Richard Petty Motorsports announces competition restructure

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 31, 2016) -- Richard Petty Motorsports today announced competition changes to improve their on-track performance. Effectively immediately, Philippe Lopez and Scott McDougall will temporarily oversee all competition duties and roles previously held by Sammy Johns both at the track and at the race shop.

The change comes as part of an immediate, aggressive strategy by RPM leadership to improve speed, performance and future growth of RPM. The goal is to improve on-track results from 2016 and to capitalize on the progress made in previous seasons.

"The past several years, we have made significant investments in our organization with the goal of winning races and to compete at a high level on a weekly basis," said Brian Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer, Richard Petty Motorsports. "We now have direction over our own chassis and bodies and work closely with Ford Performance on technology and engineering. With these investments, unfortunately, we have not seen the on-track results that we expected this season.

"As we look ahead to 2017, we are taking steps forward to improve our on-track product to better serve our partners and fans. This means analyzing every part of our organization and making adjustments where needed. Sammy Johns has been a big part of our organization; he helped us succeed in many different ways and helped us become a winning race team. We wish him nothing but the best going forward."

RPM has seen success on the track in recent seasons. Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Ford Fusion had their most consistent season together and highest average finish to date in 2015. They were also a race winning team in 2014 and competed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Off the track, the organization has continued to grow relationships with primary partners Smithfield Foods, Albertsons Companies, Shore Lodge, U.S. Air Force, Twisted Tea, STP, Fresh From Florida and Jacob Companies.

"Our partners have seen success and believe in our mission," continued Moffitt. "They share in our commitment to see Aric and Brian competing at a higher level each weekend."

Lopez and McDougall will begin their duties at the track in Darlington this weekend.

‘The Track Too Tough To Tame’

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina – Darlington (S.C.) Raceway is an egg-shaped oval, 1.366 miles in length – the odd shape stems from a promise track founder Harold Brasington made to Sherman Ramsey, the neighboring farm owner, that he wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond when the track was built in 1949. As a result, the western half of the track features a tighter radius in the turns.

The odd shape means that, to find the fast way around the track, drivers run extremely close to the outside walls in each turn. They sometimes brush up against them and thus earn what has affectionately become known as a “Darlington Stripe” on the right side of the car. And the black marks left on the walls by the tires rubbing up against them all race weekend have led to one of the track’s nicknames, “The Lady in Black.”

Given the difficulties the track presents, in the years since it was built, Darlington has been called one of the toughest of all tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, so much so that years ago it was also nicknamed “The Track Too Tough To Tame.”

When NASCAR teams return to the historic track for Sunday’s iconic Southern 500, the NASCAR industry will honor a part of the heritage of the sport by celebrating the era of racing from 1975 to 1984 with a throw-back theme. As part of the celebration, Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) will feature a special retro paint scheme that incorporates the traditional blue, white and brown colors of Nature’s Bakery, along with a touch of woodgrain finish rounding out the vintage look.

In four Sprint Cup starts at “The Track Too Tough To Tame,” Patrick has earned a few “Darlington Stripes.” Her best Sprint Cup finish at the track is a 22nd-place result she earned in 2014.

In last year’s race at Darlington, Patrick was relegated to a 42nd-place finish after contact with the outside wall left the No. 10 Chevrolet with damage that was too significant to repair.

In her lone Xfinity Series start at the track, Patrick started 15th and took home a 15th-place finish.

As Sprint Cup teams return to Darlington for Sunday’s Southern 500, Patrick and her No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team will be looking to conquer “The Track Too Tough To Tame” in an effort to improve upon her record at the track. 

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk about racing at Darlington.

“It’s a challenging track. It’s probably one of the toughest that we have on our schedule. There are four completely different corners and you’re typically entering them at high speed and usually right up against the wall. There is very minimal room for error, which is how you end up with the famous ‘Darlington Stripe.’ You have to definitely be aggressive and get the most out of it, but you don’t want to hit the wall because that’s a pretty big setback. It helps to have a good setup to start out with and from there you do your best to keep your bumpers clean so you don’t have tire rubs, accidents and things like that. In the Southern 500, there are usually a lot of cautions and a lot of things happen, so there’s a lot of opportunity for things to change and for you to try something different. It’s definitely our longest race of the year, so you have to be patient and not make mistakes so that you’re still in it at the end.”

