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Tag: Gene Haas

  • The Final Word – I know I’m late, but can I make my Talladega prediction now?

    The Final Word – I know I’m late, but can I make my Talladega prediction now?

    If only I could time travel. Going back a few days, I could have been able to pin-point exactly what one needed to do to win at Talladega on Sunday.

    1. Drive a Ford.

    2. Work for Tony Stewart and Gene Haas.

    3. Save fuel.

    4. Do not lead until after the final turn.

    It would not work next year, with the new rules packages coming in. However, last Sunday, it would have been spot on.

    As it turned out, only 14 drivers mattered. If they were not behind the wheel of a blue oval, they did not stand a chance. Of the 193 laps they eventually ran, only nine were led by someone in another make of car, five of those by William Byron in a Chevy.

    If you were working for Stewart-Haas, you were among the Top Four all day long. Those four led the opening two segments, actually running far beyond anyone else especially over the opening 55 laps.

    A lot of cars ran out of fuel coming to the green flag as they embarked on over-time. Kevin Harvick was among them, as that SHR entry wound up in 28th. Kurt Busch ran out of petrol while leading coming out of Turn Four in sight of the finish line. He wound up 14th.

    Between them, Harvick and the elder Busch led 154 laps. Not a place to be if you wanted to save on fuel. Now, sitting third and fourth, especially on that final run to glory, paid dividends. Aric Almirola was fourth for most of the day, moved to third when it counted, and crossed the line ahead of team-mate Clint Bowyer for the victory. Almirola’s win locked him into the next round of the playoffs, along with Harvick and Dover winner Chase Elliott. Kyle Busch is a sneeze away from being there himself, while his brother and Joey Logano are not a lock, but both are still 30 to the good. As for the hopes for six others, it all hinges on what happens next Sunday at Kansas.

    It was one of the most impressive team races in NASCAR history. All four Stewart-Haas entries were disciplined. They opened up spots for their team-mates on re-starts, stayed tight together up front, and stayed that way right to the end. No one could touch them. They tried, but as veterans Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pointed out from the broadcast booth what the rest had to do to challenge as the laps counted down, the boys on the track seemed to toss away those opportunities on every turn.

    Next Sunday, Byron has to win to advance. Kyle Larson is 26 points out. Ryan Blaney is 22 away. Brad Keselowski finds himself 18 on the outside, behind Martin Truex, Jr. and 21 in Bowyer’s rear view. Not an impossible gap, but not an easy one to see disappear.

    Hope is not buoyed for the rest by the knowledge that the most recent winners at Kansas were named either Harvick or Truex the past four visits there, or the guy before that was Kyle Busch. Logano won it twice prior to that, sandwiching Jimmie Johnson’s third win at the venue. The seven time champion has just four more chances to win one final time with Chad Knaus on his pit box before the pair end their race day alliance at the end of the season. Together they have won at least once every season since 2002.

    If a contender does not do it this upcoming weekend, I think a Johnson and Knaus celebration would be a fan favorite. I would love to tell you how it ends but, alas, that time traveler thing has not worked out for me. If it had, I would have gotten extremely rich betting against the polls a couple of years ago.

  • The View from my Recliner — NASCAR is in Trouble

    The View from my Recliner — NASCAR is in Trouble

    The headline says what I am thinking. NASCAR is in trouble and here are five reasons why.

    Title Sponsor issues: Brant James’ story in USA Today paints a bleak picture about the new title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series. When Sprint announced that they were leaving the sport, NASCAR was hoping to get a 10 year, $1 billion deal from a new title sponsor. According to James’ story, it looks like NASCAR will get less than what Sprint is paying in 2016 which is $60 million. When you think about it, if they get $40 million to be the title sponsor and Hendrick Motorsports is getting $30 million to be the sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr. what does that say about the future of the series?

