce costs, capture time, and achieve their business goals.

Denny Hamlin is 10/1 to win at Road America

Denny Hamlin

11 FedEx Freight Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Saturday Race Info:
Race: Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip
Date/Time: Sunday, July 4/2:30 p.m. ET
Distance: 62 laps/250 miles
Track Length: 4.048 miles
Track Shape: Road Course

Express Notes:

Press Kit: Download the 2021 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Pocono Doubleheader Recap: A fast FedEx Ground Toyota and strong pit strategy helped Denny Hamlin finish fourth in Saturday’s 325-mile race at Pocono Raceway in the first race of a weekend doubleheader. Hamlin started the event in 10th and moved up and down the leaderboard as the team worked a different pit cycle than many of the other cars. The team’s long-pit strategy led to Hamlin taking the lead in the final stage with 36 laps to go as others hit pit road. He led for 11 laps before being one of the last cars to peel off for a final green-flag stop, taking right-side tires and fuel. He rejoined the field in seventh and went to work chasing down the leaders. He passed two cars to claim fifth, and then moved to fourth when Kyle Larson crashed out of the lead on the last lap with a blown tire. In the second race of the weekend, Denny Hamlin was a lap away from his first win of the season. He was out front at a track where he already has six wins, and he had been saving fuel since his last trip to pit road early in Stage 3. But his FedEx Toyota sputtered out of gas on the last lap, forcing him to pit as the white flag waved. Hamlin crossed the line 14th after his pit stop.

Road America Preview: The NASCAR Cup Series is traveling to Wisconsin to its Road America road course for the Fourth of July weekend. Hamlin has no experience at this track but will look to capture a road course win as he works to officially secure a spot in the playoffs. The team is coming off two strong performances at Pocono Raceway and will attempt to carry that momentum into this weekend.

Hamlin Conversation – Road America:

How does it feel to race at a new track this week, and what can you do to position yourself to be successful?

“I didn’t race there in the Xfinity Series, so I’ll be one of the inexperienced guys. I like going to unfamiliar places. I like the process of trying to learn them. The great drivers have a way of figuring it out when they go someplace new. I hear it’s pretty smooth and has some heavy braking zones. You’re going to have to have a car that works well under braking. All road courses pose a challenge. Getting laps in the simulator, of course, helps. But, I’m excited about it. I love the challenge of being somewhere for the first time, and that track is certainly going to pose that challenge for me.”

What would it mean to get a win at Road America in your first time running on the track?

“Any time you can win somewhere new, especially when everyone is there for the first time, it makes it more special. It means you adapted to that racetrack quicker than everyone else. There will be some drivers that have some Xfinity experience there, like Kyle Busch, and they’ll have a little bit of advantage over us. But I’m sure once we get through some practice, we’ll be good.”

FedEx Freight Along for the Ride at Road America: For the NASCAR Cup Jockey Made in America 250 at Road America, FedEx Freight recognizes the company’s Sheboygan, Wis., service center by featuring the call letters SBM on the #11 FedEx Freight race car. The Sheboygan service center, opened in 2019, has approximately 30 team members who are committed to making every FedEx experience outstanding.

FedEx Office – Closest to Road America: 3434 Mill Rd., Sheboygan, WI 53083 (920) 803-5065

Cole Custer is 125/1 to win at Road America

 

