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| Kyle Busch has three Cup wins at New Hampshire. |
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301
The Place: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, July 21
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 318.46 miles (301 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 75),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 301)
2018 Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Harvick looking to crack into win column by defending lobster
Kevin Harvick arrives at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) certainly feeling optimistic about his chances of – at last – scoring that first victory of 2019.
An eight-race winner in 2018 and sure-bet championship challenger this season, Harvick has done everything but celebrate in Victory Lane. And New Hampshire’s version – giant lobster and all – is one he is familiar with. A three-time winner himself – including two of the last four races – his crew chief Rodney Childers scored his first victory as crew chief at the Loudon mile, as well (2013 with driver Brian Vickers).
His 11 top-five finishes at New Hampshire ties him with Kurt Busch for most among active drivers. He has 19 top 10s in 35 starts – tying him with Ryan Newman for second-most in Sunday’s field. (Jimmie Johnson leads with 22 top 10s.) Harvick’s finished in the top-five in four of the last five races.
Rekindling that success this week would be well-timed for Harvick’s upcoming Playoff launch. He’s ranked third in the points standings – the only driver ranked among the top nine without a race victory this season. That he’s retained that mark in the standings without the benefit of a win only shows how strong his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team has been.
Last year’s dramatic victory over Kyle Busch was Harvick’s then-series-best sixth of the year. He would win two more races and finish third in the championship. Only twice before has Harvick gone this long into an eventual winning season without a victory. In 2003, his only win came at Indianapolis in August. And in 2012, when his only win came in November at Phoenix.
Over the course of his 19-year Cup career, Harvick has had only three winless seasons – 2004, 2008 and 2009. In each of those years, however, he still won a race in one of NASCAR’s other two top series – Xfinity or Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
A First For Truex
Martin Truex Jr. has four victories this year – his first season driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – and shows up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week likely wondering what it’s going to take to score his first win at the track.
He’s led at least 100 laps in four of the last five races on the Loudon one-miler. Of his 744 career laps led at the facility, he’s led 596 laps in that five-race span. He finished top-10 in five of the last six races and has 11 top-10 showings in 25 total starts. Yet third place (in 2007 and 2017) marks his highest finish.
However, the 2017 Monster Energy Series champ’s 11.0 average starting position and 12.6 average finishing position at New Hampshire are tops among tracks where he has yet to win a Cup race.
The Loudon mile has actually been a very positive part of Truex’s personal racing history. He earned his first ever NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win there from the pole position in 2000 – leading all 101 laps of the race – and won again from pole in 2003. He answered with a victory in the 2005 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
And there’s plenty of reason to believe this may be the year Truex earns a Cup trophy. He has certainly delivered on great expectations in 2019. After winning his first race this year – at Richmond in mid-April – Truex was winning about every other week. It’s been nearly a month, however, since his last visit to Victory Lane – at Sonoma, Calif. He finished ninth at Chicagoland, 22nd at Daytona, and 19th at Kentucky last weekend.
“New Hampshire has been one of our better tracks the past few years,’’ Truex said. “It’s kind of like Richmond in that we have run up front and led a lot of laps, just haven’t closed the deal to get to victory lane. Obviously we were able to finally win at Richmond this year, so hopefully we can do the same this week.’’
Kyle Busch in championship form
Kyle Busch came a literal split-second away from earning a season-best fifth win last weekend at Kentucky Speedway, instead finishing runner-up to his older brother Kurt in one of the most exciting final-lap duels of the 2019 season.
He shows up at this week’s New Hampshire venue only 11 points behind Monster Energy NASCAR Cup points leader Joey Logano and full of hard-earned confidence on the traditionally tough Loudon mile.
Busch’s three wins (2006, 2015, 2017) here ties him with five other drivers for most victories among the current field. He is one of only five drivers to win at New Hampshire from the pole (2017). (It’s been done six times, as Newman accomplished the feat twice – 2002, 2011.)
In addition to his impressive Victory Lane total, Busch has four runner-up finishes including three-straight from 2013-14. And the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was runner-up to Kevin Harvick in this race last year. His 11 top-five finishes ties him with Harvick for most among the field and his 15 top-10 finishes trails only Jimmie Johnson (22), Harvick (19) and Ryan Newman (19). Busch, however, has only 27 career starts compared to 33 for Harvick and Johnson, and 35 for Newman. And Busch’s 1,010 laps led is most in the field.