    Age of Ownership: The big name owners in the Sprint Cup series are getting up in age. Roger Penske, Richard Petty, Joe Gibbs and Jack Roush are in their 70s, Richard Childress, Gene Haas and Rick Hendrick are in their 60s and Chip Ganassi is 58. They are racers who have become successful owners. Sooner or later, these owners are going to want to get out of the business and who is there to replace them? There have been investors who have come in to “save the day” for struggling teams. George Gillette came in to save Evernham Motorsports and Rob Kauffman bailed out Michael Waltrip Racing. Neither team exists today because Gillette ran out of money and Kauffman got tired of throwing good money into bad. NASCAR isn’t growing its bench in the XFINITY series because the owners of the top teams are Cup owners. Who will be the next group of car owners?

    Empty seats: When I was at the New Hampshire race, it was a beautiful sunny day in the 60s. The Patriots and Red Sox were out of town. Perfect conditions for a sellout. The grandstands were half empty. It has been the same throughout most of the season. Richmond, Charlotte, Daytona and Dover have all taken out seats and they still are empty. Unless the fans start filling the seats again, there is trouble on the horizon.

    TV Contract: The money that came from the latest TV deal with Fox and NBC brings $1 billion into the NASCAR bank account, but where they are placing the races is hurting. Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network are fledgling networks and are using NASCAR to attempt to build a fan base. NASCAR fans are a creature of habit. When you have to hunt for where the races are being televised it’s not a good thing. The TV ratings continue to fall off and it is hurting the growth of the sport.

    Who will speak the truth: These are my observations. The question is when or will you ever hear anyone in NASCAR talk about these observations? When you hear anyone from NASCAR talk, all is good, nothing to see here. When you hear the talk show hosts on SiriusXM radio speak, all is fine and I wonder if they really think that way. Or, is it because they receive paychecks from Motor Racing Network, owned by International Speedway Corporation that they hold back their opinion? Who in the garage will speak the truth now that Tony Stewart is retiring? The owners created the Race Team Alliance and worked with NASCAR for the Charter system, but is it just putting a band-aid on a wound that is gushing blood?

    NASCAR is in trouble. I hope that someone in the offices in Daytona Beach and Charlotte is working to fix these problems for the future of the sport we love.

    As we head to Talladega, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson are safely in the Round of 8 and the other 10 Chase drivers will hope to survive. I hate having Talladega in the Chase. There will be a driver or two eliminated Sunday afternoon because of someone else making a mistake. Ten drivers are losing sleep all week knowing that their chance at a championship could end because a non-chaser makes a mistake in the pack. It cheapens the Chase.

    That is the View From My Recliner. I would like to hear what you think.

     

  • Remembering the Underbird

    Remembering the Underbird

    Hooters 500I still can’t imagine that it has been 23 years since we lost Alan Kulwicki in a plane crash as he was headed to Bristol Motor Speedway. The sight of the No. 7 hauler taking the lap around Bristol before leaving the track still brings a chill up my back.

    Kulwicki did things his way. He brought engineering into NASCAR and now 23 years later, most crew chiefs are engineers. Future crew chief and owner, Ray Evernham, lasted six weeks with Kulwicki in 1992. Evernham later said, “The man was a genius. There’s no question. It’s not a matter of people just feeling like he was a genius. That man was a genius. But his personality paid for that. He was very impatient, very straightforward, very cut-to-the-bone.”

    When Kulwicki started his own team he served as his own engineer and crew chief. Eventually, he hired Paul Andrews as the crew chief and the team also featured two future crew chiefs, Tony Gibson, the current crew chief for Kurt Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing and Brian Whitesell who succeeded Ray Evernham as the crew chief for Jeff Gordon.

    In the early 1990s, very few people would say no to Junior Johnson. When Johnson was looking to replace Terry Labonte, he offered the seat to Kulwicki who said no because he wanted to run his own team. Kulwicki had another run-in with Johnson. In 1991, Johnson wanted to start a second team and offered Kulwicki $1 million to drive for him. The Wisconsin owner/driver turned him down thinking he had secured Maxwell House as a sponsor for his team. Johnson wound up taking the Maxwell House sponsorship and hired Sterling Marlin to drive the No. 22 Maxwell House Ford for Johnson and Kulwicki started the 1991 season without sponsorship.

