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Mash The Gas – New Hampshire Preview

Race number two in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship is on tap at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “On tap” is a little nod to Championship points leader Brad Keselowski and the number 2 Miller Lite Penske Racing team that battled Jimmie Johnson and won the opening Chase race at Chicagoland Speedway.

The flat one-mile oval at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway traditionally produces tight racing as drivers fight for position entering the flat corners. The “Flat Track Racers”, driver s who seem to excel on these types of speedway layouts should be the favorites. Getting their cars to turn smoothly and quickly through those turns will be keys to success Sunday. Pitstop strategy was the key to the race here just two months ago and most likely will be again as track position is key on the flat track.

The Sylvania 300 is scheduled to start at 2:15 EDT on Sunday, September 23rd and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Favorites:
Denny Hamlin
John Wiedemann: Denny Hamlin led the most laps (150) at this race in July and was the class of the field. He didn’t win because of taking four tires on the final caution instead of the two that the other teams took. The “miscommunication” between driver and crew chief Darian Grubb forced Hamlin to race through the field over the final laps. Hamlin made it up to second but ran out of time to catch race winner Kasey Kahne. You can bet that Hamlin will be the class of the field again and this time end up in victory lane.

Dan Margetta: I still feel Hamlin is the best flat track racer on the circuit and this season has finished fourth or better in three of the four races held at similar flat speedways. He already owns a win at New Hampshire and was victorious at Phoenix which is a similar layout earlier this year. New Hampshire is the perfect place for this team to rebound from its gas mileage debacle last week at Chicago and I’m placing Hamlin at the top of my list of potential winners this week.

Kasey Kahne
DM: Kahne has been on a bit of a roll lately, finishing a strong third last week at Chicago and he was the winner of the tour’s first stop at New Hampshire in July. After a rough start, this team has come together nicely during this championship stretch and Kahne has asserted himself as a serious title contender.

Tony Stewart
JW: Last year New Hampshire was a Stewart-Haas Racing playground for both Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. Not so this past July when Newman finished 10th and Stewart 12th with neither team in contention. Stewart improved all race long at Chicagoland and ended up leading a couple laps and finished sixth. This weekend at New Hampshire will be a good forecast of the rest of his Chase season. They need to unload strong and run at the front to show they are a force again like they were in the 2011 Chase.

Clint Bowyer
DM: Bowyer has two wins at New Hampshire and this week he wheels the same chassis he drove to victory at Richmond two weeks ago. He ran strong here in the July race, finishing third driving the same chassis, behind Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin and boasts an impressive flat track resume’. Not exactly universally listed as a favorite this week, Bowyer could surprise the so-called experts and pick up the victory to go along with his top ten result in the first Chase race.

Jimmie Johnson
JW: I still believe that this is another Championship year for Johnson. Chicagoland was a great start as the team continued to be fast with a pole and dominating most of the race. Johnson has three wins at NH and his finish in the July race of seventh is right there with his average finish of eighth. Expect a better than average finish this weekend as the 48 team will be at the top once again.

DM: Johnson has three victories at New Hampshire but hasn’t been as dominant this season on the flat tracks despite a convincing win at Indianapolis. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus might be smarting a bit this week from losing the Chicago race to Brad Keselowski but realistically, a top five finish is all that is needed to keep the run to championship number six on track.

Brad Keselowski
DM: “Bad Brad’s” last two New Hampshire finishes were a fifth and a second and the current point leader has asserted himself solidly in the title fight after his Chicago win. Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe have found the much sought after chemistry between themselves and they are a definite threat each and every week. At Chicago , the team debuted a new chassis and wound up in victory lane. They bring another brand new car to New Hampshire this week in search of similar results.

JW: We’ve said it before in this column, never look at the stats when it comes to Brad Keselowski. Making comments earlier that his Penske team doesn’t have all the “tricks” that the Hendrick cars have were shots across the bow as Keselowski prepared for the Chase. Now with his win at Chcagoland, Keselowski is the points leader and proving that he is a force to be reckoned with for the championship. While I predicted that Johnson will ultimately win the Chase, I look forward to Keselowski making it an all out battle and would love for him to prove me wrong.

Kyle Busch
DM: After barely missing the Chase due to a plethora of self-inflicted issues, Busch and the #18 team are out to simply win all the remaining races and prove they were deserving of a spot in the championship fight. Busch was very strong last week in driving to a fourth place finish at Chicago and the air has been cleared between crew chief and driver regarding the decisions which led to their Chase downfall. Kyle Busch behind the wheel with nothing to lose is a dangerous combination that could very well end up in victory lane.

Ryan Newman
DM: Although not in the Chase for the Championship, Newman has had success at flat track circuits and brings a proven car to New Hampshire this weekend. The chassis Newman will pilot is the same one that he drove to victory at Martinsville earlier this year as well as at New Hampshire in the July race last year. In addition, this car owns two pole positions in its career, both coming at New Hampshire last season. Needing strong runs to finish out the season in the hopes of attracting a sponsor for next year, Newman and the #39 team are my long shot picks this weekend.

Chase Standings heading into New Hampshire:
Brad Keselowski 2056 points, Leader, up 1 spot from last week
Jimmie Johnson 2053 points, 3 points behind
Tony Stewart 2048 points, dropped a spot and is 8 points behind leader
Kasey Kahne 2041 points, picked up five positions and is 15 points behind leader
Clint Bowyer 2041 picked up five positions and is 15 points behind leader
Denny Hamlin 2041 points, dropped three spots and 15 points behind
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2039 points, 17 points behind leader
Greg Biffle 2037 points, dropped three spots and 19 points behind
Martin Truex Jr. 2035 points, 21 points behind leader
Kevin Harvick 2032 points, dropped a position and 24 points behind
Matt Kenseth 2030 points, dropped four spots and 26 points behind
Jeff Gordon 2009 points, dropped three spots and 47 points behind

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