The 2015 Monster Energy Series champ is the only driver on the grid with New Hampshire victories in all three of NASCAR’s premier series. In addition to his three Cup wins, he has a historic six in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and three in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. He won both the Xfinity and truck races for three consecutive seasons (2009-11).
“Loudon is a Martinsville-like short track,’’ Busch said. “It’s a little more spread out, but there’s some rooting and gouging going on because it’s a one-lane track and everybody fights for that particular groove.
Trio to watch this weekend
Three of the historically best drivers at this weekend’s New Hampshire venue arrive in New England equally, if diversely, motivated to visit Victory Lane.
Veteran Denny Hamlin boasts the best average finish (10.2) and top driver rating (102.7) and his statistical work at the Loudon mile is impressive on any count. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has three wins, nine top-fives and 14 top-10s in 25 starts and is ranked top-five in all past performance statistical categories. This year’s Daytona 500 winner has two victories on the season, but not since Texas in April. He has wins at New Hampshire in 2007, 2012 and 2017. He’s currently ranked sixth in the championship and coming off a fifth-place finish at Kentucky on Saturday.
A seven-time Monster Energy Series champion and three-time New Hampshire winner, Jimmie Johnson hasn’t visited Victory Lane since Dover, Del. in 2017. He has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six visits to Loudon and won the pole position for the 2016 summer race. He finished 10th here last year and with only seven races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field, Johnson is ranked 15th in the points, needing a good boost to keep his title hopes viable. He’s coming off a tough-to-swallow 30th-place finish at Kentucky last week after back-to-back top-five showings prior to that.
Kyle Larson, the popular driver of the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, boasts the third-best average finish (10.7) at New Hampshire. He has four top-five and five top-10 finishes in nine starts at the oval. Among those results are three runner-up finishes – including both 2017 races. He was 12th last year and is highly motivated to hoist a trophy this weekend – his first of the year – after watching his Ganassi teammate Kurt Busch win at Kentucky last Saturday.
Kurt Busch brings the No. 1 back to Victory Lane
Prior to this past Saturday night in Kentucky, the last time the No. 1 car visited a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Victory Lane was October 10, 2013 when Jamie McMurray piloted it to the win at Talladega Superspeedway.
Fast forward though 202 winless races (184 with McMurray, 18 with Kurt Busch) and the Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was covered in confetti once again.
The win came in Busch’s 19th race with his new team and was also the first victory for crew chief Matt McCall after 163 races atop a pit box (144 with McMurray from 2015-2018, one with Jeff Burton in 2013 and the 18 with Busch earlier this season).
Over 20 seasons, Busch has tallied 31 Monster Energy Series wins through 667 starts.
To break it down - he has visited Victory Lane in three different makes (Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet), for four different teams (Roush Fenway Racing, Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing), in five different car numbers (Nos. 97, 2, 22, 41, 1), and with nine different crew chiefs (Jimmy Fennig – 14 wins, Pat Tryson – 5, Steve Addington – 4, Tony Gibson – 3, Billy Scott – 1, Daniel Knost – 1, John Klausmeier – 1, Roy McCauley – 1, Matt McCall – 1).
To compare to a few of his contemporaries, here are the same stats for a few active drivers who are closest to Busch in win total or starts:
Brad Keselowski: 30 wins in 360 starts over 12 seasons with three makes (Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford) for two teams (Phoenix Racing, Team Penske), in two car numbers (No. 09, 2), and with two different crew chiefs (Paul Wolfe – 29 wins, Marc Reno – 1)
Denny Hamlin: 33 wins in 489 starts over 15 seasons with two makes (Chevrolet, Toyota), for one team (Joe Gibbs Racing), in one car number (No. 11), and with five different crew chiefs (Mike Ford – 17 wins, Darian Grubb – 7, Mike Wheeler – 5, Dave Rogers – 2, Chris Gabehart – 2)
Kevin Harvick: 45 wins in 665 starts over 19 seasons with two makes (Chevrolet, Ford), for two teams (Richard Childress Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing), in two car numbers (No. 29, 4), and with four different crew chiefs (Rodney Childers – 22 wins, Gil Martin – 13, Todd Berrier – 8, Kevin Hamlin – 2)
Kyle Busch: 55 wins in 517 starts over 17 seasons with two makes (Chevrolet, Toyota), for two teams (Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing), in two car numbers (No. 5, 18), and with four different crew chiefs (Adam Stevens – 26, Dave Rogers – 13, Steve Addington – 12, Alan Gustafson – 4)
New Man Newman
Roush-Fenway Racing driver Ryan Newman sits only a mere two points out of being championship eligible for the first time since 2017. And he has opportunity to improve his chances at one of his historically best tracks – New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
His three wins ties him for most among active drivers (also Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin). His seven Busch Pole positions are most in series history at the track. Twice he won a race from the pole (2002 and 2011) – the only driver ever to do so multiple times.