Describe the Darlington Stripe and what it’s like to get one.

“I would say that, because my background is in IndyCar, I don’t look at gray areas of the track and think there’s a lot of grip there. I’m not used to driving by a wall. I didn’t grow up racing on dirt and running up on the cushion. The high line is something to me that I have to have a lot of confidence in the car to be able to go there with the kind of speed that needs to be taken. I’ve definitely earned the Darlington Stripe and, sometimes, there’s just not much you can do about it. I’ve even gotten it going down the straightaway where the right-rear (tire) catches the wall and pulls the front in. You’ve got to stay focused at all times, especially at a place like Darlington, where you have to be up on the wheel for all the corners because they’re all pretty different. It’s earned through pushing those boundaries of how high you can take the car and how much speed you can take doing it.”

Are you comfortable racing at Darlington, or is that even possible?

“I have found that when the car is comfortable and the car is good, any track can feel very easy, as well as extremely difficult. So, we’ll see how it goes and how good the car is and how comfortable it feels for me. I do always feel like the first couple of laps at Darlington seem like I haven’t been there in five years. Like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the way turn four looks.’ Given the fact that there are so many tracks that we go to twice and many of them are similar and have a typical mile-and-a-half layout, when we go to Darlington, being such a unique track, it feels like it’s been a while since we’ve been there.”

DANICA PATRICK’S DARLINGTON PERFORMANCE PROFILE

Year	Date	Event	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2015	9/6	Southern 500 (NSCS)	30	42	Accident, 190/367	0	$70,285
2014	4/12	×Southern 500 (NSCS)	33	22	Running, 374/374	0	$100,055
2013	5/11	Southern 500 (NSCS)	40	28	Running, 362/367	0	$82,980
2012	5/11	×VFW Sport Clips 200 (NXS)	15	12	Running, 151/151	0	$18,193
	5/12	×Southern 500 (NSCS)	38	31	Running, 362/368	0	$76,980

× Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish

Remembering the Very First One at Darlington

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina – Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), is one of many NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who will sport a commemorative paint scheme for the 67th annual Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. In a tradition that began last year, some teams will sport paint schemes honoring the history in the sport of their sponsors, while others will pay tribute to the legacy of other drivers by running one of their iconic paint schemes. For Busch, it’ll be a different kind of throwback – one that symbolizes just how his sponsor Haas Automation came to be.

The paint scheme on the No. 41 Chevy pays homage to the VF-1, the first computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine manufactured by Haas Automation, launched in 1988. The “V” stands for vertical, which is an industry standard designation for a vertical mill. Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation, added “F-1” to the name to unofficially designate it as the company’s “Very First One.” Since then, Haas Automation has gone on to become the largest CNC machine-tool builder in the Western World.

Find a challenge. Create a good, efficient and cost-effective solution. Repeat. For Haas, that has proven to be his formula for success in business, racing and philanthropy. Born on Nov. 12, 1952 in the industrial town of Youngstown, Ohio, formerly known as the “Industrial Heartland of North America,” it’s appropriate that Haas has become a captain of industry.

Haas’ family moved to Los Angeles when he was still a child. His father worked as a designer of electrical cabinets for Hughes Aircraft and his mother was a schoolteacher. Haas is the second oldest of four children, and the importance of hard work and responsibility was instilled in him at an early age by his family. He delivered newspapers while in elementary school and, at age 14, began working in a machine shop where he swept floors and kept the facility clean. But after only six months, Haas was setting up lathes and conventional milling machines. He continued to work at machine shops through high school and college, mastering the machining techniques that would lead him to found Haas Automation in 1983.

The company started with three employees in a 5,000-square-foot facility. During the next four years, Haas expanded his product line to include a wide selection of fully programmable rotary tables, indexers and machine-tool accessories. Haas Automation quickly became the leader in fourth- and fifth-axis parts positioning.