    Kulwicki would eventually secure Hooters to sponsor his car for one race in 1991 and it grew into a multi-year commitment. That commitment from Hooters and Kulwicki’s determination turned into magic in 1992. It was a season of consistency. He scored two victories and only had two finishes outside the top-20 all season. When the team rolled through the gates for the 1992 Hooters 500, Kulwicki was second in points, trailing Davey Allison by 30 points. He went to Ford and NASCAR to get approval to have Underbird on the car because he relished the underdog role.

    During the race, points leader Allison was involved in a wreck with Ernie Irvan and fell out of contention. It became a battle between Bill Elliott and Kulwicki to determine the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Elliott won the Hooters 500, but Kulwicki managed  a second place finish to capture the series championship.

    The 1992 Hooters 500 is one for the NASCAR record books. It was Richard Petty’s final race, Jeff Gordon’s first race and the day the Underbird took Alan Kulwicki to the championship.

    It was a championship he wouldn’t defend. After an appearance at the Hooters in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kulwicki was flying to Bristol when his plane crashed on final approach to the airport. Kulwicki was gone at the age of 38.

    His legacy continues in the sport. Tony Gibson is still on a pit box, engineers are the life blood of Sprint Cup success for any team and now the Alan Kulwicki Driver Development Program is helping worthy drivers along the way to reaching their dream.

    It’s been 23 years since NASCAR lost a true independent owner/driver who did it his way. Tony Stewart has won a championship since Kulwicki as an owner-driver, but Stewart also had the partnership with Gene Haas and support from Hendrick Motorsports. Kulwicki did it on his own.

    I can still see the Hooters No. 7 taking the Polish Victory Lap waving to the fans and I will always wonder how much more he could have accomplished if he wasn’t taken so soon.

    Rest in peace, Alan Kulwicki. You are still missed.

  • Stewart Haas Racing – Looking For Less Controversy and a Healthy Tony Stewart

    Stewart Haas Racing – Looking For Less Controversy and a Healthy Tony Stewart

    Charlotte, NC – Kevin Harvick is ready to defend his first Sprint Cup Championship title. The assembled media met with Stewart-Haas Racing drivers on Tuesday afternoon and the defending champion was confident and ready to start the 2015 season. After 13 years of frustration, Harvick can relax, but not too much.

    “The pressure’s definitely off,” Harvick said. “There’s not that pressure of being that guy who was so close to winning championships and had not won one. To be able to accomplish that and take that pressure off is a really good thing because that’s really what we wanted to accomplish in coming over here. So to be fortunate enough to be able to do that is definitely a sense of relief, and now you’ve been through it, you understand it, you know the feelings, the emotions and the things that you’ve been through, and hopefully that leads to that chest full of experience that you carry around with you to just put another tool in that chest to hopefully win more.”

    Harvick came to Stewart-Haas from Richard Childress Racing. Though he is nicknamed “Happy,” the frustration of his last year there reared its ugly head during the 2013 season. At a Camping World Truck race at Martinsville, Harvick got in some on-track beating and banging with Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson, and made some comments that weren’t complimentary to Dillon. He left RCR on good terms, but wasn’t interested in being comfortable after making the change

    “I didn’t want to be comfortable,” Harvick said. “I wanted to experience what we experienced last year, and sometimes you have to make some bold or hard decisions in order to make things like this happen. So for me, I’m as comfortable as I’ve ever been.”

    Team co-owner Tony Stewart has faced adversity over the last two years. First a sprint car accident that left him with a broken leg and a shortened season, then the poor performance on track and the horrible accident in another sprint car in New York in which a young man died. From the looks of things, Stewart was more himself which has to be good news for the organization.

    “As soon as the calendar flipped to 2015, I put the rest of it behind me and I’m not looking back,” Stewart said. “I’m not looking back at all. I’m looking forward and focused on what we’ve got coming up. Physically, even after the surgery Dec. 1, this is the best I’ve felt since the accident two years ago,” Stewart said.

    The big question for all the drivers, Stewart included, is how the new rules package will feel to them when in the cockpit. Stewart had no answer.