COLE CUSTER Road America Advance No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Jockey Made in America 250 (Round 20 of 36) ● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 4 ● Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ● Layout: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course ● Race 1 Laps/Miles: (62 laps/250 miles) ● Race 1 Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 14 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 33 laps ● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● NASCAR’s top national touring series returns to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for the first time in 65 years and for only the second time ever when Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) join their fellow Cup Series competitors for Sunday’s Jockey made in America 250. Tim Flock drove his No. 15 Mercury to a 14-second victory over Billy Myers, with Fireball Roberts finishing a close third, when the NASCAR Grand National Series visited the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit located in the heart of America’s Dairyland in August 1956.   ● While it’s his and the rest of the field’s first Cup Series appearance at Road America, Custer has three NASCAR Xfinity Series races and one ARCA Menards Series outing there, all resulting in top-11 finishes. The 23-year-old from Ladera Ranch, California, logged finishes of eighth, fourth and 10th, respectively, driving the No. 00 SHR Ford from 2017 through 2019, and qualified on the front row alongside polesitter Matt Tifft in the 2018 event. In Custer’s lone ARCA start at Road America, in August 2017, he started fifth and finished 11th in the No. 78 Ford for team owner Mason Mitchell.   ● Custer made three Xfinity Series starts in the No. 00 SHR Ford from 2017 through 2019, never starting worse than third, never finishing worse than seventh, and leading a total of 95 laps in the three events. He qualified third and finished seventh in 2017, then qualified on the pole in both the 2018 and 2019 races, finishing fifth in 2018 and scoring the victory by .228 of a second over Tyler Reddick in 2019 after leading a race-high 58 laps.   ● Sunday’s 250-mile race marks Custer’s 59th career Cup Series start and his sixth points-paying Cup Series race on a road course. In his five previous points-paying Cup Series starts on road courses, Custer’s best was an impressive ninth-place run on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval last October. In February, the reigning Cup Series Rookie of the Year rallied for a 13th-place finish on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course after dropping back as far as 24th while avoiding a multicar accident in the closing laps. In his most recent road-course outing, Custer finished 20th at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway four weekends ago. In this year’s non-points Busch Clash on the Daytona road course, Custer drove deep into the top-10 on multiple occasions, but he fell three laps off the pace late in the race when he could not refire his Mustang after serving a self-imposed stop-and-go penalty for missing the backstraight chicane. He finished 20th.   ● In his 11 road-course outings in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2017 through 2019, Custer finished outside the top-10 just once with his fourth-place run at Road America in 2018 best of them all.   ● Custer also has top-10s in all three of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series outings on road courses, all three occurring at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. His best was his most recent, a second-place run from the pole with a race-high 39 laps led in the No. 00 JR Motorsports entry in 2016. He also made three starts apiece on the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in NASCAR K&N Pro Series competition, with best finishes of third in the 2016 East Series race at Watkins Glen after having qualified on the pole there the previous year, and fourth in the 2019 West Series race at Sonoma.   ● Sunday’s race is the fourth of a ground-breaking seven NASCAR Cup Series races to be held on road courses in 2021. From 1988 to 2017, there were only two road courses on the schedule – Sonoma and Watkins Glen. The Charlotte Roval was added in 2018, giving the series three road-course venues. The initial 2021 schedule doubled that tally, with Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas, Road America, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course all being added. And when COVID-19 restrictions forced the cancellation of the series’ stop this year at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the Daytona road course was put in its place.   ● For the second time in three weeks, and the fifth time this year, Sunday’s race will be preceded by practice and qualifying. Cup Series competitors will have a 50-minute practice session Saturday afternoon, as well as qualifying on Sunday morning.   ● After last weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Custer arrives at Road America is 28th in the Cup Series standings, 150 points behind the 16th and final playoff position.   ● Returning to Custer’s No. 41 Ford Mustang for SHR 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 last July, and the cutting tools available for purchase at HaasTooling.com have proven to be even more important during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as CNC machines have become vital to producing personal protective equipment. 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.   ● As announced during the annual Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day weekend, Custer and the team encourage fans to join Wow Wow Classic Waffles in support of Feeding America®, the largest hunger relief organization in the United States with a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. Fans are encouraged to text HUNGER to 50555 to make a $5 donation to Feeding America®, by visiting the Feeding America® donation page on Facebook, or the donation page via the Feeding America® website. Each $1 donated helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.