It was in 1987 that Haas took what he learned from his time at Proturn Engineering, a small contract machine shop in Sun Valley, California that he founded in 1978, developing a fully programmable 5C collet indexer to boost productivity in his own shop, and designed and developed the first vertical machining center – the VF-1. The prototype was introduced to the manufacturing world in 1988 at the International Machine Tool Show in Chicago. Haas listed the machine at the “unheard-of” price of $49,900. Industry experts were skeptical that an American company could manufacture and sell a machine tool for less than $50,000. Haas Automation silenced the skeptics. The new product was a success. Today, virtually every manufacturer of vertical machining centers worldwide produces a similar machine in the $50,000 price range.

Haas’ desire to push innovation and tackle new challenges goes beyond his interest in machine tools. He had always been passionate about auto racing. He has competed successfully in off-road racing and sponsored numerous race teams through the years in CART, IndyCar and NASCAR, which includes a tenured partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

In 2002, Haas formed his own Sprint Cup team, Haas CNC Racing. Originally headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, Haas CNC Racing began as a single-car team with chassis and technical support from Hendrick Motorsports. The team made its debut on Sept. 29, 2002 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City with driver Jack Sprague.

The team raced only two more times in 2002 but, by 2003, Haas CNC Racing was running the full Sprint Cup schedule.

In 2006, Haas CNC Racing relocated to a new, state-of-the-art, 140,000-square-foot facility in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where it began fielding two, full-time Sprint Cup teams.

On July 10, 2008, Haas announced that he had partnered with then two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. The new SHR became official in January 2009. The team fielded two Sprint Cup entries – one for Stewart and another for Ryan Newman.

Since then, SHR has gone on to record 34 Sprint Cup points-paying wins, a pair of Sprint Cup championships and a Sprint All-Star race win. And, just as it did in 2002, Haas Automation will serve as a primary sponsor for driver Busch and the No. 41 Chevrolet during Sunday night’s Southern 500.

There is no doubt that Haas and everyone at Haas Automation will enjoy throwing back to the machine that started it all this weekend at a track that, appropriately enough, has been on the NASCAR circuit longer than any other.

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What makes Darlington unique?

“Darlington demands so much attention and respect. It’s similar to a Bristol like that. It’s hard to get the setup perfect because both ends of the racetrack are so different.”

What do you remember from your first Sprint Cup pole at Darlington?

“Yeah, everyone told me that you aren’t supposed to hold it open all the way off of turn two. A couple of people were joking around and telling me that you just can’t do it. ‘You can’t hold it open off of turn two.’ I asked, ‘Why not?’ I told them I should be able to hold it wide open because turn two leads to the long back straightaway. So everyone was trying to egg me on to try and spook the rookie. So, to prove them wrong, I went out there and held it wide open and it stuck. I guess I got lucky.”  

Describe just what a Darlington Stripe is and what it is like to get one.

“The Darlington Stripe is when you run up right by the wall and you are trying to get the best speed you can out of the car. Just that quick (snaps fingers), the wall just sucks you right on it and you’ve got the right side of your car pancaked. The teams build the cars with extra support on the right sides. It’s extra weight but it helps protect you from running into the wall too hard. It helps where you can keep your day going and not actually ruin your day when you run into the wall. You think, hitting the wall, usually your day is done. At Darlington, that is a tattoo. It’s a stamp that says now you are racing.”

Do you remember your first race at Darlington? Your first stripe?

“My first race and first stripe – that place chewed me up and spit me out. I think I wrecked 20 times, kept bouncing off wall. I wore out the tires but kept going. I probably finished 40th my first time there. It really was an eye-opener on how tough NASCAR was going to be.”

Other than the finish with Ricky Craven at Darlington, do you have any other memorable moments that stick out?

“The biggest moment at Darlington I ever had was finishing second to Ricky Craven in 2003 – everyone knows that race. It’s one of the best finishes in NASCAR history. But, probably the next-biggest moment would be during my championship run in 2004. I had an ill-handling car and still managed to finish sixth with it due to good pit stops. That was a perfect moment because it was our championship to lose with where we finished that day in 2004. That was back when Darlington used to be in the Chase.”  

