Cole Custer Wins First Cup Race, pays out at 300/1 odds

Rookie Charges From Sixth To First in Final Two Laps

Custer is first rookie to win in Cup Series since 2016.

Date: July 12, 2020

Event: Kentucky 400 (Round 17 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Cup Series

Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)

Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps)

Start/Finish: 29th/1st (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)

Point Standing: 20th with 321 points, 354 out of first

Race Winner: Cole Custer of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 1 Winner: Aric Almirola of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)

Stage 2 Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-80):             

● Cole Custer started 29th and finished 16th.

● During the competition caution on lap 25, Custer reported he was pretty happy with the HaasTooling.com Mustang while running 19th.

● He pitted for fuel, four tires and a small adjustment and restarted 19th.

● During the long green-flag run, the rookie driver continued to work his way forward.

● The California native ended the stage in 16th and pitted for fuel, four tires, and adjustments to help loosen up the No. 41 Ford Mustang.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 81-160):

● Custer started in 16th and finished third to earn eight bonus points

● On lap 100, Custer was in the 14th position.

● The HaasTooling.com driver made a scheduled green-flag pit stop for fuel only on lap 149.

● The only caution in Stage 2 was displayed on lap 155.

● Custer stayed out and restarted fourth with only one lap left in the stage.

● Custer finished the stage in third and pitted for fuel, four tires and adjustments.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 161-267):

● Custer started 22nd, finished first.

● By lap 179, Custer was in the 12th position.

● On lap 215, the 22-year-old driver moved into the 10th spot.

● “Seems like the car is getting pretty good right now,” Custer told the HaasTooling.com crew on lap 218 from the ninth position.

● Custer inherited the lead on lap 224 as the field began to pit under green.

● Custer made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 228. Just after receiving service, the caution was displayed on lap 229.

● He took the wave around and restarted 13th.

● The caution was back out on lap 243 and Custer stayed out. The Ford driver restarted 13th with 19 laps to go.

● Caution was quickly displayed again and Custer restarted 12th on lap 254.

● A great restart catapulted Custer up to sixth when the caution came out on lap 265 and set up a two-lap sprint to the finish.

● Custer restarted from sixth and drove four-wide to make the pass for the lead and win the race.  

Notes:

● Custer earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory and it came in his first Cup Series start at Kentucky.

● This was Custer’s second straight top-five. The rookie finished fifth last Sunday in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

● Custer led twice for five laps – his first laps led in the NASCAR Cup Series.

● This was only Custer’s 20th career NASCAR Cup Series start.

● Custer’s margin of victory over second-place Martin Truex Jr., was .271 of a second.

● Custer’s victory in the Kentucky 400 marked the 81st overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 60th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series victory, its fifth of the season and its first at Kentucky.

● This is SHR’s second straight victory. Kevin Harvick won the Brickyard 400 last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

● SHR has now won at every track on the current NASCAR Cup Series schedule except the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval, which has only hosted two races.

● This was SHR’s 24th NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. The team won its first race with Ford when former driver Kurt Busch captured the 2017 Daytona 500.

● This was Ford’s series-leading 10th NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and its 696th all-time Cup Series victory.

● This was Ford’s third NASCAR Cup Series victory at Kentucky. Each of its previous wins came with Brad Keselowski in 2014 and 2016.

● There were eight caution periods for a total of 42 laps.

● Twenty-six of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Harvick remains the championship leader after Kentucky with an 88-point advantage over second-place Keselowski.

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

“We were so good all day. Our car was so good.  I mean, obviously, it wasn’t the easiest track to pass on, so we were kind of stuck back there, but that was the best car I’ve ever driven in my life.  Everybody at SHR brought an unbelievable car. Mike (Shiplett, crew chief) and Davin (Restivo, lead engineer) on the box, that was unbelievable. Gene (Haas, team co-owner), I can’t stress enough how thankful I am for him taking a shot on me. It definitely was not the start to the year that we wanted. We were definitely way off at some places, but this was by far an unbelievable car. We put it all together and I just can’t thank everybody enough.”

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race on Wednesday, July 15 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 8:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio beginning at 7 p.m. with the undercard NASCAR All-Star Open.

QUAKER STATE 400 AT KENTUCKY RESULTS 

William Hill betting action on 2020 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

Kurt Busch (20/1) has the most money bet at William Hill sportsbooks.

NASCAR Futures for Sunday's Quaker State 400

NASCAR’s Cup Series will head to Kentucky Speedway for just the 10th time ever this weekend.

William Hill has futures up for 37 drivers for Sunday’s Quaker State 400, with the red-hot Kevin Harvick as the 4/1 favorite.

Harvick has won two of the past three Cup Series races, including last weekend’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’s also in first in the current Cup Series standings.

Kyle Busch is next at 11/2 odds, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin at 13/2 apiece. Hamlin and Harvick are tied for the most Cup Series wins this season with four each.

Yet, it’s drivers further down the board that have been receiving the most early money.