Newman has seven top-fives and his 19 top-10 finishes in 33 starts is second-best in the field – tying him with Kevin Harvick and trailing only Jimmie Johnson’s 22 top 10s. Only fellow three-time New Hampshire champion Kyle Busch (1,010 laps) and New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. (744 laps) have led more laps than Newman (722) among active drivers.
He comes to Loudon only two points behind Erik Jones, who holds the 16th and final Playoff qualifying position with seven races remaining in the regular season.
Newman’s best championship showing came in 2014 when he was runner-up to Harvick.
“We want to be in the Playoffs and have a shot at the championship,’’ Newman said last week at Kentucky. “There are two ways of doing that. We want to lock ourselves in with a win, but we haven’t had the performance this year to be in the top-five consistently in order to do that.
“I feel like we have made progress and I look forward to getting back to these race tracks a second time and show the experience we have gained as a rookie team. It has been a new experience and we have hopefully shown some progress when we get to these places. The goal is always to win, but if you can’t win or don’t think you can win, you hopefully get yourself pointed in and show enough progression to win in the Playoffs and keep moving up.’’
By the numbers
Nine different drivers representing five organizations have hoisted trophies in 2019. Joe Gibbs Racing still boasts the most wins (10) thanks to the efforts of Kyle Busch (four), Martin Truex Jr. (four) and Denny Hamlin (two).
Ten different drivers have won Busch Pole Awards. Hendrick Motorsports tops the series in this category with William Byron (three), Chase Elliott (two) and Jimmie Johnson (one), giving the team six poles.
Statistically, this season has proven to be one of the most competitive in recent years. Through the season’s opening 19 races, there have been an average of 19.0 lead changes a race – the most since 2014 (24.1) during that same time frame. The number of leaders per race (9.58) is also at the highest mark since 2014 (11.05).
Overall, green flag passes for the lead are up 46.6 percent compared to last year. There were 33 lead changes at Kentucky – easily eclipsing the previous best mark of the last five years - 22 lead changes in 2015.
The average Margin of Victory this season is 1.372-seconds and in 11 of the 19 races, the MOV has been less than one second, including Kurt Busch’s overtime win at Kentucky (.076-second) on Saturday night.
A look at what’s coming up
Seven unique venues make up the final races of the regular season – providing opportunities for a wide variety of drivers to win their way into the Playoffs. Below is a look at the seven remaining tracks in the regular season:
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Measuring at slightly longer than a mile, New Hampshire is a shorter, flat track with variable banking at two and seven degrees in the corners and one degree on the straights. Former Loudon winners who have yet to visit Victory Lane this season are aplenty and have combined for 11 wins there – Jimmie Johnson (three wins), Kevin Harvick (three), Ryan Newman (three) and Clint Bowyer (two).
Pocono Raceway – The 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle" has three unique turns (Turn 1 – 14 degrees of banking, Turn 2 – eight degrees, Turn 3 – six degrees) and long straights (frontstretch – 3,740 feet, backstretch – 3,055 feet, shortstretch – 1,780 feet). Last week, Pocono announced that they would add the PJ1 traction compound in all three of its turns, helping add another lane option for passing opportunities. Jimmie Johnson (three wins), Ryan Newman (one), Chris Buescher (one) and Ryan Blaney (one) have all won at Pocono but not, yet, anywhere this year.
Watkins Glen International – The Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York hosts this historic 2.45-mile, seven-turn road course. Of note – all of the active previous winners at The Glen have found Victory Lane in 2019 except for Kevin Harvick (2006 winner).
Michigan International Speedway – The Irish Hills provide the backdrop for this spacious, smooth and speedy two-miler that features 18 degrees of banking in the corners. Kyle Larson’s three wins each at Michigan is the most among active winners who haven’t won in 2019. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman have a pair of wins each there, while Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer have one apiece.