Kurt Busch’s Darlington Raceway Performance Profile:

Year	Event	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2015	Southern 500	2	6	Running, 367/367	7	$133,365
2014	Southern 500	13	31	Accident, 368/374	0	$84,305
2013	Southern 500	1	14	Running, 367/367	69	$122,975
2012	×Showtime Southern 500	25	21	Running, 368/368	0	$110,063
2011	×Showtime Southern 500	25	27	Running, 367/370	0	$119,775
2010	Showtime Southern 500	14	3	Running, 367/367	0	$188,698
2009	Southern 500	8	16	Running, 367/367	0	$100,350
2008	Dodge Challenger 500	5	12	Running, 366/367	1	$87,650
2007	Dodge Avenger 500	18	12	Running, 367/367	0	$119,108
2006	Dodge Charger 500	10	19	Running, 366/367	0	$115,633
2005	×Dodge Charger 500	11	37	Running, 306/370	0	$118,125
2004	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	4	6	Running, 293/293	76	$86,275
	Mountain Dew Southern 500	1	6	Running, 367/367	9	$103,275
2003	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	6	2	Running, 293/293	23	$103,725
	Mountain Dew Southern 500	31	13	Running, 367/367	0	$92,135
2002	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	13	28	Running, 278/293	0	$47,930
	Mountain Dew Southern 500	11	7	Running, 367/367	0	$66,710
2001	†Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	27	30	Running, 288/293	0	$41,010
	Mountain Dew Southern 500	1	39	Running, 316/367	74	$50,375

† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points. × Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish.

Yeley Welcomes the Challenge of Too Tough to Tame

Coming off of a 10th place finish at Road America, JJ Yeley, driver of the No. 44 TriStar Motorsports Zachry Toyota hopes to build on that momentum as he and the No. 44 Zachry team head south this weekend for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

At the Darlington, SC based track, Yeley has six previous XFINITY Series starts including one top-10 finish. Being famed as "Too Tough to Tame", the 1.366-mile oval proves challenging to all and Yeley is more than ready to suit up and face the 'Lady in Black'.

No. 44 Zachry Toyota:  Crew Chief Frank Kerr and the No. 44 Zachry team will unload chassis No.1002 at Darlington Raceway.

"I'm ready to take on the track that is 'Too Tough to Tame'," said Yeley. "Darlington has always been one of my favorite tracks on the schedule. You spend so much time on the throttle every lap, right on the fence!! You never get a second to even catch your breath. Everything from the shape to the racing line is unique at Darlington Raceway. I'm looking forward to building on a great finish last week in my Zachry Toyota."

About Zachary

Zachry Group is America's pace-setter in turnkey construction, engineering, maintenance, turnaround and fabrication services in the power, energy, chemicals, manufacturing and industrial sectors. We work with customers to plan, build and renew their most critical facilities, so they can achieve their immediate and long-term goals, all at the highest safety standards. We operate 35 offices, and our 20,000 employees work in more than 400 locations nationwide, united by a shared set of values and the desire to deliver the very best outcomes for our customers. Visit www.zachrygroup.com for more information and for career opportunities.

Betty Jane France passes away

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 30, 2016) -- Betty Jane France, a philanthropist in support of children's health causes, passed away Monday evening. France is the mother of NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy.

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the former Betty Jane Zachary was the widow of the late NASCAR Chairman and CEO William C. France, who passed away in 2007. Betty Jane France was executive vice president and assistant treasurer of NASCAR and the chairwoman emeritus of the NASCAR Foundation.

"Last night, the NASCAR family lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend and the light that guided the sport's charitable arm," said Brian France. "My mother taught us incredible values, that of love, patience, compassion and joy. She embraced life every day, and nothing fueled her passion more than children. Her unmatched efforts in building The NASCAR Foundation improved the lives of millions of children throughout this country. And because of that, her legacy will live forever.

"My father leaned on my mother throughout his life, relying on her wisdom and calming demeanor to help grow the sport of NASCAR. She was there, every step of the way. When we lost my father, her positive presence remained, as she used her immense skill to grow NASCAR's heart and soul, The NASCAR Foundation.

"Our family thanks you for all of your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. My mother was a special woman, and an impressive person, and she will be dearly missed."

France became chairwoman of The NASCAR Foundation upon the foundation's inception in 2006. Headquartered in Daytona Beach, the foundation is an entity that embodies the compassion of the NASCAR Family and its commitment to serving communities.