    “I have no idea if it’s going to feel better or worse,” Stewart said. “But you know what? I go back to all the years we’ve raced so many different types of cars. You were always having to adapt to it, anyways. So I don’t think this is going to be any different than what we’ve done in the past. It’s just a matter of finding out that feel that we want in the car right away.”

    Kurt Busch said he was eager to start the season and have the best run of his life. He also wants to get the domestic violence case behind him so he can concentrate on racing.

    “I feel like 2015 can be the best year that I have ever had with the situation with (crew chief) Tony Gibson and being the second year with the team,” Busch said. “My years of experience with teams in the second year have always produced the best result.”

    Whether Busch is allowed to race this season will likely depend on the outcome of the case. Gene Haas, who handpicked Busch to drive a car sponsored by Haas, said he believes Busch’s testimony and that he will be exonerated. Haas said he hasn’t considered suspending his driver.

    “Domestic violence is very serious, but at the same time I do believe in due process,” team co-owner Gene Haas said. “At the same time, I feel there can be abuses to the system, too.”

  • Gene Hass’ Formula One Team Beginning To Form; Still Far From Announcing Driver

    Gene Hass’ Formula One Team Beginning To Form; Still Far From Announcing Driver

    Gene Haas is determined and striving to create the first successful United States-based Formula One organization – and on Monday afternoon during a press conference he expressed the lengths he’d take to prove critics wrong.

    “There’s going to be a lot of people following us from that skepticism to see if, ‘these guys are going to fail or not?’” Haas commented. “I’m sure that most people are betting that we do fail.

    “That is why it is going to be successful because if we don’t fail, then we have done something other people haven’t.”

    Haas, who’s a part-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), received approval of his request to form a Formula One team this past week. The, what most people consider outrageous, decision comes during a time period in which F1 is dominated by European franchises, not Americans, however, Haas is the least concerned about that.

    “We’re not going to be an European-led team.” Haas explained during the conference.  “We’re going to be an American-led team, and we’re going to do it the way we think is the most efficient.”

    “We’re going to spend our money wisely, we’re going to do it with an American flair for design and efficiencies, and that’s how we’re going to control our costs.”

    Haas, 61, explained that Tony Stewart, part-owner of SHR, will have no involvement in the team, now named, Hass Formula. He also eluded that it’s unlikely any SHR drivers will join the newly introduced team.

    “What we would like would be to have an experienced Formula One driver, probably someone who is familiar with the current engine package rules (because) they change quite a bit even from last year,” Haas further explained about the driver situation. “Going forward, we certainly would like to have a young American driver. That would be the ideal situation.

    “But at the moment, we haven’t really narrowed it down. We have had quite a few people talk to us.”

    Guenther Steiner, former Formula One team executive, will be the new team principle for Haas – and the offices and shop will be orchestrated in Kannapolis, North Carolina, around SHR’s location.

    Haas’ team will be required, by the FIA, to compete in at least two seasons, and will be expected to compete until the 2020 season.

    The debut of the team is unknown, however, Haas believes it’ll be a challenge to have the full setup by 2015, but he didn’t rule it out.

    “I would like to (be racing by) 2015 simply because I think the first year is going to be a difficult year no matter what happens,” Haas said. “It is a very big challenge. Part of that learning curve is just simply getting to the track and sorting out the logistics of going race to race.

    Haas, owner of the multi-million dollar company Haas Automation, isn’t concerned necessarily with the cost of beginning the operation; he’s actually hoping to reveal his company worldwide, not just locally in the United States.

    “Every week it goes up by another billion,” Haas said. “We have a budget and there’s a lot of unknowns in it. … The numbers I’ve seen are reasonable.”

    “My basic goal is to change Haas Automation from just a machine tool builder into a premium brand,” Haas said. “I think Formula One can provide that, especially in the overseas markets. There are a lot of fans from China to South America to Europe to Eastern Europe to Japan to Malaysia that we really want to become a household name in.”

    “That really is the ultimate goal, to take the image of Haas Automation and turn it into a brand that is desired and known throughout the world. The ultimate goal would be to double our sales for Haas Automation.”

