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Tag: Overton’s 301

  • Truex dominates, then rallies from flat tire to finish third

    Truex dominates, then rallies from flat tire to finish third

    Until the last 80 laps, the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway had the making of another Martin Truex Jr. clinic performance.

    He earned the pole for the race, thanks to Kyle Larson’s pole time being tossed after failing post-tech, and led the entirety of the first stage, earning his 14th stage victory and 29th playoff point on the season. He pitted under the stage break, having passed up pit road during the competition caution on Lap 36, and drove his way through the field, earning a sixth-place finish in the second stage.

    Truex went back to the lead on Lap 175 and pretty much had the race in check, barring an unforeseen circumstance. That unforeseen circumstance came in the form of a flat right-front tire with 83 laps to go. This forced him onto pit road 20 laps before the rest of the leaders hit pit road for their original final stop and sent him from the lead to a lap down.

    Being on significantly fresher tires than the rest of the field, it only took him 12 laps to un-lap himself the old fashioned way and was back in the lead with 55 to go when pit cycle concluded.

    But while the tire advantage played in his favor, it swung towards the drivers who just pitted, as Matt Kenseth passed him with ease with 41 to go.

    Truex restarted third on the final restart, but didn’t pose a threat to the race lead, thanks to restarting on the bottom, and brought his car home third.

    “We were strong for the majority of the race but at the end we lost some speed and couldn’t get to the leader,” Truex said after leading a race-high of 137 laps. “The last restart we got the inside lane, restarted third. It wasn’t the place to be, obviously. I think the 11 (race winner Denny Hamlin) started fourth and that was really the place I would have liked to have been. And then we just didn’t get a good restart on the bottom and lost a couple spots and had to battle back and then just didn’t quite have the speed at the end of the race.

    “All in all, it was a hard fought day. We had to come from 24th at one point. A good job by everybody and a solid third place effort. Just didn’t have enough there at the end.”

    He leaves Loudon still the points leader, maintaining a 38-point lead over Larson.

  • Jones exits early after wreck at Loudon

    Jones exits early after wreck at Loudon

    Erik Jones’ day ended in last-place following an early wreck in the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Entering Turn 3 just after the Lap 41 restart, he suffered a left-front tire failure. At most tracks, because we run the inner-liner for the left-front, the tire would’ve simply un-chorded. But with Loudon being among the select tracks that NASCAR doesn’t run the inner-liner tires, he wound up veering straight into the Turn 3 wall.

    Video replay showed he made contact with Kasey Kahne exiting his pit stall under the previous caution.

    “I guess we cut a left front or a right front (tire) – I’m not sure,” said Jones. “Just made a little contact on pit road, but didn’t have any marks on the tires. We thought it would be fine but obviously not because we didn’t even make it a lap.

    “It’s just unfortunate. The 5-hour Energy Camry was pretty fast. I thought we had probably an easy top-10 car, if not huge adjustments away from a top-five car.

    “Just really didn’t need a day like this, trying to make the playoffs here. Really gonna have to work hard to try and get a win at this point. We’ll keep at it. We just need some good luck out way and hopefully, we’ll get it soon.”

    He leaves 17th in points, 331 back of teammate Martin Truex Jr.

  • Hamlin holds off Larson in closing laps of Cup race at Loudon

    Hamlin holds off Larson in closing laps of Cup race at Loudon

    Denny Hamlin took the lead shortly after the final restart and held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson in the closing laps to win the Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    With all the lead lap cars hitting pit road under the seventh and final caution, race leader Matt Kenseth exited pit road first by taking two right-side tires. This cost him two laps after the ensuing restart with 35 to go when Hamlin got underneath him to take the lead exiting Turn 4.

    With nine to go, Larson cut the gap down to under a second. Lapped-traffic slowed his run towards the front, proving crucial to Hamlin scoring his 30th career victory in 417 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    “I was just trying to do everything I could to pace,” Hamlin said. “I knew he (Larson) had a very fast car. It just seemed like we were able to get off the corner pretty good and I just ran kind of a pace there which I felt comfortable with. And just in case we had a restart, they wanted to burn the tires up.

    “Proud of this whole FedEx Office team, backup car. I put us behind the eight-ball on Friday, but it’s cool to win one like this.”

    Larson and Truex, who led a race-high of 137 laps, rounded out the podium.

