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Kurt Busch Back with Stewart-Haas Racing
with Backing from Monster Energy
Monster Energy To Serve as Co-Primary Sponsor with Haas Automation of No. 41 Team

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Oct. 21, 2015) – Monster Energy is moving to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series while Kurt Busch is staying at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). The energy drink manufacturer has teamed with Busch in a multiyear agreement that will see Monster Energy co-sponsor him and the No. 41 Chevrolet SS with Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America.

Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion and owner of 27 career victories, will debut this new sponsorship during the Oct. 30-Nov. 1 Sprint Cup race weekend at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS will then become a fixture beginning with the 2016 season, whereupon Monster Energy will be the alpha sponsor (hood) for 17 races and the bravo sponsor (quarter panel) for 18 races with one full primary race sponsorship.

“I’m very happy to be back with Stewart-Haas Racing and proud to take Monster Energy to the Sprint Cup Series,” said Busch, who has won three races and three poles since joining SHR in 2014. “This is exactly where I want to be and I have two partners who want to win as much as I do.”

Monster Energy passes on traditional forms of advertising and instead earns significant brand exposure through its roster of extreme athletes. Busch, renown for a tenacious driving style that has earned him multiple wins in a Sprint Cup career spanning more than 15 years, fits the bill for Monster Energy.

“Kurt Busch has been a member of the Monster Energy team since 2012 and we’re very happy to take his involvement with us to a whole new level,” said Mitch Covington, vice president of sports marketing, Monster Energy. “The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the premiere form of stock-car racing in North America and it’s exactly where we want to be. Kurt and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing are racers. They walk the walk, just like Monster Energy.”

SHR is the championship-winning Sprint Cup team co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas. Stewart is a three-time Sprint Cup champion with 48 career victories. Haas is the founder of Haas Automation. Since its inception in 2009, the team has won two titles (2011 and 2014), 30 races and 26 poles. With this new agreement, Monster Energy becomes the official energy drink of SHR.

“I’ve always respected Kurt’s talent and determination, and I’m glad it’s staying at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Stewart said. “Kurt can win at every racetrack we visit, and his feedback and attention to detail make our entire organization better.”

“Kurt Busch gives us the opportunity to win races every week and contend for a championship every year,” Haas added. “This is an organization built on winning, and Haas Automation is a company built on performance. Kurt embodies each of those qualities, and it’s why we invest in his abilities.”

“I can’t thank Gene Haas and Tony Stewart enough for the opportunity to be a part of this team,” Busch said. “We’ve accomplished a lot in our two years together, but there’s so much more I want to do for them, for Haas Automation and for Monster Energy. It’s great knowing we’ll be able to keep the momentum we have and extend it into next year and beyond.”

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KS_NSCS_Logano_VL_101815NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Hollywood Casino 400
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kansas
Sunday, October 18, 2015
1. (14) Joey Logano, Ford, 269, $377023.
2. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 269, $239405.
3. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 269, $219791.
4. (24) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 269, $163655.
5. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 269, $169746.
6. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 269, $135595.
7. (8) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 269, $112170.
8. (2) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 269, $115670.
9. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 269, $161611.
10. (6) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 269, $153681.
11. (10) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 269, $141460.
12. (16) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 269, $125283.
13. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 269, $114125.
14. (11) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 269, $152886.
15. (7) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 269, $130395.
16. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 268, $157975.
17. (12) Greg Biffle, Ford, 268, $133683.
18. (19) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 268, $142525.
19. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 268, $109350.
20. (28) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 268, $131036.
21. (15) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $115545.
22. (29) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 267, $107245.
23. (38) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 267, $122678.
24. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, $134756.
25. (22) David Ragan, Toyota, 266, $124334.
26. (30) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 266, $118553.
27. (27) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 265, $122153.
28. (31) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 265, $121440.
29. (20) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 265, $122703.
30. (34) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 265, $106992.
31. (32) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 264, $94245.
32. (35) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 264, $93545.
33. (39) Cole Whitt, Ford, 264, $90845.
34. (37) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 263, $90645.
35. (17) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 263, $117624.
36. (33) David Gilliland, Ford, 262, $98220.
37. (40) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 260, $89953.
38. (42) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 258, $84528.
39. (43) Will Kimmel III, Ford, 255, $80465.
40. (26) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, Accident, 170, $110623.
41. (25) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 154, $109401.
42. (36) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 144, $68465.
43. (41) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 127, $64965.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 135.732 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 58 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.491 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 21 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Keselowski 1-28; K. Harvick 29-49; J. Logano 50-66; C. Mears 67-68; C. Edwards 69-71; M. Kenseth 72-109; J. Logano 110; M. Kenseth 111-155; J. Logano 156; M. Kenseth 157-177; J. Logano 178-185; M. Kenseth 186; J. Logano 187-194; M. Kenseth 195-213; J. Johnson 214; R. Blaney(i) 215-219; C. Edwards 220-222; P. Menard 223-229; M. Kenseth 230-243; J. Johnson 244-247; M. Kenseth 248-262; J. Logano 263-269.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Kenseth 7 times for 153 laps; J. Logano 6 times for 42 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 28 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 21 laps; P. Menard 1 time for 7 laps; C. Edwards 2 times for 6 laps; R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 5 laps; J. Johnson 2 times for 5 laps; C. Mears 1 time for 2 laps.
Top 16 in Points: J. Logano – 3,095; D. Hamlin – 3,082; Kurt Busch – 3,077; C. Edwards – 3,076; K. Harvick – 3,071; J. Gordon – 3,071; B. Keselowski – 3,071; M. Truex Jr. – 3,070; Kyle Busch – 3,064; R. Newman – 3,062; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 3,039; M. Kenseth – 3,035; J. Mcmurray – 2,154; J. Johnson – 2,134; P. Menard – 2,109; C. Bowyer – 2,086.