    Haas is obviously imagining limitless goals for his team, and he’s hoping to silence doubters by becoming a well-run, and long lasting, American Formula One team.

    “I think we can beat the Europeans at their own game.”

  • Gene Haas Hires Kurt Busch On His Own

    Gene Haas Hires Kurt Busch On His Own

    Earlier today, Stewart-Haas Racing held a press conference to officially announce the signing of Kurt Busch. The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion will pilot the Haas Automation Chevrolet as the 4th car in the 2014 Stewart-Haas Racing fleet. Today, we learned that Gene Haas pursued Kurt without talking to his business partner Tony Stewart about it. We also learned that Stewart-Haas Racing needs to build an extension to their building in order to facilitate Kurt’s cars and that Kevin Harvick still wants to beat up the brother of his future teammate. Yeah…it’s been an interesting day to say the least.

    Here are some important quotes from today’s press conference…

    Gene Haas

    “Tony broke his leg.  I didn’t have really a chance to talk to Tony about it at all since he wasn’t really talking to anybody.  So I kind of did this on my own, probably overstepped my authority a tich there.  I’m not used to having too many authorities to work with.  I’ve been pretty much on my own.  I did realize that Tony might be a little bit upset about it.  He was, he was a little upset.”

    “I kind of like his (Kurt) attitude.  He’s passionate about what he does.  He likes to win.  He’s not afraid to get in people’s faces.  I think that kind of reflects my company a little bit.”

    “It really all started at the General Motors dinner in Indianapolis.  I talked to Kurt, found out that he really didn’t have a firm contract with his current team.”

    “(Tony said) You need to wait a while.  I kind of made an offer to Kurt here, I don’t know if he’s going to take it or not, and if he takes it, I’m not backing down.  That’s where we were.”

    “Your third question was why not Ryan?  You know, Ryan has been an excellent driver.  He’s been with us going on five years now.  I think he’s done a great job driving the car…..The question is, at some point I am now going to be the sponsor.  I just simply wanted a change and an opportunity to do something different.  I don’t think this says anything negative about Ryan…..I just feel that I want to take hold of an opportunity that was presented to me.  It gives me a chance to, you know, be a sponsor and direct things the way I wanted to direct them.”

    (Asked what if Tony put his foot down & said no to 4th car) “I never crossed that bridge.  You know, I don’t know.  Tony kind of does his own thing, I kind of do my own thing.  I have to admit we kind of think alike. Like I say, I don’t think Tony was exactly enthralled with what I did.  But I think he saw it my way, you know (laughter).  Either that or get out of the building. Anyway, he has a lot of power.  I have to admit, you know, I have some power, too.  I think in a sense it’s a check-and-balance system where the two powers balance each other out.”

    “I take gambles, I made a decision, and I think I’m going to be proven right.  I think we’re going to win a lot more races than anybody ever thought possible.”

     “With Kurt Busch, I saw an opportunity.  Even though Tony was incapacitated, I couldn’t really talk to him about it, I just decided it was something that was too good to pass up.”

     “Tony was very much in favor of the fourth team.  What Tony was against was us trying to get it done for next year.  Just so you don’t read anything more into it.”

    Kurt Busch

    “We haven’t come to a decision on a car number.  It’s obviously Gene’s team and Tony Stewart is the car owner.  They’ve given me some nice input on what they’d like.  They’ve actually been open to what I would like….my eight-year-old Houston says, Put 360 on the door. (I ask) why 360? Because you’ve come full circle.”

    “You know, it’s easy as a 25-year-old to say you know everything, that you can do everything by yourself.  That’s what I thought that I could do when I moved from Roush Racing to Penske back in 2006, to bring Roger his first championship.  I thought I could wear all the weight on my back.  That was not the case…The Penske thing, the image, all of that, it wasn’t your own identity, you were trying to be something else.”

    “You got to let the rough edges drag sometimes.  When you have a guy like Gene Haas that wants to make you part of a four-car, super-power team calling, you have the ability to be yourself, to work with guys that have those same edgy attitudes as yourself, that’s the journey I’ve been on over the last 18 months.”