    “I thought I was catching him (Hamlin) at a good pace, but once I would get closer to him, I would get in his dirty air a little bit and get tight,” Larson said. “But, I felt like if I had maybe five, eight more laps I could have gotten to his back bumper and maybe did something. He is probably the best short track racer there is out here. Especially, when it comes to short, flat tracks, but for me to get beat by him is not a cool thing, but I’m proud of that because Denny Hamlin, like I said is really good at this stuff.”

    “We were strong for the majority of the race but at the end we lost some speed and couldn’t get to the leader,” said Truex. “The last restart we got the inside lane, restarted third. It wasn’t the place to be, obviously. I think the 11 (race winner Denny Hamlin) started fourth and that was really the place I would have liked to have been. And then we just didn’t get a good restart on the bottom and lost a couple spots and had to battle back and then just didn’t quite have the speed at the end of the race.

    “All in all, it was a hard fought day. We had to come from 24th at one point. A good job by everybody and a solid third place effort. Just didn’t have enough there at the end.”

    Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

    Daniel Suarez, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Truex led the field to the green flag at 3:17 p.m. Johnson was handed a pass through penalty for beating race leader Truex to the line on the initial start.

    Truex led from start to finish on his way to winning the first stage. He lost the lead under the stage break to Kyle Busch, who stayed out after pitting under the Lap 36 competition caution.

    It was the same story as the first stage, just with Busch at the lead. He led from start to finish and won the second stage. Teammate Hamlin exited pit road the race leader.

    Truex worked his way back to the lead on Lap 175, only to make an earlier than planned stop with 83 to go for a flat right-front tire. He un-lapped himself with 63 to go by driving past new race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. He pitted from the lead with 55 to go, cycling the lead back to Truex.

    Busch was handed a pass through penalty for speeding on pit road during this cycle of stops.

    Kenseth drove down and edged out Truex at the start/finish line to take the lead with 41 to go.

    Ryan Newman’s spin in Turn 2 with 40 to go brought out the seventh caution and set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTIONS

    Erik Jones brought out the second caution on Lap 41 when he suffered a left-front tire failure and slammed the wall in Turn 2. Cole Whitt brought out the third caution on Lap 68 when his engine expired in Turn 1. Austin Dillon brought out the fifth caution on Lap 88 when he made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and spun out in Turn 4. Caution flew for the sixth time on Lap 151 for the end of the second stage.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours and 36 minutes at an average speed of 105.800 mph. There were 11 lead changes among six different drivers and seven cautions for 34 laps. There was also one red flag that lasted five minutes and 29 seconds during the first stage break.

    Truex leaves with a 38-point lead over Larson.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at New Hampshire

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at New Hampshire

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.086 and a speed of 130.950 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 29.171 and a speed of 130.568 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.171 and a speed of 130.568 mph. Kyle Larson was fourth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.183 and a speed of 130.514 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 29.192 and a speed of 130.474 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.094 mph.

    Second Practice Results

    First Practice Results

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  • Truex Fastest in Second Practice at New Hampshire

    Truex Fastest in Second Practice at New Hampshire

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.000 and a speed of 131.338 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.001 and a speed of 131.333 mph. Jimmie Johnson was third in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 29.034 and a speed of 131.184 mph. Chase Elliott was fourth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 29.039 and a speed of 131.162 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.059 and a speed of 131.071 mph.

    Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.624 mph.

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  • The Season to Date for Ryan Newman

    The Season to Date for Ryan Newman

    This season for the “rocket man” Ryan Newman is roughly on par with his 2016 campaign.

    He opened his season with a 21st in the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The following week in Atlanta was a stronger showing for him, running as high as first and leading three laps in the process. He was running fourth when he sent to the tail-end of the field, however, for a crew member being over the wall too soon. Adding insult to injury, he took his car to the garage with battery issues and finished 35th.

    The best he did in Las Vegas was a 17th-place finish.

    At Phoenix, Newman chose to stay out for the overtime restart. He powered ahead of Kyle Larson on said restart and ended a winless drought stretching back to the 2013 Brickyard 400.

    The rest of the finishes since then include a 15th at Fontana, eighth at Martinsville, 26th at Texas, 14th at Bristol, seventh at Richmond (where he’s led his most laps on the season with 25), 25th at Talladega, 40th at Kansas, ninth at Charlotte, fourth at Dover, 14th at Pocono, 15th at Michigan, 15th at Sonoma, fifth at Daytona and 22nd at Kentucky.