Kyle’s brother Kurt Busch (20/1) leads all drivers with 11% of the total dollars wagered to win Sunday’s race. Kurt won last year’s Quaker State 400, and one Nevada bettor put down $1,000 on Kurt Busch 25/1 to repeat this time around. If the elder Busch can capture the checkered flag, that bettor would receive a total payout of $26,000.

Matt DiBenedetto (40/1) is second with 10% of the total dollars wagered, including one Quaker State 400 wager with the biggest total potential payout thus far at William Hill. Another Nevada bettor placed $1,000 on DiBenedetto 60/1 for a total potential payout of $61,000.

Kyle Busch is tops in total number of tickets at 8%, while Chase Elliott (8/1) and Brad Keselowski (9/1) have each gotten 7%. Keselowski has three Quaker State 400 victories under his belt, the most by any driver ever.

William Hill also has 10 head-to-head matchups available for this race, highlighted by Harvick (-125) vs. Kyle Busch (+105) and Truex Jr. (EVEN) vs. Hamlin (-120).

For William Hill’s latest odds and trends for the Quaker State 400, which is available to bet in Nevada, New Jersey and Iowa, check out the full write-up on our website: https://www.williamhill.us/quaker-state-400-odds-trends-two-longshots-draw-biggest-bets-for-race/

Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing have found success at Kentucky

Of the nine NASCAR Cup Series races held at Kentucky Speedway, the majority of them (six) have been won by two organizations – Team Penske (three wins) and Joe Gibbs Racing (three wins). This weekend both organizations will look to get their fourth victory at the 1.5-mile track and take the series lead in owner wins at the facility.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s three wins began with the inaugural series event in 2011; when Kyle Busch started from the first position due to qualifying being cancelled and then won. Then in 2013, veteran Matt Kenseth brought JGR their second victory from Kentucky and Busch again visited Victory Lane in 2015.

All four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have run well at Kentucky in the past. In nine starts, Busch has amassed two wins, seven top fives and eight top 10s. Martin Truex Jr. has also made nine starts, posting two wins (in 2017 and 2018 with Furniture Row Racing), two top fives and five top 10s. Denny Hamlin has made nine starts at Kentucky, putting up four top fives and an average finish of 14.8. And Erik Jones has made three series starts at Kentucky posting one top five and three top 10s. He also the series second best average finish (5.3) at Kentucky; behind only his teammate Kyle Busch.

In last season’s race, Busch finished runner-up, Jones was third, Hamlin was fifth and Truex finished 19th.

Team Penske’s three wins at Kentucky have all come from Brad Keselowski; who leads the series in victories at the track (2011, 2014, 2016). In total, Keselowski has made nine starts at Kentucky posting one pole, three wins, four top fives and six top 10s. His average finish 12.3.

Though Keselowski’s teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney have yet to win at Kentucky in the NASCAR Cup Series they have found success at the track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Logano winning three times and Blaney taking home the checkered flag twice. In the Cup Series Logano has made nine starts at Kentucky posting two top fives and six top 10s. Blaney has made four series starts at Kentucky posting one top five and two top 10s. In last season’s race Team Penske drivers finished seventh (Logano), 13th (Blaney) and 20th (Keselowski).

Hendrick Motorsports Kentucky Quotes: 2020 Quaker State 400

Chase Elliott is 7/1 to win Sunday at Kentucky.

Driver Chase Elliott on Kentucky:
“We are really looking forward to Kentucky, as always, and really just looking forward to getting back to the track. The best way to fix a tough finish is to go try again. Hopefully it goes well. I think we’ve been running well -- we just haven’t had some of the finishes we had hoped for. Our performance has been there, and we just have to clean up a few areas. I think we can put ourselves in a good spot. We are moving on from Indy and ready to go race the Kelley Blue Book Chevy at Kentucky.”


Driver William Byron on Kentucky’s surface:
“Kentucky’s surface has just continued to age. I think it has gotten really gray there really fast. I know that the type of asphalt that they used is different than what they used until the later part of 2010 when repaving tracks. The asphalt has a lot of grip like Michigan does, but Michigan hasn’t seemed to age as fast as Kentucky has. It’s also a slick track but in a weird way. It’s not coarse like Atlanta. It’s smooth but slick at the same time. It’s a tough track to get a hold of, and that’s a challenge we face every time we go there. It makes for interesting racing.”

Byron on having competition cautions instead of practice:
“I think the competition cautions in these races have helped some guys for sure. For us on the No. 24 team, though, we haven’t necessarily needed them at most tracks. We’ve shown up extremely prepared from a team aspect and a driver aspect. I can only really think of one race that I wanted that competition caution, and that was Atlanta. Otherwise, I’ve been happy with how our speed has been at the beginning of the race. Kentucky may be a different story since the surface is so hard to pinpoint ahead of time, but I’m confident in the car my team will have prepared.”