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KS_NSCS_Logano_Decal_101815Oct. 18, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Block me once, and I’ll cut you some slack.

Block me twice — and it’s “Gotcha.”

That, in essence, was the conversation on Joey Logano’s team radio after Logano spun race leader Matt Kenseth in Turn 1 with less than five laps left in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Logano went on to win the race after a green-white-checkered-flag restart that sent the race two laps past its scheduled distance of 267 laps. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has monopolized the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, having won back-to-back races at Charlotte and Kansas.

The victory was Logano’s second at the 1.5-mile track — the first coming in last year’s Chase — his fifth of the season and the 13th of his career. But it may have come at the expense of the title hopes of the driver who replaced him in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

He finished .491 seconds ahead of runner-up Denny Hamlin, who held off Jimmie Johnson at the stripe to take the second spot. Johnson ran third, followed by Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch.

Desperately needing a victory to revive his chances to make the cut for the Chase’s Eliminator 8 Round, Kenseth had grabbed the lead from Jimmie Johnson after a restart on Lap 248. Using all his skills to keep the faster car of Logano behind him, Kenseth blocked Logano on the frontstretch as the duo ran up on lapped cars near the start/finish line.

Kenseth moved up to block again as he entered Turn 1, but a tap from Logano’s Ford sent the No. 20 Camry spinning.

Kenseth kept his car off the wall and finished 14th, but the result was far more costly than a mere 13 positions. After finishing 42nd at Charlotte a week earlier, Kenseth could have salvaged his season with a victory and a guaranteed entry into the Eliminator 8 Round.

Now Kenseth, who is 35 points out of the final transfer position (eighth place) likely must win at Talladega to advance.

Understandably upset by the outcome, Kenseth had a clear-cut view of the incident.

“It was really cut and dry,” Kenseth said. “He (Logano) picked my rear tires off the ground and wrecked me, so there’s no debate about that one… He was a little bit tighter on that short run than I was, and I couldn’t get away from him.

“All day we had him pretty good. I still thought I was going to be able to stay in front of him and saw those lapped cars coming and tried getting a couple runs off the top there and I was plenty clear, got up in front of him and he just decided to take us out.”

To Logano, it was merely a case of aggressive racing on the part of both drivers. As Logano pursued Kenseth during the decisive run, Logano was squeezed into the outside wall, scraping the right side of his car.

“It was good, hard racing,” Logano said. “We were racing each other really hard, and I got in the fence twice on the straightaways. He raced me hard, and I raced him hard back. That’s the way I race. If I get raced like that, I’ll race the same way.

“That’s how I’ve always been, and it will always be that way. I really couldn’t be more proud of this team. To be sitting in such a great position going into Talladega makes us feel really, really good.”

Asked whether he thought turning Kenseth was a good move, Logano replied, “I didn’t think it was a good move when I hit the wall. I’m sure we’ll talk about it. I felt like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to race hard. I got in the fence twice,’ so I wasn’t going to put up with it.”

Kenseth said he had no plans to discuss the incident with Logano.

“I’m really disappointed,” Kenseth said. “I’ve probably been one of his biggest supporters. It was an awkward thing, obviously, taking his ride, and I was excited for him when he started winning at Penske and when he got that ride and even found him today and congratulated him about racing against each other for a championship.

“I was very disappointed that he would do that… Yeah, I was running the lane he wanted to run in, but, my goodness, isn’t this racing? Strategically, I don’t think it wasn’t the smartest move on his part. He’ll probably sleep good tonight — I hope he enjoys that one. It’s not what I would have done, but he had a decision to make and that’s the one he made.”

Logano insisted he didn’t wreck Kenseth on purpose.

“We were just going for the same piece of real estate,” Logano said.

Kenseth believed otherwise. Asked whether he thought the wreck was intentional, Kenseth asserted, “Absolutely — 100 percent.”

Without the magnitude of drama Kenseth experienced, Dale Earnhardt Jr. also leaves Kansas in dire straits. A loose left rear tire forced Earnhardt to pit road for an unscheduled stop in Lap 165. The No. 88 Chevrolet finished 21st, two laps down.

Currently 11th in the standings, 31 points behind eighth-place Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt, like Kenseth, enters next Sunday’s race at Talladega (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) with a win-or-bust mentality.

Other than Logano, none of the other Chase drivers will be able to relax next Sunday. Only 20 points separate second-place Hamlin from Ryan Newman in 10th — with seven spots in the Eliminator 8 Round still up for grabs.

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Unlike the 11 other drivers he’s battling for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, Joey Logano can relax and enjoy the next two races on the schedule.

Logano won last Sunday at Charlotte, ensuring he’ll be one of the eight drivers in the Chase’s Eliminator 8 Round, which starts Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway.

“I was sitting at the house on Monday night, and I was watching ‘Race Hub’ (on FS1), and I was like ‘Man, this feels great. Everyone else is stressed out in this garage, except us right now.’

“That’s something to be proud of and something we need to take advantage of. That stress will wear a lot of teams out, as we’ve seen, so right now it’s an important time for us to take these next two weeks, enjoy them, but still go out there and try to win the race.”

In fact, that’s the best strategy for keeping the pressure on his adversaries. Logano is the defending winner of the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, and if he repeats on Sunday, he’ll keep the blood pressure of all his competitors pegged as the series moves to Talladega on Oct. 25.