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

You’re returning to Road America, where you’ve enjoyed three solid runs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but this time in a Cup Series car. Your thoughts? “I’m really excited for Road America. It’s a really prestigious road course in our country and I think it’s a place where, if you have any bad tendencies, it’s going to show up at Road America. You have so many different corners, there are so many hard corners, it just brings out some of the best road-course racing.”   A good number of other Cup Series drivers have experience Road America in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. Will that experience have any benefit this weekend? “Obviously, the Cup Series cars are vastly different. I think Road America is a track that’s really tough – it’s a really tough road course. Like I said, if you have any bad tendencies, they’re going to show up there. So it’s going to be a hard racetrack to figure out for a lot of guys who haven’t been there before, I think. I’m happy that I’ve raced there before, which makes it a good thing for me. It’s going to be an exciting race.”   Like we saw at Pocono last weekend, Road America is a place where fans have enjoyed the camping experience at the racetrack for generations. What kind of atmosphere are you expecting for Sunday’s race? “Those cheese lovers, they might be out of control (laughs). It’s awesome to go up there. Just hardcore race fans, people who live and die by that racetrack, and I think it’s really cool to see people who are that passionate about the sport.”   This weekend marks the second of three new road-course races on the Cup Series schedule. With that, you once again will have the ability to practice and qualify. How does that change your approach to the weekend? “The biggest thing with the new schedule in NASCAR, with the addition of COTA (Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas) and Road America and the Indy road course, is being able to get laps on those tracks. Being able to maximize your weekend as much as you can, getting laps at those tracks is the biggest thing you can do. Fortunately, I’ve turned a lot of laps at Road America in the Xfinity Series and, as much as I like that track and racing on road courses in general, it’s been frustrating to me that I don’t have a win on a road course in NASCAR. I feel like I’ve run solid and have had a lot of chances to win on road courses, but it just hasn’t ever worked out. I love going to road courses. I think it’s a lot of fun and it brings the driver more into play. Our goal, as always, will be to get a top-10 and try to run all the laps and figure out the best way around the track in a Cup car. Hopefully, we’ll be running in the top-10 and can find ourselves at the end with a shot at the win.”   At just over 4 miles, a lap around the 14-turn Road America layout is now the longest on the Cup Series schedule, each lap somewhat of a “road trip” in itself. If you could go on a road trip with anyone, who would that be, and why? “That’s a good question. I think a lot of people are probably going say Dale Earnhardt. He’s really iconic in our sport, somebody who I think would be fun to talk to about what it was like back when he first got going and how much the sport’s changed, and what he thinks about it now. I think it would be a really interesting conversation.”

Aric Almirola is 150/1 to win at Road America

 

Aric Almirola Road America Advance Smithfield/Pit Boss Grills Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Jockey Made in America 250 (Round 20 of 36) ● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 4 ● Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ● Layout: 4.048-mile road course ● Laps/Miles: 62 laps/250 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stages 1: 14 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 33 laps ● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●   Road-Course History: Aric Almirola has 25 road-course starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. He has two top-10 finishes at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway with a best of eighth, four top-20s at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International with a best finish of 12th, three top-20s on the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval with a best finish of 14th, and a top-12 finish in the Feb. 9 Busch Clash on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course – his best road-course finish of the year. In Almirola’s latest road-course start at Sonoma, he raced his way up to eighth place until he was forced to avoid an accident ahead, forcing him outside the top-20.    ●  Almirola’s best finish this year is fourth at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. His second-best finish was sixth at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, and his next-best was 11th at Phoenix Raceway, all of which featured the 750-horsepower, low-downforce package the Cup Series cars will utilize this weekend at Road America.    ●  Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz has one road-course victory that came in 2016 at Sonoma with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) co-owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart during Stewart’s final year as a fulltime driver in the Cup Series.   ●  Almirola’s 2020 season proved successful when he earned a career-high 18 top-10 finishes, six top-fives and led 305 laps. During the season, Almirola went on a five-race streak of top-five finishes and earned nine consecutive top-10s.    ●  Career Stats: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 25 top-five finishes, 81 top-10s and 859 laps led in 371 NASCAR Cup Series starts.   ●  Smithfield Foods celebrates 10 years of partnership with Almirola this season with a special campaign called Taste Victory.As one of the most active partners in NASCAR, Smithfield plans to engage fans all year long by hosting a microsite that provides the opportunity to win when Almirola wins or finishes inside the top-10. When Almirola wins, one fan wins $10,000, and 10 fans win a gift card for each top-10 finish. The microsite also doubles as an Aric Almirola fan page and entertainment source where fans can get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with a custom racing game, and learn more about Almirola with fast facts, favorite recipes and custom content about his life on and off the track. Visit www.tastevictory.com to learn more. Thanks to Almirola’s Feb. 11 win in his Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500, one lucky fan has already won $10,000.    ●  Pit Boss® Grills, the fastest growing brand in the grilling industry, offers the best value per square inch in the pellet grill market, doing so with innovation, excellence and a distinctly customer-driven approach. Pit Boss® takes pride in delivering the best possible products, at an affordable price, crafting grills that are Bigger. Hotter. Heavier.® than the competition. For more information, visit PitBoss-Grills.com, and the Pit Boss® Grills accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.   ●  Beyond the 10 YouTube Series:In 2021, Almirola continues to share his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.   ●  After the season’s first 19 points-paying events, Almirola and the Smithfield Ford team sit 27th in the championship with 240 points, 444 behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield/Pit Boss Grills Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