Driver Jimmie Johnson on Kentucky:
“Even with all the laps I have made at Kentucky Speedway and the success I've had on 1.5-mile tracks, Kentucky has always seemed to be a challenge for me. It’s rough and bumpy. Going into Turn 1 you are climbing up a hill and then you descend all the way to Turn 3. Of course, I am beyond excited to be back in the car this weekend and with my team so I'm embracing the opportunity and am more determined than ever to check this one off the list."


Driver Alex Bowman on getting back to a 1.5-mile track:
“I am ready to get back to a mile-and-a-half track this weekend, especially after the last few weeks. These are the tracks where we are typically pretty good. We haven’t had the finishes to show recently at mile-and-a-half venues, but we have brought extremely strong Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LEs each week. The last time Cincinnati was on the car, we put it in victory lane. I know we will bring a fast car this weekend and can hopefully go two in a row with Cincinnati.”

Crew chief Greg Ives on running at Kentucky:
“We are going back to a mile-and-a-half track and somewhere where we have really good speed. Kentucky hasn’t been favorable to me and my history at the track. The last few times we have run here, we have strategized well and run well but we haven’t ended up with the finish we deserve there. If we can just finish where we run, that is a lot better than wrecking or losing a tire there and not finishing where we need to be. We have a good package for a mile and a half tracks, so hopefully we can take that and the stuff we have learned from other tracks here lately and get a solid finish at the end of the day.”

Video: Micah Roberts Discusses Quaker State 400 as Kentucky Odds, Top-5 Finish Prediction

Clint Bowyer is 40/1 to win 2020 Quaker State 400

CLINT BOWYER Kentucky Speedway Is SHR’s Last Unchecked Box KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (July 6, 2020) – Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has won 59 times in 1,324 races since its first NASCAR Cup Series race in 2009. The victories have come at every track except one – the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway in Sparta where the series races Sunday afternoon. “We’d like to win at Kentucky for a lot of reasons, but making it a sweep for SHR would be cool,” said No. 14 One Cure Ford Mustang driver Clint Bowyer, who’s earned two of his 10 career victories at SHR. SHR has not won in either of the two "roval" races at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, but owns a win at the facility's oval configuration.  “Winning at every track is an impressive accomplishment," said Bowyer. "I still look at our team as one of the new teams in the sport, so it’s hard to believe there’s been so much success so fast. This sport is as competitive as it has ever been. Winning at every track would be a compliment to the men and women at SHR, as well as the corporate partners who make all this happen.” SHR is owned by Gene Haas and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, who earned the organization’s first victory on June 7, 2009 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. SHR scored its first Daytona 500 victory in 2017 when Kurt Busch took the checkered flag, and has notched championships with Stewart in 2011 and Kevin Harvick in 2014. Harvick’s 30 victories are the most of any driver in an SHR car. Stewart won 16 times, Kurt Busch six, Ryan Newman four, Bowyer, twice, and Aric Almirola once. Bowyer could add to the total Sunday afternoon at Kentucky. “We were pretty good there last year,” he said. “We led 40 laps and finished sixth. It’s a tricky place. Usually, Kentucky is hit-or-miss with some really strong runs and then times you just struggle for grip. I imagine it’s going to be hot and slippery Sunday afternoon.” Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford will carry the decals of One Cure Sunday afternoon. The One Cure project is led by the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University. It is founded on the principle that cancer affects all creatures and that treatment breakthroughs come through collaboration between scientists and doctors working with people and animals. This approach is known as comparative oncology and it is the guiding concept of One Cure and the Flint Animal Cancer Center. The center works to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets, and teams with the human medical field to translate research findings that will help people with cancer. The center, located in Colorado State’s James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, sees more than 1,500 new animal cancer patients every year, with approximately 130 of them enrolled in carefully monitored clinical trials specific to their cancer type. The canine and feline patients are helping pioneer cancer research, moving cutting-edge treatments out of the laboratory and into clinical practice, ultimately providing hope for the next generation of animal and human cancer patients. Bowyer’s green-and-white paint scheme will feature Winston – a golden retriever who died of cancer a few years ago, but lived longer based on the findings of a prior clinical trial. “This is a real honor to carry the One Cure paint scheme and spread the word on all the good work Colorado State’s Flint Animal Cancer Center is doing,” Bowyer said. “Anyone who knows me or hangs around me knows how much I love animals, whether it’s our dogs or farm animals. So, helping animals is important to me but, when you can take what you know from animals and translate it to us humans, that’s just amazing and important for all of us.” One Cure has been one of Bowyer’s partners at SHR since he climbed into the No. 14 racecar in 2018. The program’s goal is to direct fans to www.OneCure.com, where they can learn about the research and to offer financial support. Sunday’s race marks the 13th race since the Cup Series returned from a 10-week hiatus due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic May 17. As it did at the previous 12 races, NASCAR series and team personnel in the infield will continue to operate under a comprehensive health and safety plan at Kentucky that permits no fans, limited crew, strict social distancing, and mandated personal protective equipment and health screenings for all. Bowyer arrives at Kentucky 13th in points after finishing 16th in last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis. Bowyer scored bonus points in the first two stages, but a caution just laps after he pitted under green in the final stage ruined what appeared to be a top-ten finish. After Kentucky, only nine races remain in what is expected to be NASCAR’s 26-race regular season. A win will vault Bowyer into the NASCAR playoffs that begin in September and secure a spot in the NASCAR All-Star Race July 15 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Without a win between now and July 15, Bowyer will race in the NASCAR All-Star Open with hopes a good run will transfer him to the All-Star Race. As a backup plan, he is relying on the online fan vote that will send the most popular remaining driver from the Open to the All-Star Race. Fans can cast their ballots daily for Bowyer at NASCAR.com/fanvote, or by clicking here. A win Sunday would be historic for SHR, secure a playoff spot as well as an All-Star berth for Bowyer, and bring more attention to what could literally be a lifesaving cause for both humans and pets. That’s a lot on the line.