    “We still have the present that’s right in front of us.  The next two weeks are the most important weeks of the 78 car’s career.  If we find ourselves racing somebody heads up going into Richmond, that’s what I want to be there for, to deliver them into the Chase, and at the same time it’s the goal achieved of being in that position.  When points can reset, we’ll only be five points away from the championship lead.  There’s no sense in giving up then.  We’ll keep plugging away and pushing.  Time is now with the 78 car.”

    “It’s been a great journey.  When I first started out, I was an undiscovered punk out on the West Coast.  Jack Roush put me in his truck.  I didn’t know where the brake pedal was apparently because I ran into everything.  We had a start to the truck season that was unreal.”

    (Asked about 2014 Indy 500 Aspirations) “It’s something that’s still on the table.  There’s certain timelines that I’ve agreed to with Michael Andretti if we’re still going to do the deal.  We’re working on things.  I mention that to Tony when we got together.  He said, Man, if you’re going to run Fontana this year, I’m rolling with you and I’m going to be there with you. There’s still the concern of running extracurricular races.  But right now the focus is obviously on these next two weeks and getting the 78 car in the Chase.  We’ll see what opportunities lie ahead.  Everything has to be the right situation for it to happen.”

    Greg Zipadelli 

    (Asked about how having four fiery drivers is going to work) “We built a rubber room upstairs, that’s the first thing we did. (laughs) When you have four passionate drivers, I would much rather deal with that than to try to figure out how to get them going.  You’re born with that.  The competitiveness that these guys have, that’s what you need in this sport. We’ll deal with what comes our way on a weekly basis and we’ll continue to race.  It’s as simple as that.  I think what makes this unique is there’s three guys and Danica that all had their days.  I think they can all help each other.  At least that’s the theory I’m going with.”

    “Anytime you expand, there’s difficulties.  We expanded last year.  We kind of sat back and looked at some of the things that we went through last year, how we can prevent some of them.  We can start building cars today, which we couldn’t do last year because of the body change.  We can start putting people in here to go to work in the fab shop to take some of that load today, which we couldn’t do last year.  We were behind on getting plates in here, things of that nature. As far as that goes, I think we’re in much better shape than we were a year ago for many reasons” 

    To summarize, we now know that Kurt Busch will definitely drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014 and that Haas Automation will be the sponsor. We also know that Gene Haas pursued Kurt without consulting Tony which upset Tony at first but he got over it. SHR will have to expand the building so they can facilitate four cars and Gene seems to be incredibly confident in Kurt’s ability to take the team to levels of success they have yet to experience. It’s a very interesting and intriguing deal that is unique in the way it went down.

    SHR will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in 2014 but don’t be surprised if they stumble over themselves at the start of the season much like they did this year. It’s always a difficult transition when a team expands their operation and SHR certainly isn’t immune to that. The biggest questions left to be answered are what will the number be, who will be the crew chief and will Kurt Busch still take that Indy 500 offer from Andretti?

    I believe that in the long run, this was a good move for Stewart-Haas but I don’t know if it was for Kurt. He and Furniture Row seemed to be getting to the point of almost breaking out and winning multiple races. They were gelling really well despite their less than stellar pit stops which seem to be their Achilles Heel in 2013. He is their No.1 driver obviously and all the focus is on him and him alone. Although he will be No.1 in Gene’s mind, he won’t truly be the No.1 driver at SHR; that will always be Tony. Kurt and FRR could have reached some incredible heights together but this decision to leave certainly wasn’t a bad one. He’s basically joining Hendrick Motorsports Jr.

