NASCAR made its yearly summer trip to the Magic Mile; New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr, took home the checkered flag, collecting his third win of the season and the 34th of his career. Eleven drivers remained locked into the playoffs with six races left in the regular season.
The Crayon 301 was pushed to Monday due to persistent rain over the course of Sunday. Teams and drivers started engines just before noon and went green around 12:05pm local time in New Hampshire.
The big emphasis regarding today’s race was strategy, for stage points, the race win, and a dicy playoff cutline.
The deciding factor was on lap 279, when Alex Bowman spun off of the front end of Ty Gibbs while being three-wide, which prompted the final restart of the race.
The chaotic restarts across today didn’t stop Truex Jr, as his long-awaited New Hampshire win came after dominating all race long– leading 254 out of 301 laps, bringing his career total to 1,070, the third most all-time. In addition, the driver nicknamed MTJ has won two out of the three Monday races this season (Dover and New Hampshire).
Today’s race in Loudon can’t be described without using the word “precision.” Drivers found different lanes to utilize, to the point where a two-lane track became almost four on the aging New Hampshire surface.
This led to tire strategy, where teams gambled on pit road, either taking two or four tires to gain track position.
This paid off for some drivers while for others, not so much. 2021 New Hampshire winner Aric Almirola lost a wheel on a restart after gambling on pit road and taking the lead, ending his hopes of an upset win.
The known characteristic in New Hampshire is the tedious mechanism of passing. With the new short-track package being run for the first time in Loudon, one of the biggest gainers this afternoon was Austin Dillon, who finished ninth.
Dillon was a mid-pack car for most of the afternoon until a late-race gamble paid off. By keeping his car up front for most of the second half of the race, this translated to 12 crucial laps out front, a promising sign for a struggling team.
In terms of making the most out of a race the playoff cut line saw crucial changes. Bubba Wallace sits 15th (+2), after a persevering eighth-place day for 23XI Racing.
Wallace struggled on pit road, after driving too deep into his pit stall twice, which set the #23 back in the pack.
These two self-inflicted mistakes forced Wallace to drive his way from almost going a lap down, back into the top-10. Despite the early troubles, Wallace and team extended their top-10 streak at New Hampshire to consecutive years, after a rebounding day from Atlanta. Wallace has two top-10s in his last two Pocono starts with 23XI, the #23 could be in contention for potentially a win.
Michael McDowell, who collected his best career result at New Hampshire, finished 13th. The #34 team pieced together a good weekend, after being fastest in practice and having a decent qualifying effort, leaving him 16th in points (+1). McDowell held steady running around 10th for most of the day. Consistency is building, where three top-15s are playing into favor, as road racing is near.
Just below the cut line is Daniel Suarez, who had an up and down day in 16th for Trackhouse Racing. Suarez leaves 17th in points (-1), after gambling on the same strategy as Austin Dillon.
Although the team received the short end of the stick on the gamble, they sit just one point outside the playoffs, with a favorable track next weekend, where they recorded a 2022 top-10, and where Suarez has a best finish of 2nd, a solid points day is in store.
A.J. Allmendinger and team had a quiet day at New Hampshire, finishing 19th. The #16 team stays 18th points-wise (-20). In a scenario where they’ll need to test their luck in Pocono, the bigger picture is that another race is in the books.
While the window of opportunity is slowly diminishing, the return to road racing is only three weekends out. Staying in striking range is the goal until then.
In what was an eventful day for Ty Gibbs in 27th, the team saw a similar end like his race at Atlanta– getting the worse deal out of someone else’s issues. This time the 20-year-old was sent out of the groove by Ryan Blaney in the closing laps, who was out of shape from contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. After driving his way from a dead-last starting position, Gibbs ran around 12th for most of the afternoon.
The #54 team didn’t deserve the finish they received, but Gibbs heads back to a track he made his Cup debut at a year ago this upcoming weekend. Positive momentum could start for Gibbs as he starts to see tracks for the second time- a year later after substituting for Kurt Busch with 23XI Racing. As of now, he sits 19th in points (-41).
Alex Bowman jumps to 20th (-42) after finishing 14th. Bowman needed a weekend to go right, as time is slipping for him to find stride since returning from injury. This weekend was a step in the right direction after entering 22nd in points.
Chase Elliott remains in 23rd in the points race after a rough weekend for Hendrick Motorsports. The team never seemed to get going after a while, and when finally doing so it was too late.
The #9 team made the most out of what they could, by settling for 12th. All eyes are set on next weekend, where Elliott will run the Xfinity race in the #17 for HMS, in an attempt to get on a roll early in Pennsylvania.
Leaving New Hampshire until next summer, this race was fun. In NASCAR we all love aggression and on-edge racing, but this afternoon leaned more toward the traditional short track regime.
Drivers had to figure out a way to gain positions, whether that was on pit road, on-track, or bold three-wide moves on restarts.
This race wasn’t Atlanta by any means, but every now and then the traditional close-quarters racing is what’s needed. New Hampshire has delivered once again in its second year with the next-gen car, which should make fans excited for next year.
We’re approaching the halfway point of the summer stretch, with many more unanswered questions that need a response. Eleven drivers already booked their ticket to Darlington this September, and with just five spots left in the postseason, the cutline drama is beginning to spice up.
The Tricky Triangle of Pocono Raceway is up next for the three NASCAR national series, where the uncertainty is coming to life.
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The Slow Restart 