CLINT BOWYER, Driver of the No. 14 One Cure Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Everyone in the sport knows about Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, but what does Gene Haas bring to SHR? “Gene’s the man. He’s the man who makes it happen at Stewart-Haas Racing. Obviously, everybody knows what Tony brought to the table at this thing. Gene is that rock behind all of us that enables us to go out and perform at our best. “It’s never a question of, ‘What does it take financially, or anything else?’ It’s, ‘What does it take to win, what does it take to be better, what does it take to find victory lane?’ Those are questions that Gene Haas asks, and that’s it. He doesn’t talk about a good top-10 finish or that you can be proud of a good run. He’ll never say maybe that was a track you struggled at when you run fifth or sixth or something. “It’s only about winning and winning only. It’s what he does in his industry. It bleeds through to his employees and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing,”

Rookie Cole Custer is 200/1 to win 2020 Quaker State 400

COLE CUSTER First Cup Series Start at Kentucky KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (July 7, 2020) – Cole Custer and the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Mustang team head to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta for Sunday’s Kentucky 400.  Sunday’s start is Custer’s 20th career Cup Series start and his first endeavor in the series at the 1.5-mile oval in the Bluegrass State. The No. 41 machine will sport the HaasTooling.com livery for Sunday’s 267-lap race. Team co-owner Gene Haas’ newest holding, Haas Tooling was launched last month 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. Beginning July 1, HaasTooling.com products became available nationally. The cutting tools available for purchase on HaasTooling.com are even more important during the current COVID-19 pandemic as CNC machines have become vital to producing personal protective equipment. Custer heads to Kentucky coming off his best career Cup Series finish captured last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After starting 30th the rookie driver was able to work his way forward and run in the top-five before ultimately finishing fifth. The result was captured in Custer’s first Cup Series start at the iconic 2.5-mile oval. The finish wrapped up a stellar weekend for SHR at Indianapolis. SHR’s Xfinity Series driver Chase Briscoe won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race on the infield road course. SHR’s Kevin Harvick won the Brickyard 400 for back-to-back wins in the crown jewel event. SHR’s Aric Almirola finished third, just ahead of Custer in the top-five.   In Custer’s last five Cup Series starts at 1.5-mile tracks, he has a best finish of 12th earned May 24 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and a best starting position of ninth in the May 28 return to Charlotte.   “Kentucky is an interesting track because it’s a repave, which makes it really fast and you’re carrying a lot of throttle,” Custer said. “It’s also cool at times because you’re able to work a few different lanes and stuff like that. It’s a fast racetrack, that’s for sure, and I think that’s the fun part of it.”   The California native has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Kentucky. He has one pole award earned in July 2018 with a pole speed of 181.458 mph. He also earned one win at Kentucky last year with a margin of victory of 1.651 seconds over Christopher Bell. Overall at Kentucky, Custer has an average Xfinity Series start of 5.0 and an average finish of 10.8. He’s led 151 laps and has finished on the lead lap in four out of five Xfinity Series starts.   “I think some things apply from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series at Kentucky,” the HaasTooling.com driver said. “It’s the same racetrack and it’s the same feel. It’s just getting used to what’s different in the Cup car. The two cars are a good amount different, and you have to figure out those differences to make this car as good as you can. The track has the same characteristics, it’s just getting the car down.”   Custer’s first career Cup Series win would catapult him into the NASCAR All-Star Race rescheduled for Wednesday, July 15 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. However, the 22-year-old could earn the No. 41 Ford Mustang a spot in the race by winning the All-Star Fan Vote. Voting is open for one vote per person, per day.   SHR is still looking for its first win at Kentucky Speedway. The Sparta track is the only venue on the Cup Series schedule where the championship organization hasn’t notched a win.   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.   Even though Custer had a trio of starts in the Cup Series in 2018, 2020 officially marks his Rookie of the Year campaign in NASCAR’s most prestigious series. He’s competing for rookie honors with notables Bell and Tyler Reddick. The three have battled against each other in the Xfinity Series and are making the full-time transition to the Cup Series together.