The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award Presented by Nationwide, recognizing outstanding charitable and volunteer efforts of NASCAR fans, was created in her honor in 2011.

France was a longtime community leader in Daytona Beach, Florida and best known as a steadfast champion of health care for children. She assisted in the establishment of "Speediatrics" children's care unit at Halifax Health in Daytona Beach and at Homestead Hospital in Homestead, Florida.

In 2003, France was presented the Halifax Medical Center Foundation’s Humanitarian Award in recognition of her advocacy, commitment, support and advancement of numerous area community service organizations including the Volusia/Flagler chapter of the American Red Cross.

She was a member of the Junior League of Daytona Beach serving on boards of numerous area community service organizations.

In July 2008, she was named as an honorary co-chairperson for the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, a project headed by longtime NASCAR team owner Richard Childress in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.

Brad Keselowski's No. 2 fails post-race inspection

Team Penske's No. 2 Ford driven by Brad Keselowski to a third-place finish Sunday failed post-race inspection at Michigan International Speedway.

Keselowski's entry failed during its trip through the Laser Inspection System (LIS) platform after the Pure Michigan 400. Any potential penalties for the No. 2 would be announced this week.

"That's a standard penalty that we'll issue," NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "The Morning Drive" on Monday. "The teams worked with us and asked for that as well, that if you do fail, there will be a standard penalty issued."

Previous LIS violations have produced P3-grade penalties and a 15-point deduction in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings.

The rest of the cars inspected post-race were cleared by NASCAR officials. NASCAR's competition department said it planned to take the following cars back to its Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection:

-- The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet of race winner Kyle Larson
-- The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet of race runner-up Chase Elliott
-- The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of seventh-place finisher Carl Edwards

Yeley Scores 10th Place Finish at Road America

After an eventful 45 laps at Road America, JJ Yeley, driver of the No. 44 Zachry Toyota, rallied to a top-10 finish for the Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

Yeley rolled off the grid 17th to start the final road course event for the 2016 season. Pitting early in the race on lap 9 under green flag, Yeley returned to the field and was running consistently in the top-20. He had worked up to 15th when rain caused a caution on lap 25. Utilizing the opportunity to pit again, Yeley brought the Zachry Toyota in for fresh tires and fuel. Within five laps, Yeley had advanced to 12th when another full course caution allowed Yeley to stay out and gain track position. Coming back to the green, Yeley was posted in the sixth position on the restart. During that lap, Yeley was spun out by a fellow competitor and fell back to 27th. With a timely caution on lap 40, Yeley again pitted for fresh tires and fuel. As the field took the green and regained speed, another caution created a Green-White-Checker scenario. With two laps remaining, Yeley was scored 17th.  Coming up on the final lap he was 16th when he powered through the field to bring home a 10th place finish in the Zachry Toyota.

"A great ending for the last Road course race of the year," Yeley said. "I wasn't sure what to expect today with the chance of rain looming. I was able to slowly march towards the front in my Zachry Toyota. We found ourselves near the top-5 with a few laps to go before getting spun. I thought our day was done, but thankfully a late caution gave us a opportunity to get tires and make a charge from the rear to 10th in the last 2 laps. It was crazy for sure!"

Dakoda Armstrong Steers Clear for 13th Place Finish at Road America

ELKHART LAKE. WI (August 28, 2016) - As the NASCAR XFINITY Series prepared for its third and final road course event of the season, Dakoda Armstrong aimed to keep himself and his JGL Racing team in contention for a spot in The Chase.  Armstrong would do just that as he steered clear of many late race incidents to bring home his No. 28 Winfield Toyota to a 13th-place finish in the running of the Road America 180 at the four-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

"That was some really crazy racing there the last few laps," said Armstrong.  "I struggled most of the weekend in getting a hold of the track but once the race started I settled in nicely and our No. 28 Winfield Toyota was pretty solid.  It was total chaos there on that last lap and my spotters did a great job in directing me through it.  We were able to gain valuable spots on that last lap and come home with a decent finish and good points day."