    Photo Credit: Getty Images
    Photo Credit: Getty Images

    The biggest unknown in all this is will these four fiery personalities be able to work with one another with no issues? Less than six months ago, Tony Stewart was running Kurt Busch into the wall at Richmond on the cool down lap after Busch laid the bumper to his future boss in the closing laps. Kurt’s future teammate, Kevin Harvick acknowledged on Twitter today that he still wants to knock Kyle Busch’s teeth out and those are his words. Will it be smooth sailing? I doubt it. Will they work out whatever disagreements they have and be fine in the end? Most likely. Something Kurt doesn’t have to worry about next year is pleasing sponsors with a crystal clean personality which has been a challenge for him in the past. Haas actually stated that he loves that Kurt isn’t afraid to get fired up and let the rough side drag so maybe this is the perfect scenario for Kurt. He’ll have an owner that wants him to wear his emotions on his sleeve and no sponsor that wants a squeaky clean representative as their driver.

    I personally can’t wait to watch SHR in 2014. Gene Haas has asserted himself as a legitimate authority in the team; the program has been bolstered tremendously with the addition of a Sprint Cup champion and a Daytona 500 winner so don’t be surprised if Stewart-Haas cars make up 25% of the chase in 2014.

  • Kevin Harvick Opens Door While Door Shuts on Ryan Newman

    Kevin Harvick Opens Door While Door Shuts on Ryan Newman

    The old saying of one door closing and another opening was most fitting for both Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Harvick officially announced that the door has been opened for him at Stewart-Haas Racing while Ryan Newman acknowledged that the door has been shut for him at that team.

    “It’s nice to officially end all the speculation,” Harvick, the new 2014 driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, said. “For me, Stewart-Haas was intriguing just for the fact that you have Tony (Stewart) as a teammate who’s been a big part of what we did at KHI to get it started.”

    “We have a friendship that goes beyond the race track,” Harvick continued. “Obviously Gene Haas makes it very intriguing with the guarantees that he made to make the deal happen to put the car on the race track.”

    “When you have a family and you start seeing those guarantees of sponsorship for the car, it makes you think about things,” Harvick said. “I think not only about those two pieces, but also the Hendrick tie with the engines and the support.”

    “I think the potential is really high with all those resources and relationships and things that go with it.”

    “I got a phone call from Tony (Stewart) on Wednesday about 20 minutes to seven and we talked for basically 20 minutes,” Newman said. “That was it.”

    “His phone call was about making the announcement and that I would not be a part of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.”

    Both drivers acknowledged that they have the highest regard for Tony Stewart, both as a friend, racer and team owner.

    “I feel like our relationship is going to help progress things as they move forward on the performance side,” Harvick said. “Tony balances a lot of things and I’ve been in that boat.”

    “I think it’s going to allow me the time to help him and be able to make it better.”

    “We only ever argued over how hard we race,” Newman said. “That is the kind of friends Tony and I are.”

    “His stress was the importance of our friendship and that to me will never change.”

    Both drivers talked a great deal about sponsorship as for Harvick, his major sponsor Budweiser will be following him to Stewart-Haas Racing while Newman is currently unsure about the status of any of his sponsors.

    “We’ve had three years with Budweiser and looking forward to moving forward with them as a sponsor,” Harvick said. “Those guys at SHR took full responsibility to have the car funded and that made my life a lot easier.”

    “We have great sponsors in Quicken Loans, Wix Filters, Aspen Dental, Code 3 Associates, and Outback,” Newman said. “They have all done us well.”

    “There are no answers that I have,” Newman continued. “Obviously I have my own homework to do.”

    “I want to be competitive,” Newman said. “I’m not just going to go out there and just find a ride.”

    “I want to find a ride with somebody that has the same goals and perspectives as I do.”

    Both Newman and Harvick had nothing but praise for their current teams, Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing respectively. And both intend to race as hard as possible for their owners and teams.

    “I’ve had a good run,” Newman said. “I look forward to finishing out this year.”

    “Look forward to the opportunity to make the Chase, win races and putting ourselves to have a chance to win a championship,” Newman continued. “That’s my ultimate goal and it always has been.”

    “We’re going to go out and race every week as hard as we can,” Harvick said. “It’s not like we detached ourselves from what we’re doing and those guys on the team, they don’t care about the politics of the sport; they just want to win races.”

    “They like spraying beer in Victory Lane and as a group we’re going to do that until we get to Homestead,” Harvick continued. “We’ll start working on the future plans when that race is over.”