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

What has been the biggest adjustment for you moving up to the Cup Series?   “The biggest thing has been getting used to the cars. They are obviously quite a bit different. When you don’t have practice time, it’s hard to get a really good feel for them, and know how hard you can push things in the corner. It’s been a lot of learning, and it has been hard. Also, the competition level, you’re racing against the best in the world and the field is super competitive, so you can’t make any mistakes.”   What kind of track is Kentucky compared to the others?   “Kentucky is fast. You’re going about wide open around there and can carry so much speed in the corner. It’s a fun track to go to and I’m looking forward to it. One of the biggest things I’ve done to prepare is to watch as many videos as I can. I’ve gone into the simulator to try and get a feel for it. The simulator doesn’t give you the feel of real life, but it’s a head start.”   What does success look like for you in your rookie season?”   “I think as many top-10 runs as we can get will help us. It’s obviously not been an easy season for a rookie, but it’s something we’re getting through. Having those good runs are important for confidence. Just try and work at it one step at a time and try and get better and better, and those runs will come. The competition level is so much higher here in the Cup Series. You have a lot more competitive cars than you have in the Xfinity Series, so any wrong move can really set you back a lot more in the Cup Series.”

Aric Almirola is 30/1 to win 2020 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

ARIC ALMIROLA ‘A Win Is Coming’ KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (July 7, 2020) – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Vote for Bacon Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), heads to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta as the NASCAR Cup Series driver with the highest average finish in the last five races at 3.8. He’s ahead of Denny Hamlin, who’s next best at 7.2, and SHR teammate Kevin Harvick, who’s third best at 8.0. Almirola is on a string of five consecutive top-five finishes – earned at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished fifth, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where he finished third, and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway two weekends ago, where he finished third and fifth, respectively, in the series’ first modern-era doubleheader weekend, and last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he finished third.  This is Almirola’s best season to date and the first time in his career he has earned consecutive top-five finishes. His five top-fives are the most he’s had in any single season during his nine-year full-time Cup Series career. “We’re in a position now to where we can gamble a little bit and we can be a little more aggressive,” Almirola said. “We can be less conservative and not worry about points. Not that we’re going to throw caution to the wind, but we can certainly be more aggressive. A win is coming.” Not only is Almirola looking for a win to lock himself in the NASCAR playoffs, he’s also looking to win this weekend to lock himself in to the July 15 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, or at least win the fan vote for an opportunity to race for $1 million. To aid the team’s endeavor to make the All-Star Race, Almirola’s longtime sponsor Smithfield Foods has given the fans an opportunity to “vote for bacon” in order to secure their driver’s eligibility. “A vote for me is a vote for bacon,” Almirola said. “I’m not one to promote myself and ask for popularity or votes, so fans can vote for bacon for a chance to earn free bacon for a year and we might make it into the All-Star Race. Smithfield is always giving back to our fan base, as we saw in Talladega when we gave away bacon for life. The real goal is to win this weekend in Kentucky and still give away some free bacon. Now that’s a win-win.”  To “vote for bacon” and help secure Almirola’s eligibility in the All-Star Race, visit www.voteforbacon.com for a chance to win Smithfield bacon for a year, a private meet-and-greet with Almirola, and free SHR merchandise.  The No. 10 Ford driver sits ninth in the playoff standings for his career-best points position after 16 races. In his first two seasons at SHR in 2018 and 2019, Almirola was 10th in the standings after 16 races. It’s the best stretch of his career. The next comparable stretch was from October 2018 through March 2019, when he posted 11 top-10 finishes in 13 races, and his two finishes outside the top-10 were 11th at Martinsville and 32nd at Daytona. Almirola has career totals of two wins, two poles, 23 top-five finishes, 69 top-10s and 627 laps led in 332 starts. In addition to his recent string of top-fives, he has eight top-10s and has led 90 laps after 16 races this season. Almirola continues to provide fans with content from his documentary series Beyond the 10, where they can get VIP, behind-the-scenes access by subscribing to his YouTube channel. Episodes showcase never-before-seen footage of Almirola at the racetrack, on family trips, and “A Day in the Life” during the week, as well as all that goes into a NASCAR Cup Series driver’s season. Click here to subscribe on YouTube and watch the latest episode.  While Almirola only has one top-10 finish at Kentucky, he proved last weekend at Indianapolis, where he had never earned a top-10, that past statistics don’t have an effect on the success the team has been able to achieve this year.