You have never raced at Road America. How have you prepared for your debut?    “A lot of simulator time. Ford Performance gives us all the tools we need to prepare for race weekends like this with their simulator. It’s as realistic as it gets and it gives me the opportunity to memorize braking points, speeds and all of the new turns. Luckily, we’ll have practice and qualifying this weekend to give us more reps.”    Is there anything better than tailgating at a race on July 4 weekend?    “Grilling out and tailgating at the race on July 4th weekend was a staple of my childhood growing up as a race fan. The same is true with NASCAR fans today. Whether they’re at the track cheering for us or in the backyard watching on NBC, NASCAR fans will be in full force cooking Smithfield on their Pit Boss grills. It’s an American tradition. Last weekend (at Pocono), we saw the most campers and tailgaters we’ve ever seen, and I’m sure we will see the same this weekend at Road America. There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday weekend than with Smithfield and Pit Boss Grills on the side of a red, white and blue No. 10 Ford Mustang.”   Do you feel confident going to another road course for the first time?    “Our finishes don’t show it, but we have actually improved our road-course program. I feel more confident behind the wheel and I think the package we run has worked in our favor this year. We had a good day at the Daytona road course earlier in the year. I couldn’t see at COTA with all of the rain, and we were in position for a top-10 at Sonoma before we had to avoid an accident at the end of the race that forced us off the track. We just need to put a full race together, minimize mistakes, and have a good day on pit road.”    Are you excited to have qualifying this weekend?    “Oh yeah. It gives us a shot at a decent starting spot instead of letting this qualifying equation tell us where to start. It’s always nice to know you have a shot at it and can put your outcome in your own hands.”

Kyle Busch is 7/1 to win at Road America

 

KYLE BUSCH Hitting the Road   HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (June 30, 2021) – Like many Americans this Fourth of July weekend, Kyle Busch will be hitting the road. However, Busch, driver of the No. 18 Skittles America Mix Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), will be doing it much faster than most, and he won’t be on vacation for the holiday weekend.   The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is set to take on a new challenge as the NASCAR Cup Series makes its debut at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn  Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250.   While Busch has become one of the veterans of NASCAR’s top series with 59 career wins in what is now his 17th season as a fulltime competitor, the 36-year-old will become a rookie, of sorts, as many of the newer Cup Series competitors have raced several times at Road America with NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, which has competed there 11 times prior to this year’s Cup Series debut at the historic road course.   Still, Busch made a strong debut in May at another new road-racing venue, Circuit of Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Busch led 12 laps and had a chance for a win had rain not forced the event to be cut short. The Las Vegas native led laps and finished fifth four weekends ago at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. This weekend, he hopes to make it to victory lane at yet another new venue and the fourth road course the series will have competed on so far this season.   Road-course racing has taken on even more importance in the Cup Series this year with the addition of COTA, Road America, and the road courses at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway added to the traditional stops at Sonoma, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval. With those additions, it’s more important than ever to have a strong driver and team that can turn left and right this season and beyond.   Busch heads to his Road America debut this weekend on a hot streak, of sorts, as he became the most recent Cup Series winner at the second race of last weekend’s doubleheader at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Busch finished just one spot short of a win on Saturday, but while he had a strong car on Sunday, he used a fuel-mileage gamble to bring home a win as the team also fought through transmission issues, which put him behind during several points of Sunday’s winning effort. Still, Busch added to his impressive resume by passing Kevin Harvick for ninth on the all-time Cup Series win list, with potentially many years left in the tank.   To help America’s Independence Day celebration this weekend, Busch’s No. 18 Toyota will feature the Skittles America Mix scheme.Each bag of Skittles America Mix contains a fun, fruit-flavored and patriotic mix of red, white and blue candies. The patriotic-themed Skittles are a must-have for celebrating this weekend – and of course, a great snack while watching a NASCAR Cup Series race. They’re available at retailers nationwide through the summer.    So as Busch heads to Road America for the first time this weekend, as virtually a rookie there, he’ll hope to hit the road not for a vacation weekend, but to get to work and learn an entire new road course in hopes of continuing to add to his impressive career statistics.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Skittles America Mix Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