    He’s got a win on the season (his first since 2013), as well as three-top fives and six top-10s. The former is one greater than his 2016 total, but he’s four short of matching his total from last season. He’s led 37 laps this season, 13 more than his 2016 total, but his 16.3 finishing average is 3.8 percent worse than his 15.7 finishing average from 2016.

    Despite the victory, his season has been mediocre at best. Even Newman agrees that his team isn’t performing at the level it needs to for the playoffs.

    “We’re trying to get our train back on its tracks, so to speak, from where we were in Phoenix,” Newman said. “Our 1.5-mile program has really struggled. Our short track program is not what we need it to be, even in Phoenix we didn’t lead the amount of laps we should have. We led the right one, but we haven’t dominated. We see the No. 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and the No. 42 (Larson); at times the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) have been dominating; maybe not all leading the last lap, but in general, we’re not leading enough laps to be as competitive as we need to be for those last 10 races. So, our focus is like it always is, to make the cars drive better and faster and to put ourselves in better contention for making our way easier, or a chance to be easily progressing through the playoffs.”

  • Larson Fastest at New Hampshire in First Practice

    Larson Fastest at New Hampshire in First Practice

    Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 28.430 and a speed of 133.971 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 28.591 and a speed of 133.217 mph. Kyle Busch was third in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 28.607 and a speed of 133.142 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 28.672 and a speed of 132.840 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 28.703 and a speed of 132.697 mph.

    Denny Hamlin, who posted the 25th-fastest single lap, ran the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.047 mph.

    With 20 minutes to go in the session, Hamlin got loose exiting Turn 4, spun down the track and hit the inside wall head-on. His team elected to roll out his backup car.

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  • New Hampshire – Did You Know?

    New Hampshire – Did You Know?

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the Overton’s 301. There are 39 drivers entered into the event with only eight regular season races remaining before the playoffs begin.

    Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Cup Series race at New Hampshire, the Slick 50 300, in a Penske Pontiac on July 11, 1993, after starting from 33rd place. It was his fifth win of the year but Wallace would go on to capture five more, giving him his most victories in a single season, with 10. It was his only win at the Loudon, New Hampshire track.

    But did you know that the first race at New Hampshire was also Davey Allison’s final race? He finished third, behind Wallace and Mark Martin, scoring his sixth top five of ’93. The following day Allison lost his life in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

    There have been 44 Cup Series events at New Hampshire, one each year from 1993 through 1996, with two per year since then. Twenty-four different drivers have won at the 1.058-mile track. Among active drivers, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman lead with three wins each. Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch are also multiple winners with two victories each. But did you know that Jeff Burton leads all drivers with four trips to Victory Lane at Loudon?

    As the regular season draws to a close, capturing a checkered flag may be the only ticket into the playoffs. For Bowyer (15th), Kenseth (16th) and Logano (17th), time is running out. Kenseth is the defending race winner and after losing his ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018, he may have the most to prove.

    Winning the Coors Light Pole could be a key element in accomplishing that goal. Did you know that the pole is the most proficient starting position at New Hampshire? Five of the 44 races (11.3 percent) have been won from first place while another three have been won from second place.

    Denny Hamlin could also benefit from a victory. He’s currently 14th in the playoff picture and he goes into New Hampshire with the best driver rating of 102.7 along with two wins, eight top fives and 13 top 10s.

    Jimmie Johnson can never be counted out especially with three previous wins, 10 top fives, one pole and the second-best driver rating (101.0). Brad Keselowski has the third-best driver rating (99.3) with one win in 2014, six top fives and three poles.

    Kyle Busch remains winless this year. Could this be the track where he changes that? He has two victories, nine top fives, 13 top 10s and two poles with the fourth-best driver rating (98.1). But did you know that he also has three runner-up finishes at Loudon?

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. is another driver hoping to secure a spot in the playoffs with a trip to Victory Lane in his final full-time season. He has a 97.4 driver rating, the sixth-best, with eight top fives and 15 top 10s. In addition, he leads the way in green-flag speed (125.183) and ranks third in green-flag passes (1,242).

    On-track action begins Friday with practice followed by Coors Light Pole Qualifying at 4:45 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The Cup Series Overton’s 301 will close out the weekend at 3 p.m. ET as we get one step closer to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

    In the meantime, check out this slideshow for some of the most memorable moments in New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s history.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.