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

Is this the first time in your career that you go to the track every race weekend expecting to compete for a win? “Yes, absolutely. For most of my career, I would show up at racetracks and just hope to have good runs. In the summer of 2018, I felt like we had a chance to contend each weekend and several opportunities slipped away. I probably had four or five races that year that I could have won. In 2019, quite frankly we struggled. I couldn’t find any consistency running up front. I’m thoroughly impressed with this Smithfield team. Every weekend, we expect to have top-fives.” With Kentucky being a day race in the summertime, how much will the conditions affect drivers?  “It’s going to be tough. It’s usually pretty hot already in the summertime. Kentucky, in the middle of the day, in the heat of the summer, is going to be challenging. The racetrack is going to be slower and slicker, but it will be fun. I love those conditions. The hotter the better, to be honest. A lot of my training pays off in those conditions. I don’t feel like I’m falling out of the seat. I feel fresh and ready to go, still, at the end of the race. I know some people dread racing in the middle of the day, but I don’t mind it.” How confident are you that you’ll get a win soon, and to keep this momentum going? “I keep telling the guys, if we consistently keep running in the top-five like this and continue to contend, we’re going to keep putting ourselves in position to win races and we’re going to capitalize on it. I’m looking forward to this next round of races. I’ve got top-fives at tracks that I would consider my worst racetracks, statistically. Now we’re going to some of the tracks that are probably my best, statistically.”

Kevin Harvick is 5/1 co-favorite to win 2020 Quaker State 400

KEVIN HARVICK 1.5 Tracks Left KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (July 7, 2020) – Kevin Harvick heads to the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway oval in Sparta with 1.5 tracks left to win at on the NASCAR schedule. How is this possible? After his victory on June 27 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Harvick still has yet to win at Kentucky, which made its NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2011. He also hasn’t won on the “roval” at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, which first appeared on the schedule in 2018. Harvick did win on the Charlotte oval in the 2011 and 2013 Coca-Cola 600, and the 500-mile fall race in 2014. So perhaps that explains the .5 of the 1.5 tracks. If he gets the victory at Kentucky, the Charlotte roval is all that is left to conquer. He’s come close at Kentucky, having finished in the top-10 in six consecutive races there from 2013 to 2018. He scored his first top-five when he came home fifth in 2018. Harvick has scored two NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at the 1.5 mile Kentucky oval, the first coming in 2001 and followed up 13 years later in 2014. And while he’s looking for his first Cup Series win at Kentucky, so is sponsor Hunt Brothers Pizza. With more than 7,800 locations in 30 states, Hunt Brothers Pizza is the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry. Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas available as a grab-and-go Hunk perfect for today’s on-the-go lifestyle, or as a customizable whole pizza that is an exceptional value with All Toppings No Extra Charge®. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Hunt Brothers Pizza is family owned and operated with more than 25 years of experience serving great pizza to convenience store shoppers through its store partners. To find a Hunt Brothers Pizza location, download the Hunt Brothers Pizza app by visiting www.huntbrotherspizza.com/app/ Hunt Brothers Pizza has partnered with Harvick for 11 years and last visited victory lane with him when he won the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta. In 2019, Hunt Brothers moved up to the Cup Series as a primary sponsor for three races and, in 2020, will be on Harvick’s car five times. Harvick is coming off last Sunday’s third career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has four victories this season. He is 12th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list and is just one behind Lee Petty for 11th. Petty has 54 wins, while Rusty Wallace has 55 and Kyle Busch has scored 56. Harvick is hoping he can heat up at Kentucky and score his first win at the 1.5-mile oval and keep moving up the wins list.

KEVIN HARVICK, Driver of the No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Back in 2018, you said at that point winning had become a game. Since then, you’ve won 16 races, including last week. Is there any way to describe what it’s like to perform at a level like this? “I think there are a lot of things that come into play. You have a manufacturer change that’s in the middle of that. But in the end, I think when you look at the root of the equation, it’s the team, right? It’s the crew chief and the driver that have been together, the engineer. We had one engineer move on, but we’ve had the same engineer with Dax (Gerringer). You keep adding little pieces to keep making that puzzle come together and fit together well. But experience plays a big role in this. I think for us, when we come to the racetrack, I know I have to be prepared. I know every guy on my team is going to be prepared and has done everything he can during that week leading up to that race to do 100 percent of his job. If you’re not prepared, you’ve let every person down because that’s the type of team we’ve been fortunate to put together over the last seven years.  Everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing allowed us to do that from the beginning. It keeps progressing. You keep getting more and more details out of things because you keep the people together, and everybody believes in what I just said. If you don’t do 100 percent of your job during the week, you have let the rest of the team down because they have.” Having a formidable opponent like Denny Hamlin, does it just make you want to come to the track and perform well? Does it put you in a more competitive mode than normal because of the level you’re both competing at right now? “Yeah, it’s interesting for sure. We kind of went back and forth there, I was leading, then he was leading, then he has trouble. You have to kind of smile about it because it’s two teams performing at a tremendously high level right now. It has cycled around to the two of us for several weeks now. I think as you look at that, it definitely makes it fun. You want to have the upper hand on the who finishes in front of who ratio at this point, especially because if that’s the guy you’re racing and the team you’re racing, you want to at least stay even par. Those guys are good. They’re doing a great job. Obviously, leading the charge at Joe Gibbs. Our guys are doing the same. On days when you think you’re out of it, you keep grinding, all of a sudden you wind up in victory lane, those are the days you smile because you know everybody did their job and kept themselves in the game.” Can you talk about the longstanding relationship with Hunt Brothers Pizza? “Our fans are pretty loyal to the brands that are on our cars. Many of my pictures come from the standees in the store. People take selfies next to them. There are a number of reasons you have sponsorships – you want that brand recognition, the brand integration. Hunt Brothers Pizza is a very family oriented company and we’re a very family oriented group from the Harvick side of things. Those relationships you build through the years with brands that recognize and reflect what you believe in are few and far between. We’ve grown with the Hunt Brothers brand. They’ve grown with us and been very loyal to us and I think our fans are very loyal to us and the brand. It’s fun to see that brand recognition and that understanding of loyalty and partnership. I realized how many Hunt Brothers Pizza stores there are whenever I drove to racetracks after the hiatus.”