Bristol Motor Speedway – Thunder Valley sets the scene for the half-mile, high-banked short track featuring variable banking (from 24 to 28 degrees) in the turns. Kevin Harvick, with two previous wins at the track, is the only other active former winner who has yet to be victorious in 2019.
Darlington Raceway – "The Track Too Tough To Tame" is an egg-shaped 1.366-mile track with 25 degrees of banking in Turns 1 and 2, and 23 degrees of banking in 3 and 4. Jimmie Johnson’s three wins top the list of drivers who have bested the challenge of the unique configuration. Kevin Harvick (one win) is the only other active former winner at Darlington who has not won this season.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – While Pocono is a triangle that modeled Turn 2 after Indianapolis, the "Brickyard" is basically a 2.5-mile flat rectangle, featuring short straights between the turns, which are all banked at nine degrees. Jimmie Johnson’s four wins at the famed track are most among active drivers and are second-most all-time (to Jeff Gordon’s five). Joining him on the list of active Brickyard winners who are searching for their first win this season are Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman (one win each).
Parade Laps: Insights ahead of this week’s driver media rotations
Six drivers from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Roush-Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon will be participating in this week’s media rotations at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in advance of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Chase Elliott, 23, of Dawsonville, Ga., has already secured his position in the 2019 series Playoffs with a win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April. He arrives in Loudon, N.H. after a 15th place showing in Kentucky. His last top-10 finish was six races ago – a fourth place at Pocono, Pa. He’s suffered two of his three DNFs on the season in the last four races – an engine problem on the Sonoma, Calif. road course (37th) and a crash at Daytona (35th) two weeks ago. He’s ranked eighth in the points and has already led 409 laps through the opening 19 races – putting him on pace to eclipse his previous season best effort of 560 laps led in 2017. Elliott’s fifth-place finish last year at New Hampshire is his best career showing there and only top 10. He led 23 of his 24 career laps led at the track last summer.
Kyle Larson, 26, of Elk Grove, Calif., earned his third top five of the season – a fourth place run – at Kentucky on Saturday night. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has seven top 10s and is ranked 13th in the Cup points standings. He’s still looking for his first victory of the season and has three top 10s in the last four races, including a season best runner-up finish at Chicago three races ago. New Hampshire Motor Speedway has always been a strong venue for the Californian. He has four top-five and five top-10 finishes in nine starts. He’s finished runner-up three times (2014 – second race, 2017 both races). Larson was 12th in last year’s race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 31, of Olive Branch, Miss., put together a 12th-place finish at Kentucky on Saturday, his second such finish in the past three races (also Chicagoland), his best showings since a fifth place – his only top-five – at Charlotte in May. He’s ranked 19th in the points standings – 46 points out of the Playoff-eligible 16th place position – entering Sunday’s race at New Hampshire. He led the first laps of his career at the Loudon mile last year, but finished 30th. The Roush Fenway Racing driver has five top-20 showings in the last seven New Hampshire races.
Ryan Blaney, 25, of High Point, N.C., is having a stellar season in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, but is still looking for that first victory of 2019. He has five top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including a best of third place twice – at Phoenix and Sonoma, Calif. He’s finished top-10 in three of the last five races and is ranked 11th in the points standings. Blaney is coming off his best career showing at New Hampshire – a seventh place run last year. His only top 10s in six starts at the track have come in the last two races (also ninth in 2018).
Ryan Preece, 28, of Berlin, Conn., considers this week’s New Hampshire stop a “home race.” He’s logged plenty of miles at the venue, working his way up the stock car ranks with a runner-up finish in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Loudon track – both in 2017. He has one Cup start there – a 32nd-place finish in an abbreviated schedule in the No. 98 Chevrolet last year. The JTG Daugherty driver is looking for his first top-20 since a career-best third place showing at Talladega, Ala. in late April. He was 21st at Kentucky Speedway last week. He is currently second to Daniel Hemric in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contest and ranked 26th in the points.
Austin Dillon, 29, of Lewisville, N.C., must be encouraged because he’s leading laps of late – including a season-best 46 laps at Daytona two weeks ago. And he has won three Busch Pole positions (California, Talladega, Ala. and Chicago). The frustration for the 2018 Daytona 500 winner is in the finish. Despite his laps led at Daytona, for example, he finished 33rd after being involved in a late-race accident. The driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was 35th at Kentucky Speedway last week and is ranked 22nd in the points heading to New Hampshire, where he has one top-10 finish (eighth in 2015). Last year he finished 21st.
