| STEWART-HAAS RACING
FireKeepers Casino 400 |
| Date: Aug. 7, 2022
Event: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Round 23 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval) Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (45 laps/75 laps/80 laps)
Race Winner: Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford) Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) Stage 2 Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
SHR Race Finish: ● Kevin Harvick (Started 16th, Finished 1st / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps) ● Chase Briscoe (Started 23rd, Finished 20th / Running, completed 200 of 200 laps) ● Cole Custer (Started 17th, Finished 31st / Accident, completed 94 of 200 laps) ● Aric Almirola (Started 18th, Finished 34th / Accident, completed 25 of 200 laps)
SHR Points: ● Kevin Harvick (9th with 618 points, 229 out of first) ● Chase Briscoe (15th with 533 points, 314 out of first) ● Aric Almirola (18th with 518 points, 329 out of first) ● Cole Custer (25th with 390 points, 457 out of first)
Victory Notes: ● Harvick’s victory in the FireKeepers Casino 400 marked the 94th overall win for SHR. It was the organization’s 68th points-paying NASCAR Cup Series victory, its second of the season and its seventh at Michigan. SHR has now won six of the past eight NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan. ● SHR scored its maiden Michigan win via former driver Kurt Busch in June 2015, and former driver Clint Bowyer earned the team’s second win at the 2-mile oval in June 2018. Harvick’s first victory at the track came in August 2018 before he went on a run of three straight wins, returning to victory lane in August 2019 before sweeping the track’s doubleheader in 2020. ● This was SHR’s 32nd NASCAR Cup Series victory with Ford. Busch won the 2017 Daytona 500 to deliver the organization’s first win with Ford. ● Harvick’s win in the FireKeepers Casino 400 was his 59th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his series-leading sixth at Michigan. His margin over second-place Bubba Wallace 2.903 seconds. ● Harvick was the 15th different winner in the 23 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season. ● Harvick has now won 24 NASCAR Cup Series races with Ford. He is one of only 13 drivers to win 20 or more races with the manufacturer. He is tied with Matt Kenseth for 10th all time. ● This was Ford’s 716th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its fifth of the season. ● This was Ford’s series-leading 43rd win at Michigan, which is the most at any track currently on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Ford scored its first Michigan win with NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson on Aug. 17, 1969. ● This was Ford’s eighth straight win at Michigan, a streak that started with Bowyer in June 2018. ● This was Harvick’s 59th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, maintaining his 10th-place standing on the series’ all-time win list. ● This was Harvick’s 36th NASCAR Cup Series victory since joining SHR in 2014.
SHR Notes: ● Harvick now has 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes at Michigan, the most among active NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Michigan. ● Harvick finished eighth in Stage 1 to earn three bonus points. ● Harvick led once for 38 laps to increase his laps led total at Michigan to 737, the most among all active drivers. ● Harvick has now led 11,407 laps since joining SHR in 2014. He has led 15,833 laps in his entire NASCAR Cup Series career. ● Briscoe finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn a bonus point.
Race Notes: ● There were seven caution periods for a total of 36 laps. ● Twenty-two of the 37 drivers in the FireKeepers Casino 400 finished on the lead lap. ● Chase Elliott remains the championship leader after Michigan with a 119-point advantage over second-place Ryan Blaney.
Sound Bites:
“Just good timing for sure. We’ve had several good runs the last few weeks – Loudon and Pocono where the car ran good and just didn’t have everything work out. I’m just really proud of everybody on our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang. They’ve been digging all year long trying to make these Mustangs run faster. Our guys have done a good job in trying to take what we have, maximize it and do the things that we need to do. I’m just really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. Everybody who doubted us doesn’t know us. They obviously know we thrive in these types of situations and a lot of things went our way today, which we haven’t had all year long. There at the end, we pitted and didn’t go a lap down and then the caution came out and got control of the race. That’s the thing I struggled with most today was traffic and restarts and just having to make up ground, but once I got clear track, that baby was hunting.” – Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Apple #BuschelOfBusch Ford Mustang
“Our Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang was really good to start the race. We were able to make some good gains but we were so tight. The guys did a great job working on it, but I got in the wall toward the end and didn’t help. We’re still in a good place, just got to get through the next few races and make sure we get to move on to the playoffs.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Mustang
“We don’t really know what started all of that. I mean, we blew three left-front tires in probably a matter of 20 laps, so I don’t know what happened and why they kept blowing. It just seems like that’s the way our year has gone. We can’t seem to catch a break in most of these races. I don’t know. It just sucks to have another day end short, but we’ll move on to the next one.”– Cole Custer, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang
“I got hit in the left rear and spun out and then we all crashed. We just can’t seem to catch a break. I think some of the guys that were slower cars stayed out and that kind of jumbled up the field and then everybody swarms them and they can’t get out of the way.” – Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang
Next Up: The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Sunday, Aug. 14 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. |