Hunt Brothers Pizza Racing Team Report Round 17 of 36 – Kentucky 400 – Kentucky Speedway

Kyle Busch is 5/1 co-favorite to win 2020 Quaker State 400

KYLE BUSCH Bluegrass Best HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (July 7, 2020) – When it comes time to look at the statistics at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, there’s a clear pair of drivers that stand out over the nine total NASCAR Cup Series races run at the 1.5-mile oval – two-time and defending Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski. In fact, the two former champions have combined to bring home five of the nine wins at Kentucky since NASCAR’s top series began competing there in 2011. Busch is always optimistic about his chances to win at one of his best tracks statistically, and he’ll look to score his third Kentucky win during Sunday afternoon’s Kentucky 400 and tie Keselowski for the most wins in the Bluegrass State. While Busch’s overall numbers there are impressive, a few statistics stand out more than others. To go with a series-best average finish of 4.7, he has an astonishing average mid-race position of just 2.6. With two victories in the nine races run there, Busch has only finished outside the top-10 once – 12th in 2012, when he battled mechanical issues. Keselowski has three finishes of 20th or worse at Kentucky with an average finish of 12.3. The Las Vegas native and driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Fudge Brownie Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has notched multiple victories at Kentucky in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions – Cup, Xfinity, and Truck. Add his 2003 ARCA series win at Kentucky and Busch has been victorious in four racing divisions and has made quite a Kentucky home of his own in the Bluegrass State’s second-most-famous victory lane. The heavily worn racing surface and quirky Kentucky layout Busch navigated to win both Cup Series races there – including the inaugural event back in 2011 – is now gone after being repaved four seasons ago to go with a slight reconfiguration of turns one and two. Busch came painfully close to his third Kentucky win one year ago when he battled door-to-door with his brother Kurt, who ultimately inched past Busch in one of the most memorable finishes of 2019. Busch’s winning history at Kentucky started way back at the ripe age of 18, when he dominated the 2003 ARCA race while competing for Hendrick Motorsports. He led a race-high 91 laps en route to the victory. He returned the following year and found victory lane again, this time in his Xfinity Series debut. In all, Busch has three wins, nine top-fives and has led 877 laps in 11 Xfinity Series starts at Kentucky. He also won the 2011 and 2014 Truck Series races to give him six top-10 finishes and 310 laps led in seven starts there in that division. So as the Cup Series makes a swing through the Bluegrass State Sunday afternoon, Busch’s fans are hoping he can bring home his M&M’S Fudge Brownie Toyota to his third career Kentucky victory and prove yet again that he is the best in the Bluegrass State.

