This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will make their only visit of the year to New England. Coverage of the USA Today 301 will begin with at Countdown to Green at 1:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. Race coverage follows at 2 p.m. ET and the green flag is scheduled to drop around 2:10 p.m. ET. In addition, the event can also be heard on your local PRN
affiliate or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90). Drivers will compete for 301 laps (318.458 miles) en route to the checkered flag.
Records and facts
Last year's USA Today 301 was a first in the NASCAR Cup Series. The rain tires were broken
out to race on an oval.
While things were clearly slippery at times (see Ross Chastain wiping out in turn 4 and doing multiple 360s), drivers were able to handle the adverse conditions fairly well. On the restart after Chastain's spin, Christopher Bell was able to get around Tyler Reddick to take the lead.
From there, Bell was able to keep himself going in the right direction, handled the switch back to slick tires late in the race, then held on to take the win on a Green-White-Checker restart. Bell won by 1.104 seconds over Chase Briscoe. Josh Berry was third, followed by Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.
Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and
Jimmie Johnson (not entered) have the most victories among active drivers with three, while Bell, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have two.
All-time, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton are tied for the most victories at Loudon with four. In addition to Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Johnson, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart also have three
victories.
Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 1.058-mile oval, 301 laps (318.458 miles)
Banking: 2-7 degrees
Straightaways: 1,500 ft., banked
2 degrees
Grandstand Seating: 95,491
Pit Road Speed: 40 mph
Pace Car Speed: 50 mph
Opened: 1990, first Cup race in 1993
Website: http://www.nhms.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nhmotorspeedway
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NHMS
Pre-Race Schedule:
Practice: Saturday, Sept. 20, 3 - 3:55 p.m. ET on TruTV/HBO Max
Qualifying: Saturday, Sept. 20, 4:10 p.m. ET on TruTV/HBO Max
Say What?!
"New Hampshire is a really tricky racetrack. It’s super flat and has bumpy characteristics to it as well. The asphalt has
really gotten old over the years. It feels like racing over highway cracks, but those are all characteristics of a good racetrack. It’s just really challenging and very tough to pass. Everybody says it’s multi-groove. You could run three different grooves there, but there’s really only one that’s fast and that’s the middle one. It makes for a challenging Sunday." - Kyle Busch
"I would say New Hampshire is probably one of the toughest racetracks we go to just in the sense of trying to drive. The seams are difficult and the track being really flat. So always difficult setup wise and on the driving side of it to go out there and find speed. We know our program has speed; we’ve shown that over the last few weeks, even if the end result doesn’t always show it. We’re looking to put together a solid run this weekend and get a
little bit of momentum back." - AJ Allmendinger
"My list [of challenges] is gonna be small, like I said, because this will only be my second time ever there, but it’s a really bumpy place. I feel like it’s underrated with how bumpy it really is, so your ability to get through the bumps and keep a well-handling car is super important. And then
even last year I spent half of the race in the rain, so I think I was second-quick or something like that in practice and my car drove pretty good at that time, and then in the race I just had something completely different. I hope to qualify well. I think qualifying can be incredibly important as it is every weekend, but it’s tough to pass – a little bit different tire there, so we’re kind of trying to take some notes from what we’ve had at Iowa and Gateway maybe, where we’ve had
this tire, so I’m excited to see what it brings." - Zane Smith
Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
