SHR And Kevin Harvick Honor Captain Brent Morel This Weekend

Stewart-Haas Racing’s technology partnership with Mobil 1 is a unique combination of experience, expertise and innovative thinking that strives to consistently deliver performance-enhancing results on the track. The partnership allows the SHR teams to head into the series’ only 600-mile event with a level of confidence that its cars will be there to compete at the end.

Mobil 1 continues to perform rigorous testing with the SHR teams in the garage with its products and support to improve on-track performance, including the reduction of frictional loss in the engines to maximize fuel mileage, increase horsepower and turn more revolutions per minute (RPMs). Mobil 1 works to reduce engine temperatures to increase engine efficiency. The products allow the No. 4 racecar to reduce rolling resistance, which contributes to increased acceleration on restarts on the way to reaching top speed.

The Mobil 1 products reduce friction in the suspension components, as well, providing maximum tire grip and helping to reduce steering compliance to give precision control and improved handling for Harvick behind the wheel.

Harvick and the No. 4 team hope the benefits provided by Mobil 1 products and technology will help carry them to victory lane in the Sunday’s traditional Memorial Day-weekend event, during which their racecar will honor a fallen soldier on the windshield header as part of NASCAR’s “600 Miles of Remembrance” initiative.

The name of Captain Brent Morel of the United States Marine Corps will be featured on the No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion this weekend.

Morel, who lived in McKenzie, Tennessee, was killed in action on April 7, 2004, when his platoon was ambushed during a reconnaissance mission in the Sunni Triangle in Fallujah, Iraq.

He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as Platoon Commander, 2nd Platoon, Company B, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1 Maine Expeditionary Force, United States Marine Corps Forces, Central Command in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Morel left his vehicle and led a determined assault across an open field and up a 10-foot berm in order to maneuver into firing position. The boldness of his first assault eliminated several insurgents at close range, forcing their retreat. Observing his Marines pinned down from enemy fire, he left the safety of his position and continued the assault, eliminating the enemy’s attack.

During this valiant act, he fell mortally wounded by a withering burst of enemy automatic weapons fire. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Morel reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Morel graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1999 with a degree in history. He became a commissioned officer in the Marines the following week. Another week later, he married Amy Mullins.

While Harvick has raced up front and scored three stage wins this year, he is still in search of his first Cup Series race win of the season. He has two Coca-Cola 600 wins in his Cup Series career and would like to add his third this weekend to add to his history of performance, reliability and success in one of NASCAR’s top races on Sunday afternoon.

“There isn’t any sport that honors the military any better than NASCAR. I know a lot of sports do a lot of things for our military but, when you roll into this particular weekend with the Coke 600 and you are a part of the celebration and remembrance for all the things that have happened with our military, to see the support that NASCAR and everybody in our garage gives the military, especially on this particular weekend, is something that gives you goosebumps. We are honored to carry the names on our cars.”

Is the Coca-Cola 600 more physically or mentally challenging?

“It just depends on how hot it is, honestly. If it’s a good weekend and the weather is nice, then it’s more mentally challenging than physically challenging. Either way, it’s still challenging both mentally and physically in some way, shape or form. The hardest part mentally is just getting yourself to overcome those last hundred miles because you are used to the 400- or 500-mile races.”

What do you think of Charlotte adding VHT to the racetrack in an attempt to build an outside groove?

“I think that’s a good game plan. Adding VHT to the outside groove and the middle groove, the only groove that was there for the All-Star race was the bottom groove. I went up there and tried the middle and tried the top, and while you could go through there, you just couldn’t make any speed like you could on the bottom. You have to applaud NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway and everybody for trying to make the racing better. I think it’s definitely going to do something. I think, as you look at it, it’s definitely going to make a difference and hopefully it widens the racetrack out and we can have grooves all over the track.”

· Points Position: Harvick arrives at the Coca-Cola 600 ranked sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 347 points after a third-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. He trails leader Kyle Larson by 128 points.