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

What is it about Kentucky Speedway that suits you so well? “I don’t know. People ask me that question about a bunch of different racetracks. It’s pretty nice to be able to go to these racetracks and be able to have the opportunity to do well and run well and finish up front and win. You look at Bristol, you look at Richmond, you look at Kentucky, you’ll see we’ve been doing a hell of a lot better and it’s been really good to go to these places and have the consistency that we need to run up front like that. Kentucky, though, when we first started going there, I remember going there in the ARCA days and the Xfinity days, back when the asphalt was old, rough and bumpy. Then they ground it a couple times and it kind of changed a little bit. I kept up with the changes, and then now it’s all repaved and we’re still trying to work in the surface a bit.” What do you remember about last year’s Kentucky finish with your brother? “It was a great finish to the race, just wish I was the one that came out on top. On the last lap, I knew I cleared him into (turn) three, and if I just stayed in the gas, I was never going to make the exit, I was going to plow the fence. Maybe I should have just gotten in front of him and messed up his air.  I missed my chance over there, I guess, and that’s about all I could really have done differently. Hoping we’ll have a chance to bring home a win this time around with our M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry.” What are your favorite moments at Kentucky Speedway? “I have a few favorite moments, actually. The first time racing in the ARCA series, I won that race a long time ago. And then just a few years ago when I was able to win the race at Kentucky in 2015 during my championship season, just coming back from injury, and that was the first of three races we won in a row. We were able to pass Joey Logano that year late in the race and go on to win – that was a fun one, too. The track that year was really wide. We were running four lanes off the bottom and that never happened before. Going to take some more time to have that many grooves with the asphalt still being being relatively fresh there.” How big of a challenge do you have with turn one and two versus a completely different turns three and four at Kentucky? “I think the biggest thing we saw the last couple of years is that the groove goes from being so wide coming out of turn four and down the front straightaway, it kind of narrows up getting into turn one and the racetrack width narrows up, not to mention the groove is probably only one car wide. Then, on the other end getting into turn three, the track kind of widens out down there and you have plenty of room, but again it narrows down and there’s only one groove. Last year, it seemed, in turns one and two, the rubber laid down well but it was more of a challenge in turns three and four. We’ll see how it is this weekend.” How does it feel to know you’ll always be the inaugural Cup Series winner at Kentucky for the rest of your career? “I think it’s cool. You look at some of the new venues we’ve been to over the years and Jeff Gordon got to win a number of inaugural races, like the Brickyard, Fontana, and Kansas. He was always the guy who was known to figure out places the fastest, but we were able to be the ones to do that at Kentucky. There aren’t many opportunities these days to go to a new venue so, for us, being able to win the first race there was extra special, and we’ve really kept that going there by finishing in the top-10 in all but one race there. We’d certainly like to keep our record going there this weekend with our M&M’S Fudge Brownie Camry.” Is Kentucky a special place for you? “I love Kentucky. It was special there in 2011, when we were able to win the first Cup race there, and it stayed that way during our win there four years ago. I look forward to going back every year. It’s a pretty challenging racetrack. It used to be a place that lends itself to different kinds of setups because it was so rough. Fast lap times at Kentucky come from momentum. The place is so round that there’s not a ton of banking compared to some other 1.5-milers. It’s all about how round the corners are and just being able to maintain corner speed and stay on the gas. It’s a place we get excited about, for sure.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series: Odds to win 2020 Shady Rays 200 at Kentucky

Chase Briscoe is winning everywhere, favored again this week

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

ODDS TO WIN 2020 SHADY RAYS 200

KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 - 8:15 PM ET

Chase BRISCOE 5/2
Noah GRAGSON 5/1
Austin CINDRIC 5/1
Ross CHASTAIN 5/1
Justin ALLGAIER 6/1
Harrison BURTON 8/1
Brandon JONES 12/1
Justin HALEY 25/1
Jeb BURTON 40/1
Anthony ALFREDO 80/1
Riley HERBST 80/1
Michael ANNETT 80/1
Ryan SIEG 100/1
Myatt SNIDER 100/1
Brandon BROWN 300/1
Brett MOFFITT 500/1
Jeremy CLEMENTS 500/1
Josh WILLIAMS 1000/1
Joe GRAF JR 2000/1
FIELD (all others) 50/1

Odds to win 2020 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

Kevin Harvick notched his series-tying best four wins.

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

NASCAR CUP SERIES

ODDS TO WIN QUAKER STATE 400

KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 - 2:50 PM ET
Kevin HARVICK 5/1
Kyle BUSCH 5/1
Martin TRUEX JR 7/1
Chase ELLIOTT 7/1
Denny HAMLIN 7/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 7/1
Joey LOGANO 10/1
Ryan BLANEY 12/1
Kurt BUSCH 20/1
Alex BOWMAN 20/1
Erik JONES 25/1
William BYRON 30/1
Aric ALMIROLA 30/1
Clint BOWYER 40/1
Christopher BELL 60/1
Tyler REDDICK 60/1
Matt DIBENEDETTO 60/1
Matt KENSETH 60/1
Austin DILLON 60/1
Ryan NEWMAN 100/1
Justin ALLGAIER 100/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR 100/1
Cole CUSTER 200/1
Darrell WALLACE JR 300/1
Chris BUESCHER 500/1
John Hunter NEMECHEK 500/1
Michael McDOWELL 100/1
Ryan PREECE 100/1
Ty DILLON 5000/1
Corey LaJOIE 5000/1
Daniel SUAREZ 5000/1
Brennan POOLE 10000/1
Quin HOUFF 10000/1
JJ YELEY 10000/1
Timmy HILL 10000/1
Joey GASE 10000/1
Garrett SMITHLEY 10000/1
BJ McLEOD 10000/1

Keselowski fastest in final Kentucky practice

Brad Keselowski is 8-to-1 to win at Kentucky.

Brad Keselowski, a three-time winner at Kentucky Speedway, had the fastest lap in Friday’s final Cup practice session.

Keselowski topped the field with a lap of 182.303 mph. He was followed by Kevin Harvick (181.793 mph), Denny Hamlin (181.763), Ryan Blaney (181.701) and Clint Bowyer (181.457).

Daniel Suarez ran the most laps in the session with 63. He ranks eighth on the speed chart with a best lap of 181.305 mph.

Suarez also had the best average speed over 10 consecutive laps at 180.697 mph. He was followed by Kyle Busch (180.080 mph) and Harvick (180.010).

There were no incidents in the session.

Qualifying takes place today at 6:05 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Click here for final Cup practice results

- NBC Sports