    The two drivers, however, expressed very different emotions about the transition, with Harvick on one hand talking about the change as rejuvenation while Newman showing his upset about the uncertainty of his future.

    “It wasn’t anything personal from Richard (Childress, team owner) or a team standpoint doing anything wrong,” Harvick said. “It was just me needing to rejuvenate myself to get to the race track and really be excited to show up.”

    “Just like everybody else’s job, sometimes you just need a change to get going again.”

    “I do not know what my future holds,” Newman said. “I have no idea right now.”

    “That’s something that weighs on my shoulders,” Newman continued. “That is part of racing and part of the situation that I’m in.”

    While the door is opening for Harvick and closing for Newman in 2014 at Stewart-Haas Racing, both drivers have to focus this weekend on competing at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 21st Annual Camping World RV Sales 301.

    In fact, Ryan Newman is doing double duty at the Magic Mile, racing both in the Cup Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

    “For me, it’s a track position race,” Newman said. “You get a limited number of chances to adjust on your race car and tune your race car and work in those windows that either the cautions or the green flag runs give you.”

    “Excited it’s a big race this weekend for Wix Filters and they are also sponsoring the modified which is a lot of fun for me.”

    “We know that we have to come back here and race for the Chase so obviously this is an important weekend to kind of evaluate where we are with our short track program,” Harvick said. “Flat tracks are a big part of the Chase.”

    “I think this is an important weekend to fully understand what we need to do going forward.”

    So, what will the future hold for Harvick as a new door opens and Newman as a big door closes?

    “I can’t say I’m happy with how everything unfolded,” Newman said. “There will be a change for me in 2014 and I don’t know what that change is.”

    “It’s nice to be in this position to be able to focus on racing a car and getting the performance and doing the things we need to do,” Harvick said. “It’s worked out well.”

     

     

  • Tony Stewart: Its nice to get off to a good start this year

    Tony Stewart: Its nice to get off to a good start this year

    [media-credit name=”Credit: By Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”232″][/media-credit]Tony Stewart had become known for going on these awesome summer stretches, winning races from the summer on. However, so far this season, he has two wins in the first five races.

    “It’s been nice to get off to a good start this year the way we have,” Stewart says. “I’m really excited about the start that we’ve got going. We’ve been strong everywhere we’ve been.”

    So far this season, Stewart sits fourth in points, despite finishing outside the top 15 twice this season to open the year.

    “We’ve had top 10 cars and top five cars every race this year after that,” Stewart continues. “So really, really proud of what (crew chief) Steve (Addington) and all our guy sat Stewart-Haas Racing have done.”

    If you look back to last season when he won five races late in the year, he has now won seven of the last 15 races. The last time a driver did that was Jimmie Johnson in 2009-10.

    “Gene Haas is a big factor in that,” Stewart says. “Gene has always give us the flexibility and the tools to do what we think needs to be done at the shop.”

    Stewart adds that whenever he has asked Haas for something, Haas has delivered.

    “There’s been some key pieces that we’ve needed in the shop and he’s been behind it a hundred per cent,” he continues. “That gives all of our guys the confidence that we’re doing everything that we can to give ourselves the best opportunity to be successful.”

    The team has been able to get better, as Stewart notes, due to how Addington has adjusted to the team.

    “A lot of times when crew chiefs change race teams, they bring the whole team with them,” he explains. “Steve came by himself to our organization and had to learn a whole different group of guys to work with.  I think he’s settled in quickly and really gets along good with our guys, learned our system really quick. He brings so much to the table.  We’ve learned a lot from him.  He’s made great adjustments through the off-season and those results are showing right now.”

    Addington adds to that by saying that Stewart has a group of dedicated guys at the shop.

    “It’s just racers, guys that want to work,” Addington says. “There’s a lot of smart people that give you support.  You can ask a question and somebody will have you an answer really fast. Getting in there, getting to know personalities, things like that, you learn how to work and deal with each person.”

    This weekend, Stewart goes to a track where he has had success before as he won the race last fall at Martinsville. In 26 races, he has had three wins, nine top fives and 14 top 10s.