What are you expecting this week for your first time ever at Road America?   “I’ve never been there before, so I’ll have a lot to learn, for sure. A lot of the young guys have raced there before in the Xfinity Series, so they’ll probably have a little bit of an advantage just knowing the track a little bit better than I will. We’ll get a chance to have practice and race with our M&M’S Ice Cream Supra in the Xfinity Series race (Saturday), so hoping we learn a lot from that. It will be nice to have practice for the Cup Series, too. Both COTA (Circuit of Americas) and Sonoma were good races for us so far this year, so I think our road-course cars have been pretty strong. We should have had a better finish at COTA, and we had a good car at Sonoma and got a decent finish out of it. Looking forward to getting to Road America this weekend and learning as much as we can and have a good run with our Skittles America Mix Camry and get us a win on the Fourth of July, that would be pretty cool.”   You are running both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series races this weekend. Are doubleheaders fun for you?   “I feel like preparing for a doubleheader is pretty easy. I’ve always been used to running in two or three races in a weekend, running the Truck, Xfinity, Cup, whatever it may be. I like that, so I think it gives us an opportunity to get out there and get our feet wet in the first race in the Xfinity Series, and get a feel for the tire and really think about what you can learn. This weekend at Road America, we’re running the Xfinity Series race with M&M’S Ice Cream on that car and Skittles America Mix on Sunday, so we have a couple of Mars Wrigley brands we would like to have a good weekend for. Obviously, this weekend you go to a place where we’ve never run a race before, so getting some track time in the Xfinity car on Friday and Saturday is going to be very important. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it will be nice to have some extra track time to work on my car and get some experience and also have just a little bit more knowledge of what it’s like beyond what we do in our (simulator) and other ways we prepare for races.”   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.”   For a veteran like yourself, what’s the benefit of running the Xfinity race this weekend?   “Being able to come to a new track – when everything was announced that we were coming here – I wanted to run there as much as I could. We were able to work it out so both myself and Ty (Gibbs) can run here, as well, so I think it’s beneficial for both of us. He loves road racing, too. It was kind of a perfect scenario – being able to get in the Xfinity Series and be able to practice in both of those races. I’m hoping it will be a really good weekend for us.”   Even after all of this time, does experience matter?   “Absolutely, track time. You are able to work on all of your braking points, my turn-ins, and learn where the rubber will be laid down on the track. You try to get a little bit of a sense of where that stuff is – trying to pick out those visuals that you can really count on each and every day when you try and learn a new track like Road America, COTA, and other places we’ve gone to this year that are new to myself and a lot of the other guys.”

Event Overview:

● Event: Jockey Made in America 250 (Round 20 of 36) ● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 4 ● Location: Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ● Layout: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course ● Laps/Miles: 60 laps/250 miles ● Format: Stage 1: 14 laps / Stage 2: 15 laps / Final Stage: 33 laps ● TV/Radio: NBC / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Aric Almirola is 30/1 to win at Pocono Saturday

 