· Leading Laps: Through the first 11 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series events of 2017, Harvick ranks third in laps led with 469 of 3,298 total laps contested – more than 14.2 percent. He trails series-leader Martin Truex Jr. by 67 laps. Harvick has led at least one lap in seven of the 11 points-paying events of 2017, including at least 10 laps in five straight points-paying events. Harvick leads the series in miles led with 760.792.

· Harvick at Charlotte since Joining SHR:Harvick has six Cup Series points-paying starts at Charlotte and four non-points starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race since joining SHR at the beginning of the 2014 season. He scored runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015 in the All-Star Race. Harvick has one win, one pole, three second-place finishes, a ninth-place finish and a 38th-place finish in his six points-paying starts at Charlotte since joining SHR. His lone win came in the Bank of America 500 in October 2014, when he started seventh, led 162 laps and beat Jeff Gordon to the finish line by.571 of a second. He finished runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in May 2014, Joey Logano in October 2015 and Truex in May 2016. Harvick won the pole in October 2016 with a lap of 27.547 seconds at 196.029 mph.

· Harvick in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte: The Coca-Cola 600 will mark Harvick’s 32nd career points-paying Cup Series start at Charlotte. He has three wins (May 2011 and 2013, October 2014), a pole (October 2016), seven top-five finishes and 14 top-10s at the 1.5-mile oval. The 41-year-old driver has led 334 laps, has an average starting position of 16.2, has an average finish of 15.4 and has completed 96.4 percent (11,043 of 11,454) of the laps he’s contested there. Harvick’s three Cup Series wins at Charlotte trails only Johnson’s eight and Kasey Kahne’s four among active Cup Series drivers.

· Runner-Up Finishes at Charlotte: Harvick is tied with Matt Kenseth among active Cup Series drivers with four runner-up finishes at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They both trail NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty’s nine for most all-time.

· Upcoming Milestone: Harvick sits at 48 second-place finishes in the Cup Series and needs one more to break a tie with Lee Petty and take sole possession of 10th on the all-time Cup Series second-place-finishes list. Harvick also needs 290 laps led to become the 17th Cup Series driver of all-time to lead 11,000 or more laps.

· Double Duty at Charlotte:Harvick will drive the No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang for SHR in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race Saturday at Charlotte.

· Harvick at Charlotte in the Xfinity Series: Harvick has 27 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Charlotte. He has three poles (May 2001, May and October 2003), seven top-fives, 17 top-10s, and has led 293 laps with an average finish of 10.7. He has also scored top-fives in five of his last seven Xfinity starts at Charlotte. His best Xfinity finish at Charlotte was second in October 2012, when he took the checkered flag 2.760 seconds behind race-winner Joey Logano.

· Harvick at Charlotte in the Camping World Truck Series: Harvick has three starts at Charlotte in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He started third, led 70 of 136 laps and finished fifth in his first start in May 2003. He started sixth and finished fourth in May 2004. In his most recent Truck Series start at Charlotte in May 2007, Harvick started 24th and finished 28th after he suffered a mechanical issue.

· Career NASCAR Cup Series Totals: Harvick has 35 wins, 158 top-fives, 290 top-10s and 19 poles in 585 career Cup Series starts heading into Sunday’s 600-mile event at Charlotte.

· Harvick the TV Broadcaster: Harvick will serve as the play-by-play announcer in the FOX TV booth for the first-ever all-driver NASCAR Xfinity Series race broadcast at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway June 10. It will mark his fifth appearance in the booth since the start of the season. He also visited the booth on Feb. 25 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, March 18 at Phoenix International Raceway, April 22 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, May 6 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, as well as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event April 1 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. He also is slated to broadcast the Truck Series races July 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Oct. 13 at Talladega.

· Harvick’s Happy Hours on SiriusXM Radio: On March 14, Harvick announced that he will hostHappy Hours on SiriusXM Radio. The show debuted March 28 and airs every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. ET, featuring Harvick’s distinctive perspective on his sport and life outside the track. Harvick and co-host Matt Yocum take calls from listeners and give NASCAR fans a unique view on the driver’s life and interests when he is away from the racecar. In June, the show will begin airing every other week.