Dakoda would qualify in the 27th position for the 45-lap event around the four-mile track.  When the first caution of the day flew on lap two, Armstrong had already moved inside the top-20.  The majority of the race would see Dakoda battle for some key track position while keeping his No. 28 Winfield Toyota safe and on the long and fast road course.

As the event neared its conclusion, the action on the track picked up as did Armstrong and his No. 28 Toyota.  With an overtime finish producing lots of drama and action, Dakoda did what he had done all day and stayed on the track.  In the end he would pick up valuable positions on the track to safely come home with his 13th top-20 finish of the season.

"The guys on this team gave me a solid car this weekend and I was able to keep it clean and come home with a solid finish," added Dakoda.  "It was another good points day for us and we just need to continue with our effort and a little good luck here in the next few races.  We head to Darlington next week and all of us at JGL Racing are looking forward to our Davey Allison Tribute program."

The 13th-place finish would move Armstrong up to the 13th position in the overall NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers' standings - only 15 points of the top-12.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series will next head to Darlington Raceway for the running of the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200. The 24th race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season will be Saturday September 3rd and can be seen LIVE on NBC at 3:00 pm ET. 

It can also be heard on Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Channel 90. 

Stewart 21st at Michigan

No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart finished 21st in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race marked the 34th and final Michigan Sprint Cup start for Stewart, who is retiring from NASCAR competition at the end of the 2016 season.

After finishing seventh at Michigan in June, the three-time champion hoped for a better result. But the team struggled with handling issues the first half of the race and fell off the lead lap at the halfway mark. The No. 14 team tried a different tire strategy in the last half of the race, but  the caution flag didn’t fly when needed, so Stewart never returned to the lead lap.

“Everyone fought hard today,” Stewart said after the race.

Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz said the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team needed to focus on the next two races before the start of NASCAR’s 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

“We just have to go to work,” Bugarewicz told the crew after the race.

Stewart started Sunday’s race on the 2-mile oval in 15th and held his own until a lap-20 competition caution saw the field visit pit lane for the first time. The team put four new tires on the No. 14 while most of the leaders opted for two tires. Stewart dropped to 18th but quickly regained the lost spots, racing in 15th by the lap-50 mark.

Stewart began reporting handling issues as he dropped to 20th.

“We are getting crushed on entry,” reported Stewart, who started his 606th career race on Sunday.

The No. 14 crew made changes the next green-flag stop to improve the handling. With only one caution and the leaders setting a fast pace, Stewart fell off the lead lap just past the halfway mark at lap 104. Stewart and most of the field pitted under green a few laps later with only a handful of cars remaining on the lead lap.

A caution on lap 118 bunched the field, but Stewart was the second car in line for the free pass and could not return to the lead lap. Stewart stayed on the track and moved into the free-pass position, restarting the race in 20th. When the green flag dropped, Stewart couldn’t hold on to his position and dropped to 23rd.

A green-flag stop on lap 156 dropped Stewart two laps behind the leaders, ending his chances of returning to the lead lap and earning a good finish.

Stewart finishes his Michigan career with a win, 12 top-five finishes, 21 top-10s and 225 laps led in his 34 career Sprint Cup starts.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday. It was Harvick’s 11th top-five this season and his 10th top-five in 32 career Sprint Cup starts at Michigan.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 12th.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 23rd.

Kyle Larson won the Pure Michigan 400 to score his first career Sprint Cup victory.

Chase Elliott finished 1.478 seconds behind Larson in the runner-up spot. Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Harvick rounded out the top-five. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were four caution periods for 17 laps, with one driver failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR and the series in the championship standings. He is first with 799 points, 25 ahead of second-place Keselowski. Busch is fourth with 721 points, 78 behind Harvick. Patrick is 24th with 450 points, 123 ahead of 31st-place David Ragan. Stewart is 26th with 420 points, 93 ahead of 31st.

Harvick, Busch and Stewart are all eligible to compete in the 16-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which begins after the Sept. 10 race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. All have won a race this season and are among the top-30 in points, the two requirements necessary to secure a spot in the Chase. Patrick can also earn a Chase berth by winning a race and staying inside the top-30. Two races remain before the Chase begins Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the 67th running of the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The second-to-last race before the Chase starts at 6 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 4, with live coverage provided by NBC.