Aric Almirola Pocono Doubleheader Advance Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: NASCAR Cup Series Doubleheader at Pocono (Rounds 18 and 19 of 36) ● Time/Date: 3 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 26, and 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 27 ● Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway ● Layout: 2.5-mile triangle ● Race 1 Laps/Miles: (130 laps/325 miles) ● Race 1 Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 25 laps / Stage 2: 52 laps / Final Stage: 53 laps ● Race 2 Laps/Miles: (140 laps/350 miles) ● Race 2 Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 30 laps / Stage 2: 55 laps / Final Stage: 55 laps ● TV/Radio: NBCSN / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  History at Pocono: Almirola will make his 18th start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this weekend. Almirola will race for his third consecutive top-five finish at Pocono. Last year, the Smithfield Ford driver earned third- and fifth-place finishes, respectively, to add to his four career top-10s at the 2.5-mile triangle.   ●  Almirola has one start at the “Tricky Triangle” in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in June 2016, which resulted in an 11th-place finish. He’s also made one start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in July 2010 and earned a fourth-place finish.    ●  Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz grew up just 25 miles south of Pocono Raceway in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. In 10 starts at his home track, he’s earned an impressive four top-five finishes. Only three of his finishes were outside of the top-11.   ●  At last weekend’s inaugural Cup Series race at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, Almirola won the pole position and raced to a fourth-place finish. It was his best performance of 2021 and his first top-five.   ●  Almirola’s season has been mired by bad luck and unfortunate finishes. The Tampa, Florida, native started the year off with a win in his Duel qualifying race to start on the front row of the Daytona 500. Since then, Almirola has been dealt five DNF’s (did not finish) due to contact by other cars, cut tires, or involvement in multicar accidents. In 17 races, he has two top-10 finishes and one top-five. However, his luck seemed to turn around when he won the All-Star Open two weekends ago at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. He went on to finish eighth in the All-Star Race. With another solid result at Nashville, Almirola and the No. 10 team feel they are gaining momentum quickly.    ●  Almirola’s 2020 season proved successful when he earned a career-high 18 top-10 finishes, six top-fives and led 305 laps. During the season, Almirola went on a five-race streak of top-five finishes and earned nine consecutive top-10s.    ●  Career Stats: Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 25 top-five finishes, 81 top-10s and 843 laps led in 369 NASCAR Cup Series starts.   ●  Smithfield Foods celebrates 10 years of partnership with Almirola this season with a special campaign called Taste Victory.As one of the most active partners in NASCAR, Smithfield plans to engage fans all year long by hosting a microsite that provides the opportunity to win when Almirola wins or finishes inside the top-10. When Almirola wins, one fan wins $10,000, and 10 fans win a gift card for each top-10 finish. The microsite also doubles as an Aric Almirola fan page and entertainment source where fans can get behind the wheel of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with a custom racing game, and learn more about Almirola with fast facts, favorite recipes and custom content about his life on and off the track. Visit www.tastevictory.com to learn more. Thanks to Almirola’s Feb. 11 win in his Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500, one lucky fan has already won $10,000.    ●  Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2021, Almirola continues to share his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season three of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.   ●  After the season’s first 16 points-paying events, the Smithfield Ford team sits 28th in the championship with 240 points, 444 behind leader Denny Hamlin.

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

All four Stewart-Haas Racing cars finished in the top-12 at Nashville. What does this say about the organization’s progress?   “It means we’re working hard. We’ve had a lot of races where the No. 4 has been a 10th-place car and the other three of us have run 25th, it seems like, so we’ve been working hard. When you run bad, it’s 10 times as much work because you’re going down every single different avenue trying to figure out what’s going to make speed in the racecars, and when you have fast racecars it’s easy because you just massage on it and polish it and keep going to the racetrack with what you know is fast. We’ve been working so hard. I’m proud of everybody back at the shop and specifically this No. 10 Smithfield team. We’ve been off and it’s been nice to get it back and go on here in the right direction after two weeks in a row of running up front.”   What does this do for your confidence level after such a challenging first half of the season?   “It just feels good. It’s been such a tough year and it’s easy to get down on yourself and not have a lot of confidence. Confidence is something that comes with results. You can’t fake it, so it’s been nice to have two good weeks now and it certainly makes everybody have a little pep in their step and things are going in the right direction.”   What are your thoughts on bringing this momentum to Pocono? Is it a good track to bring momentum to for you?    “Basing off of last year’s performance, you almost can’t think of a better track to come to than Pocono after finding speed the last few weekends. Last year, we had such an incredible run at Pocono on back-to-back days. Pocono is historically a track I wasn’t super confident in and now I’m heading there with a completely different mindset. We don’t have practice or qualifying, so we’ll have to unload fast again but, after finishing well at Nashville, we’ll have a better starting spot than in recent weeks, which will give us an opportunity to massage the car in cleaner air and see what we’ve got. I’d say Pocono is a great place for us to bring this momentum.”